profile SPOTLIGHT Teacher Academy Students Host Energy Education Week Events
DeSoto County Career and Technical Center Teacher Academy students planned and hosted a clean-energy-themed Energy Education Week in November for sixth graders at Southaven Middle School. The event was part of an entry for the 2014 Future Educators Association (FEA) competition. Amy Wilson, a senior at Southaven High School, volunteered as team captain for the project. Teacher Academy students prepared and taught eight energy-related lessons during science classes for three days. The students researched and designed lesson plans on hydroelectricity, wind energy, and solar power. David Kidd, a senior at Southaven High School, learned that knowing how to manage classes is as important as knowing the material. “I spent time managing that took away from the lesson. It was a good experience,” he said. One day of the education week was designated as Energy Education Day, with participation from three different schools, college students, high school and middle school teachers, and representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For the last day, FEA students organized an energy-themed door decorating contest. The science class with the winning door received a 28-piece microscope set. In addition, Wilson represented the chapter at the FEA Fall Leadership Conference in Oxford, Mississippi.
Raven Patton and Frank Webb pictured at Webb’s Pharmacy.
Local Businesses Invest in Larry Summers Vocational Center‘s Students Through Shadowing Program
For second-year students at Larry Summers Vocational Center in Yazoo City, November 21st was not a typical school day. Thanks to local business leaders in Yazoo City, these students were provided the opportunity to participate in the annual “Day of Shadowing” program. The school’s job shadowing program is designed to give students a closer look at their career-of-choice and assist them with their future career decisions, and is part of a national job shadow day campaign. Students in Yazoo City observed what a typical day on the job is like for occupations such as teachers, pharmacists, policemen, physical therapists, and day care workers. Raven Patton, a junior at Yazoo City High School, spent her day learning about being a pharmacist through a job shadowing experience provided by pharmacist Frank Webb and the staff of Webb’s Pharmacy. According to the national job shadow day campaign, more than one million young people like Patton participate each year across the nation. Davia Henry-Peyton, who chose to shadow an eighthgrade English teacher at Woolfolk Middle School, said, “It made me realize that this is what I want to do. I can see myself being a teacher and loving it.”
Amy Wilson and Shyann Mooneyham opening projects for Energy Education Week
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CONNECTIONS Spring 2014