When senior Amelia Del Rio enrolled in Ready, Set, Teach! Program she knew exactly what she was getting involved with.

“It’s an internship program that get us ready to be teachers or anything in that field,” Del Rio.

Ready, Set, Teach! is an internship that provides students with a background knowledge of child and adolescent development principles as well as principles of effective teaching practices.

“We observe the class and teacher and get a hands-on experience of what teaching is like,” Del Rio said.

Through out the year the students travel to elementary and middle schools in the district and work under a mentor teacher.

“I personally love the program, it made me much more interested and excited for the teaching experience and is preparing me well and giving me a good idea of what being a teacher is about,” Del Rio said.

They see the daily tasks of educators and mainly prepares for parenting and child development.

“I was in child development last year with Ms. Gutierrez and she encouraged the class to apply, I would recommend it to students who are interested in teaching in the future,” Del Rio said.

Some students already know that they want to be in education, others don’t, and some change their mind when they enroll in the program.

“I want to be a teacher because I love kids and seeing them grow up and learn, I have three nieces and they really are my inspiration,” Del Rio said.

Ready, Set, Teach! provides the students with the experience of working with children and how they act.

“I love watching how excited they are to learn and I just want to do that for other kids, I actually want to teach kindergarten.” Del Rio said.

Aspiring teacher junior Sydney Loyd is also enrolled in the program so she could also inspire and develop teacher skills.

“The program is a taste of what teaching will be like, and gives if this is something I really want to pursue,” Loyd said.

Understanding the learner and learning process, developing and using effective instructional strategies, and exploring the teaching profession are essential knowledge and skills that you learn in the program.

“It’s an internship for high school students who basically want to teach, the program really helps you decide whether teaching is something you’d like to do or not,” Loyd said.

Loyd is also in child development where she heard about the Ready, Set, Teach! Program and they were encouraged to apply by Gutierrez.

“I really enjoy the program, it really is showing me what teaching is and the work and the time that actually the goes into it.” Loyd said.

With hard work and determination, Ready, Set, Teach! is a great program for aspiring teachers and the teachers encourage students to join and get the full experience of teaching and child development.

The program is useful and helpful to those who really want to get a first glance at what is it truly like to be a teacher.