
Color Outside the Lines
Creating New Educational Experiences
By Todd Dugan, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Bunker Hill CUSD 8
Ian Smith
Director of High School Instruction
Wheaton Warrenville CUSD 200
A New Type of Student Teacher
One of the most innovative and impactful new initiatives in the area of career readiness for Wheaton Warrenville CUSD 200 has been its Introduction to Teaching program.
Starting during the 2022-23 school year, Introduction to Teaching was developed to provide meaningful career related experiences for students interested in exploring teaching as a future career. The hope is to develop a “grow your own” pipeline of future teachers for CUSD 200. Introduction to Teaching is a part of CUSD 200’s Career Pathways program, a broader, wide reaching effort to provide career related coursework and experiences to all students based upon each student’s specific career area of interest.
Career Pathways at CUSD 200 begins by having 8th grade students take a career interest survey prior to registering for their 9th grade courses. The results of this survey provide students with several career options based upon each student’s unique interests, self-perceived skills and current abilities. In addition, students are provided with career exploration resources to help them further identify a career area of interest. Courses in CUSD 200 are placed into 16 different Career Pathways, one of which is Education and Training.
From there, Career Pathways helps students align their courses, after school clubs, after school activities, potential internships, apprenticeships and high school jobs. This gives them a breadth of experiences that will make them better informed and prepared to pursue their chosen career after graduation, all while progressing through their high school career. Career Pathways also provides students with information about college majors, careers within each pathway and areas where students could possibly earn industry-recognized credentials while still in high school. For more information about CUSD 200’s Career Pathways program, please visit https://shorturl.at/HPJxT.
During the past two school years, 135 students from Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South High Schools have benefited from Career Pathways by learning about being a teacher through the Introduction to Teaching program. Under the guidance of their high school teachers and teacher mentors, students learn the same aspects of curriculum and instruction – such as learning standards, lesson planning, classroom design, school safety, assessment literacy, teaching and learning strategies and legal and ethical guidelines – that are taught in a full-year introductory college education course.
To further enhance the experience for students and give them the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in a real-world setting, Introduction to Teaching students complete a 60-hour clinical field experience in a CUSD 200 elementary or middle school, working closely with a mentor classroom teacher and their students. Within this setting, Introduction to Teaching students have the opportunity to observe a veteran teacher, assist in various ways within the classroom, tutor students and create lessons. By the end of their clinical field experience, the goal is to have the students leading the class, under the instruction of the teacher on staff, as if it was their own class of their own students.
In recognition of their efforts, successful students receive six hours of Dual Credit through the College of DuPage. If they meet a handful of other academic requirements, students will also receive the ISBE College and Career Pathway Endorsement in Human and Public Services to be used in real world settings and job applications.
Feedback from both teachers and students who have participated in this program has been overwhelmingly positive. Students were placed into each of CUSD 200’s 17 elementary and middle schools, and many schools had more teachers interested in being mentors than students available to place there. “There is a district-wide buzz and excitement around this new program that is unlike anything I have seen in my administrative career,” said one district official.
And for students, the chance to return and work with a favorite teacher, or to revisit the school that was formative within their own lives, has been exciting for them as well. As one student put it “I’ve always dreamed about being a teacher, and taking this class has allowed me to experience working with kids. Getting hands on experience is awesome and it’s just really crazy that I’m in high school but then I come here into a real classroom and get to teach them things that I learned in 4th grade. It’s a head start to my career…and it’s just a great opportunity.”
One of the highlights for this program this year was an end-of-the-year “Signing Day” ceremony, where the 37 graduating seniors who’ve made the decision to earn an education degree in college signed letters of intent to pursue teaching as a career. These students were celebrated by district officials, their teachers, friends and family members. CUSD 200 will remain in contact with these students during their college years, and upon graduation have guaranteed them an interview for any position they are qualified to teach.
As Kelly Ehrhardt, the Counseling Department Chair at Wheaton Warrenville South, put it, “Giving kids the opportunity to learn those career skills outside of high school is really giving them the benefit that when they leave here, they’ll feel comfortable and confident to go on to their next steps.” Career Pathways is doing just that. And to see the level of excitement and enthusiasm of the Introduction to Teaching students as they signed their letters of intent provides hope that the future of teaching, and of CUSD 200, will remain brighter as a result for years to come.
