Child Development Offers Internship Opportunities

child-development-online
by Lauren MacFadden ‘17

Many high school students struggle to figure out what they might want to do for a career after college. To help students consider their options for the future, Sherwood has multiple programs focusing on fields such as medicine, engineering, and teaching.

The teaching program is completed through the child development course taught by Beth Bonita where kids ages four to five are taught by Sherwood students.

As part of the course, students get the opportunity to plan lessons outlined by the Montgomery County preschool curriculum, observe the children, and teach in a two-day rotation. Students are eligible to receive the Maryland state 90-hour certification if they keep a portfolio of the activities they did with the kids in Child Development I and II. High school students are also given the opportunity to intern at an elementary school and act as a student teacher. Most students are unaware of the benefits that come from this course and may believe that they can only take something away from the class if they want to be a teacher when in fact it can be beneficial to everyone.

“Students that are interested in education, pediatric medicine, physical therapy, family law, psychology, and sociology enroll in this course in preparation for college and career experience. After a rigorous training period, students become part of a team of teachers responsible for the day-to-day working of a lab school,” said Bonita.

Numerous goals can be achieved and applied with the lessons learned from the child development program. Senior Mary Stout has taken the course for three years and is now an intern at Olney Elementary where she assists the teacher in answering students’ questions, copying and handing out papers, and teaching her own small group of students.

“[Interning] gives me a real look into the classroom … it prepares me by having interactions with real teachers, real problems, and lots of experience in different areas,” said Stout.

In the second or third year of Child Development students can either begin an internship as Stout did or continue the course in the classroom at Sherwood without the internship. Those who do not have the internship are paired with a preschooler in the Sherwood program. There, they make a binder with the preschooler to demonstrate what the student has accomplished over the school year. This one-on-one time allows the Sherwood students to review materials the preschooler is unfamiliar with or struggling to understand. Students also gain patience and experience dealing with peers and blending ideas when planning for a lesson.

“I have so many new skills when it comes to how I teach and take on planning. Child Development really prepared me for everything that could possibly happen,” said Stout.

Unfortunately, students may shy away from a career in education; Bonita believes it is because of its negative perceptions about lower pay, difficult conditions, and inefficient policies. In reality, an educator has a unique opportunity to encourage students to grow more understanding and patient.

“There is no sugarcoating the challenges of teaching. The work is extraordinarily complex and challenging in even the most well supported and high functioning work environments … But at the end of the day, you are able to look back and see an important impact on the students and the teaching profession, and that you were important in the life of a child,” said Bonita.

photo courtesy of Beth Bonita