By the time many students graduate from high school they have experienced being taught by a student teacher. A college student wanting to become a teacher spends a term or two teaching a class with an experienced teacher. While the main purpose of this program is to help the student teachers learn how to handle a classroom full of students-and problems, they are not the only ones learning.

Having a student teacher makes you “re-evaluate and re-asses what you’re doing as a teacher,” says Mrs. Chris Dokolasa, an art teacher who had a student teacher earlier this year. She also said that student teachers bring new ideas and a fresh viewpoint to the classroom, which students also enjoy.

Students have certainly enjoyed Greg Leibach, a Knox junior who taught under Dokolasa and Ms. Blakewell, another GHS art teacher. Leibach not only shared knowledge but also a kooky fashion sense with students, dressing up in various outfits and wigs. He also brought unique experience to the classes. Leibach has worked as a caricature artist at Six Flags, St. Louis since graduating from high school. This year he shared that skill with students, teaching them about airbrushing and caricature drawings.

Everyone enjoyed the experience of having a student teacher, particularly the students. David Miller, a student in Dokolasa’s ceramics class said that he feels students are more likely to identify with a younger teacher because “they’ve just had the experience of what we’re going through.” Sophomore Charlie Niehoff agreed, saying that people are “more likely to listen to a younger teacher or a teacher who understands them.”

As enjoyable and helpful as student teachers are, they are here to learn. They first observe a teacher in front of a class, then they teach with another teacher before finally getting certified to teach on their own. These multiple steps are designed to help students see the realities of teaching. As Dokolasa said, it either affirms their desire to teach or not. “For the most part as long as they don’t get discouraged, they find out that they can do it,” she said. For Leibach, the experience has only strengthened his desire to teach. “It makes me realize that this is where I want to be,” he commented.