From the Classroom to the Hospital Room
Approximately 250 miles south in rural Macoupin County, Illinois, another school district is taking an innovative approach to career pathways for high school students. Bunker Hill Community Unit School District #8, a PK-12 district in south-central Illinois serving 620 students, embarked on a transformative approach to career readiness in 2021.
Each year, Bunker Hill High School administered a survey to all students regarding career interests through myOptions, an educational consultant that helps shape a child’s next steps in their growth to a professional career. While many career clusters would fluctuate from year to year (for example, teaching at one point was the second-most popular career but
now does not even appear on the ranking report), one career cluster consistently ranked at the top: Nursing/Healthcare.
Utilizing the flexibility adopted during the early days of the COVID pandemic, the district began exploring ways in which to better meet the needs of its students in a small, remote, rural high school setting. We also began looking at ways to assist in equipping students with the skills needed to enter the workforce seamlessly after high school graduation.
The initial model provided for students to receive instruction on the Certified Nursing Assistant program from the local community college partner, Lewis & Clark Community College, boasts an impressive 100% pass rate. The College dedicated a section to Bunker Hill High School students interested in obtaining CNA certification.
In order to overcome equity barriers due to geography and economic means, the district paid the tuition for the course (provided the student successfully completed it) and provided free transportation to and from the College. At the time, the Bunker Hill CUSD 8 Board of Education had just recently created their “Portrait of a Graduate” and were utilizing six desired characteristics. The portrait included adaptability, innovation, critical thinking, global awareness, confidence and communication/collaboration to model the value it placed on preparing students for an ever-evolving future of work. During this time, students enrolled were allowed to complete the work missed from other enrolled courses via a “blend-flex hybrid” (asynchronously) model in order to maintain enrollment. The last thing we want is for success in one field to lead to disregarding or failing other aspects of a child’s education.
Local healthcare provider Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (SIHF) learned of the initiative and pledged to purchase textbooks, scrubs and stethoscopes for Bunker Hill High School students as well as guaranteeing an interview for an open position. SIHF, like many other rural healthcare providers, had been battling a shortage in CNA’s for years and viewed this partnership as an opportunity to build the pipeline of qualified CNA applicants. Alton Memorial Hospital has also graciously agreed to provide the setting for students to complete their clinicals. AMH, as well as BHHS, recognized the need for qualified CNA candidates to fill vacancies in rural Illinois.
After the first year, 100% of BHHS students enrolled in the program successfully graduated high school with a diploma as well as certification in Certified Nursing Assistance. Best of all, these students graduated with a sense of purpose, the necessary skills to earn a respectable income in their home community and instilled with a sense of work ethic and soft skills in demand from local employers. This also enabled the District to award students with the Health Sciences and Technology Career Pathway Endorsement in 2024. The program was such a success that the District received a statewide award for its innovative approach to collaboration by the Illinois Learning Technology Center www.ltcillinois.org/ltcawards2022/ as well as recognition from Illinois ASBO for the Lighthouse Award in 2022. However, the effects of the successful program reached far beyond the boundary of the Bunker Hill School District. This led to a multitude of other career pathways with area employers, including one with a local veterinary clinic that resulted in free tuition for students. Apprenticeships multiplied at BHHS in fields as diverse as information technology, aviation and HVAC.
In both the teaching and the medical field, fueling the passion our students have for these industries is a key to keep them on the professional pursuit. Getting them into a real world scenario can further light the flame that keeps these dreams alive. The reality is, it could also be a wakeup call for those students who needed exposure to these fields to realize this may not be the best fit, and redirect them on a career path that best suits them. The most important thing is continuing to point our students in a direction to success, while keeping their desire to learn, grown and become our next generation of leaders alive. The successes fueled by programs all across the state, including at BHHS and CUSD 200 can hopefully be an inspiration for more programs to pop up in Illinois.
For more information on Career Pathways at Bunker Hill High School, please visit:
https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/780/Bunker_Hill/4525937/24-25_BHHS_Career_Pathway_Handbook.pdf