Rhonda Walker and her group of Ready, Set, Teach students toured the University of Texas at Tyler campus October 8. The tour was to provide information on UT Tyler and its education program.
“Their recruiting adviser invited us, and it was a great opportunity, so we decided to go,” Walker said. “I think UT Tyler has a great education program. Any student that graduates from there and becomes a teacher is very well prepared to go into the classroom.”
The students were split into two different groups that were determined by the color of their name tag. After a welcoming assembly, they divided to tour the campus.
“The staff seems to really care about their students and genuinely wants them to succeed,” sophomore Cameron Wildt said. “They’re very welcoming.”
They toured the education building, library, gym and dining areas. They also walked around the outside of the buildings to get a feel for walking to different college courses.
“I really enjoyed getting to tour all the different parts of the campus,” sophomore Kaitlyn Dockery said. “I liked getting to see what the school had to offer. We really saw the ins and the outs of the school.”
Walker was not attending the tours with her students. Instead, she was conversing with some of the UT Tyler staff.
“While they were touring the campus, I was visiting with some of the professors about college readiness,” Walker said. “We also discussed what our high school kids are lacking when they get to college.”
After the tour was over and the buses were loaded, everyone was still hyped from the experience they just had.
“I absolutely loved UT Tyler,” Dockery said. “It was a great school and the campus was beautiful. It’s definitely one of my possibilities for college now. It’s a great school to go to if you want to be a teacher later on in life. It also helps that it’s so close to home.”