Mandy Walker greets her 2nd grade class at Reed Elementary every morning with a smile. Only in her first year of teaching, she has prepared for this opportunity since high school. Walker was a member of the inaugural Ready, Set, Teach class at Allen High School that began in January of 2000. She is also the first teacher who has returned to Allen to sign a teaching contract offered to her four years ago. Upon completion of the two-year high school program, all Ready, Set, Teach students are offered probationary contracts for future employment at Allen ISD schools. After high school, the students must obtain a college degree in a certified teaching program.

“This program cemented the deal for me in becoming a teacher,” said Walker of RST. “It made me realize that I want to teach more than anything.”

Students in Ready, Set, Teach work under the joint direction and supervision of both a family and consumer science teacher and exemplary educators in direct instructional roles with elementary, middle and/or high school-aged students. Students from the class plan and direct individualized instruction and group activities, prepare instructional materials, assist with record keeping, make physical arrangements and complete other responsibilities of classroom teachers.

The students are involved in observations as well as direct student instruction: placement rotations are utilized to allow students to have experiences in a full range of education career roles, grade level, subject areas and ability groups. During the course of each week, students enrolled in Ready, Set, Teach are involved in instruction from the family and consumer sciences teacher as well as involved in supervised field-based observations and applications of principles/practices studied in the class.

For more information about the Ready, Set, Teach! program contact Marsha Canup .

Web Resources
Allen High School
Reed Elementary