Want to Become a Teacher? The Future Teachers of America Club is the Perfect Opportunity for Young Teachers at Watauga High School

The FTAC visits the Future Educators Day at ASU in May to work on teaching skills. Photo Creds: Mrs. Scoggins

Carrie Bradbury, Review Desk Lead

The Future Teachers of America Club is an organization that provides students with in-field experiences and volunteer opportunities that prepare them for a teaching career. The club stems from a Teacher Cadet class, which is offered to upperclassmen at Watauga High School. Because there was no organization offered to underclassmen for them to begin practicing being a teacher,  teacher sponsor Mrs. Scoggins and student leader Macie Kent felt like FTAC was a necessary addition for students who are striving to be teachers. 

“We revived this club because we wanted to get the younger students involved in the idea of pursuing education as a possible career,” said Scoggins. “We meet about once a month, and ultimately our goal is to do things for our teachers in the building to support them.”

Drawing in membership from within the high school community is a main goal of the club, and they plan to do that by expanding their teaching opportunities. Connecting high school students with teachers working at schools throughout the county gives them opportunities to see realistic expectations of working in an elementary or middle school.

“We have had some different ideas that we want to do, like supporting third graders when they’re taking their EOGs for the first time,” said Scoggins. “We want to send them cheerleading videos or posters, just something that the teachers can give them that shows that there are people in the county rooting for them.”

Building support from within the high school is what is currently possible for FTAC. However, the club wants to start working inside the middle schools as well. This goal is something which the club views as completely feasible, but it does take some extra effort. Being in person with the young students requires more planning and permissions than the club can currently manage, but they plan to send in support online through videos and posters.

“We also want to start reading books and record them to send to the kids, in case the teachers want to share them,” said Scoggins.

Since the club is still relatively small, Scoggins’ main focus is on expanding membership within the high school and getting more students involved. Although membership seems like a small task, it is necessary for the club to be able to move on to more involved projects. One of the things which Scoggins is looking forward to is starting programs that assist students who wish to be teachers as early as middle school.

“A long-term goal for me would be to start middle school programs as well,” said Scoggins. “So that when the students come to the high school, it would just be part of the culture already.”

Senior Macie Kent has always felt a strong connection to teaching and is excited about being in a position where she can help other students around her get the teaching experiences that have shaped her career so far. 

“I have always wanted to be a teacher. I teach piano lessons and I love doing that so much,” said Kent. “I was a part of the Future Teachers of America club my freshman year, and I really liked how you got all the experiences of teaching. It solidified for me that I wanted to be a teacher.”

Having a strong team working together on the club is something that has been vital for the success of FTAC. Mrs. Scoggins and Kent have been able to cultivate a culture that draws in members and makes students excited about becoming a teacher.

“I appreciate Mrs. Scoggins being a leader in the club,” said Kent. “She has some awesome ideas, as well as she's really fun to work with.”

The club is constantly trying to get more people involved and try out different activities related to becoming a teacher. 

“We are in the works of making some groups that are going to work on writing lesson plans,” said Kent. “We are doing something this year called Secret Student, which is where we’re going to take a department of teachers, and we’re going to pair a student with a teacher, and they’re going to help them out.”

Working on tasks such as cleaning the classroom, organizing papers, or any other tasks that make the teacher's life a little bit easier is the goal of the teacher program. Students are able to help teachers while also getting experience, which will continue to help them become more familiar with the job.

“I’m in my last several years of teaching, and I want to make sure that we get the club up and running,” said Scoggins. “If you think you might want to teach or be in any kind of educational capacity, both the club and the class are worth your while.”