This year, there have been a multitude of new staff welcomed to Central High. Though they are not here to stay, there are two new student teachers who have joined the school. Their names are Darrington Baker and Jadyn Snakenberg- Leggett.

Student teaching is a step aspiring teachers take in college; these teachers are part of the edTPA program, which gives them classroom experience as well as a teaching certificate. One has to become acquainted with the classroom and one’s mentor in the process.

Student teaching is part of college education, so they do not get paid. It can be easy to misconstrue, but student teachers do not get paid because it is a college experience, it is not considered a job.

Being a student teacher is an important step because it shows how one can potentially perform in the classroom. Baker and Snakenberg-Leggett will be apart of the program for about eight to twelve weeks, spending semesters at different schools.

Baker is currently in Mr. Gregory Cantrell’s English class to help make lesson plans and observe. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English at UTC. Baker has taught middle school, but looks forward to teaching high school now. The first assignment she handed out was a four paragraph long mini-memoir detailing a little bit about students’ lives.

“[This position entails] a lot of technical things,” said Baker. “You have to balance grading papers, going to college, and many more [responsibilities].”

Snakenberg-Leggett is shadowing Dr. Diana Cochran’s Spanish class. When she graduates from UTC in December, she wants to also teach ESL (English as a second or foreign language). In the Spanish class, she assigned a textbook activity and a grammar review.

She is used to teaching kindergarten, but is now looking forward to teaching high school as well. A fun fact about Snakenberg-Leggett is that she used to attend Central High back in 2016. She served as Copy Editor for the Central Digest and was named Miss Central. Snakenberg-Leggett also graduated as Valedictorian of her class.

Both student teachers are delighted to say they had the chance to teach at Central High, and hope to impact the lives of many adolescents when they become educators in the near future.