Students in Rhonda Walker’s first year Ready, Set, Teach class went Friday to teach at Velma Penny and College Street Elementary Schools. Walker first started this trip for students three years ago.

  “These students gain a great, hands on experience,” Walker said. “They get to interact with other kids, so its beneficial to smaller kids and the older kids. It’s a neat life experience.”

  The students created lesson plans with a reading component and an activity. The lesson corresponded with a book the students chose to read to the elementary children.

  “They get to implement what they created and find out what works and what doesn’t work,” Walker said. “This helps the students gain classroom management and teaching skills. They also learn more about curriculum.”

  Junior Alisha Keller read two books, Some Monsters are Different and Super Duper Sundae Sleepover. Keller and her group members let the students create their own “monsters” and allowed them to play games on the iPads relevant to the lesson.

  “The students were all very energetic and excited to be working with us,” Keller said. ” They were extremely involved in the stories that I read, and they especially enjoyed the hands-on activities.”

  Keller plans to go into the education field in the future, specifically with special education. She says this experience will prepare her for this environment.

  “I would love to go into the education field because I better connect with these kids,” Keller said. “When I am with them I feel like I am in a place of belonging and I am in a situation where I can help these kids to co-exist in society and make them feel as though they are loved and adored.”