I presented at a conference last Saturday in South Jordan, and after my presentation we decided to make a special trip to my "teacher roots" in West Jordan. It had been so long since I'd seen my previous schools; it felt very nostalgic being there again. For posterity's sake, I might as well dedicate this post to my early teaching experience in Salt Lake.
For those of you who don't know, BYU-Idaho does their student-teaching a little differently than most universities. Since Rexburg (and the surrounding towns) are some-what rural areas, the only student-teachers who get to do their actual student-teaching in and around Rexburg (i.e. Idaho Falls) are married students! There was no room for the rest of us, so we had to go elsewhere. BYU-I has teamed up with different school districts in the western states that took us in. I had the option of going to Salt Lake, Arizona, Nevada, or Washington. Since I was madly in love with a boy named Travis, who was ever-so patiently waiting for me back home, I decided to student-teach in Salt Lake. (I'm still madly in love with him...)
But it wasn't easy moving away from BYU-I. The scariest part about graduation day was waking up in a cold sweat that night in my hotel room in Idaho Falls! I was going to be separated from so many wonderful teachers and friends! I was on my own! I never had my professors visit my classroom. Instead, it was a lady who worked for the local district. She was super nice, but...not the same. Even today, I get a little sad when I'm at a conference and my friend, Danielle, stops to chat with previous classmates from her days at BYU-Provo. Lucky, her. I don't know where my classmates ended up!
But it wasn't so scary after all. I was assigned to teach U.S. Government and Spanish at Copper Hills High School from August-December of that year. Both cooperating teachers were fantastic, and taught me so much! Copper Hills even offered me an internship there for the rest of the school year, but when the administration asked permission from BYU-I, they were denied. (BYU-I doesn't offer internships for teachers; strictly student-teaching.)
As my semester of student teaching was nearing its close, I started looking around for other teaching jobs. Not so easy in December! But I was very blessed to have one open up nearby. My government cooperating teacher was so kind and offered to take over a class period so I could drive down the street for an interview. I received a call later that day and was hired! I finished my last week at Copper Hills and the very next week started my new (paid!) job at Joel P. Jensen Middle School, also in West Jordan, where I taught geography and Utah History.
Of course, when I got married that next summer, I really had to move closer to home. And that's where I've been since. But I think about my Salt Lake days often, and am so grateful for the things that I learned, the people I met, and experiences I had there.
