PC Alumni start careers as elementary teachers and male role models to youth

PC Alumni start careers as elementary teachers and male role models to youth

Two PC graduates from the class of 2012 will start the school year as elementary school teachers, but they will have the opportunity to do more than teaching. According to MenTeach, a non-profit organization that encourages men to enter teaching, they are among the 18.3 percent of middle and elementary school teachers who are men. “I’m very proud to be a male teacher working with the youth in Sumter County,” said TJ DeVine. “I hope to be a role model for boys that don’t have a father or other male role model in the home.” Ross Jackson (’12) accepted a position at Monarch Elementary School as a third-grade teacher.

TJ DeVine (’12) accepted a position teaching at an elementary school in Sumter and running back coach for the Lakewood High School football team. DeVine, an early childhood education major and student athlete attribute the supportive network of coaches and professors for his success on campus. He stated, “The commitment of the professors to observe practice teaching in the classroom on a weekly basis served to be very helpful in developing my teaching style and improving on core skills.

This is not something I would have received at a larger school.” In the words of Jackson, “There is no greater joy than to see the smile on a child’s face when they do a good job or receive verbal praise. I want to be a teacher that energizes students and is someone they feel they can talk to. PC gave me the opportunity to experience education in the classroom and fuel my passion for working with children.”

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