Juniors and seniors are taking part in the High School Heroes program to help teach elementary students about the real world.
This program takes place on Fridays throughout the third trimester. High school students participate by having groups of two or three go into classrooms after planning and studying lessons. They are given books that help them decide what questions to ask the kids and how to approach each subject. Students who teach are apart of the Junior Achievement program, and sign up in the office to put their name down to show that they are interested in this program. Senior Kate Dye comments on why she joined the program and what it includes.
“I decided to join the program because I thought it would be a good way to help give back to the community and teach kids. High school heroes is a program where students, typically juniors and seniors, volunteer to teach elementary school kids life lessons about jobs, money, and family,” Dye said.
The day is made up of the same curriculum and schedule a teacher would provide for their students; this is so the high school students can react and produce the same atmosphere a regular educator would create. Senior Brenna Ryan explained how the typical day runs.
“A typical day has each group teach five mini-lessons. We get a break during the day, we eat lunch when the kids eat lunch and we go outside with them as well. Then we go back [inside to] teach them,” Ryan said.
High school heroes is a program for students who want to go into the field of education and become teachers. Not only do the students receive the opportunity to teach children, but they also get the chance to interact with a younger generation. Senior Danielle Schwaben comments on why she recommends this program.
“I think this is a really good program, especially since it helped show the kids that they could either learn these subjects easily or that they already know some of this stuff and it grew their confidence. My favorite memory was when we would do the activity part of the lesson with the kids and see how excited they would get and how each room tackled it differently,” Schwaben said.
The program will continue throughout the school year and the juniors and seniors will continue to help teach the elementary school students.