Teachers of the Future

By Olivia Hewitt

As the Class of 2020 finishes up their last year of high school, they become aware of the responsibilities that come with this new beginning. One student from the class who is on the right path and knows what she wants to do with her future is Liz Kenerson. Ms. Kenerson realized at the beginning of junior year that she wanted to go to school to get her early education degree to become a kindergarten teacher.  

When asked what event happened that caused Liz to really open her eyes and realize what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, she said, “I babysit a three year old and a six year old and I taught the six year old how to read and write. My current job has to do with teaching little kids and I just really liked it.” To Liz, this was very eye opening, and, according to her, made her proud that she figured out her future before the start of senior year.  

Kenerson believes that good connections with students are very important in the teaching field. Although most people feel to build good relations with students they have to be a bit older, Liz thinks that you can still build good relations with  younger students. She states, “little kids get attached, older students will trust you and little kids don’t really understand trust.” She truly thinks that you can have the same type of relationship with younger students that you can with older students. 

submitted by Liz Kenerson

Additionally, Liz claims that, unlike younger students, middle school students “are too rowdy,” and she doesn’t “feel like I could get a hold on them.” She believes that high school students are “rude and unwilling to learn so I don’t feel like I’ll be able to do my job,” which is another reason why she wants to teach kindergarten. 

Liz has had many wonderful teachers in her life and many that she had a great connection with. One that really caused her to think about going into this field was her kindergarten teacher, Mr. Kurdy. When asked why he was so special to her Kenerson said, “he was really nice.. And once his chair broke so we got him a new one and we all put our hand prints on it and I was thinking: I want kids to do that for me.”  This was the first time Liz really saw an impact a teacher can have on their student’s lives.  

Ms.Kenerson truly believes she could even have the smallest influence in a students life.  When asked if she believed Liz would be a good teacher, Mrs. Violette, her current English teacher, said, “ I definitely think Liz would be a good teacher. She has the personality to be a good teacher because she’s approachable but she also doesn’t put up with a lot.” 

Kenerson agreed, saying, “I’m bubbly and really sarcastic…. I definitely think I could make connections with students. I think they would trust me.” 

Having the characteristics to be a good teacher is very important.  Kenerson and the people around her realize she has the traits she needs to be a great teacher and truly make an impact.