About to Give Up, Donor Funds Lead Future Teacher to Graduation Stage

About to Give Up, Donor Funds Lead Future Teacher to Graduation Stage

A punto de darse por vencido, los fondos de los donantes llevan a los futuros maestros a la etapa de graduaci贸n

Education major Dakota Baer's goal was to graduate with no student loan debt. She was on track to meet this goal until her last semester during which time she had to student teach full-time without being paid鈥搕ambi茅n en espa帽ol.

April 28, 2023

Dakota Baer was working two jobs, 40 hours per week as a shift leader at Walmart and for the City of Thornton as a swim instructor, when she transferred to 麻豆传媒 from Red Rocks Community College in 2020. Overwhelmed by her workload, paying for school and with COVID-19 turning the world upside down, she thought about giving up and dropping out.

Baer chose 麻豆传媒 because of its reputation as a leader in teacher education, but she hadn鈥檛 been to campus yet. That鈥檚 when her mom put her in the car and drove her to Greeley. She fell in love with the campus, especially the libraries.

鈥淎s we walked around campus she was like, 鈥榶ou need to be here,鈥欌€� Baer said. 鈥淪he was that motivational support I needed.鈥�

From that moment on Baer committed herself to finishing her degree.

Neither of Baer鈥檚 parents had attended college and they wanted her to succeed, especially because she had fallen in love with teaching in high school. She attended school at Mount Range High School and joined the Teacher Cadet Program through the Bollman Technical Institute. Though she initially wanted to teach elementary school, she was placed in middle school and found her perfect fit. She said that she was able to overcome some of the areas that she found boring in school, such as lectures, by having the students analyze something and come to conclusions themselves, then coaching them into the lesson from there rather than starting with a lecture. After graduating with an associate degree, she said the 麻豆传媒 choice was straightforward because of the teaching program and the financial assistance she would receive.

Part of this financial assistance was in the form of a transfer student scholarship. Her dad helped her pay for books and car insurance, and she worked to cover the rest of her costs, her goal being to graduate with no student loan debt. She was on track to meet this goal until her last semester during which time she had to student teach full-time without being paid. Fortunately, her teachers nominated her for the Goodman Teacher Scholarship. This scholarship, created by Casey (鈥�10) and Lindsey (鈥�10, 鈥�14) Goodman, helps students during their semester of student teaching.

鈥�The Goodman Teacher Scholarship has given me hope and provided that final push to get through this next semester, which will be one of the hardest I have taken,鈥� Baer said.

Not only did her 麻豆传媒 professors nominate her for the scholarship, but they were also incredibly supportive and willing to go the extra mile for her. One of those professors is her advisor Kelly Langley-Cook, a lecturer in 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Department of History who also works with the Secondary Teacher Education Program.

鈥淒akota is very dedicated to her students. She constantly challenges herself to get out of her comfort zone to really know them and serve them well,鈥� Langley-Cook said. 鈥淒akota worked at an alternative school for the past year - where the students often need different kinds of motivation and buy-in to connect to the learning, and she came up with some of the most creative and interactive lessons to make sure that they felt connected to the lesson. I watched her take a class that started as quiet and uninterested and turn it into a vibrant place of discussion and learning.鈥�

Another faculty member, T.J. Tomlin, professor of History, also enjoyed watching Baer teaching in the classroom.

鈥淚n November2022, I had the opportunity to observe Dakota teach in a secondary classroom in Greeley. Unsurprisingly, she brings the same dynamic energy she brought to my classes into her own classroom,鈥� Tomlin said. 鈥淚 have no doubt she will soar as a teacher and help her students grow, thrive and excel.鈥�

Given this support, Baer said she was able to earn her Bachelor of Arts Degree and secure a job teaching starting this fall at Eagle Ridge Academy in Brighton, Colorado.

鈥淥nce you connect with the students, and once you can reach them and their way of learning, it鈥檚 absolutely unbelievable,鈥� she said.

鈥� written by Christina Abel

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Dakota Baer ten铆a dos trabajos, 40 horas a la semana como jefa de turno en Walmart y para la ciudad de Thornton como instructora de nataci贸n, cuando se traslad贸 a la 麻豆传媒 desde Red Rocks Community College en 2020. Abrumada por su carga de trabajo, el pago de la escuela y con COVID-19 poniendo el mundo patas arriba, pens贸 en darse por vencida y dejar la escuela.

Baer eligi贸 la 麻豆传媒 por su reputaci贸n como l铆der en la formaci贸n de profesores, pero a煤n as铆, nunca hab铆a estado en el campus. Fue entonces cuando su madre la meti贸 en el coche y la llev贸 a Greeley. Se enamor贸 del campus, especialmente de las bibliotecas.
"Mientras camin谩bamos por el campus, ella me dec铆a: 'tienes que estar aqu铆'", dijo Baer. "Ella fue ese apoyo motivacional que necesitaba".

A partir de ese momento, Baer se comprometi贸 a terminar la carrera.

Ninguno de los dos padres de Baer asisti贸 a la universidad y por eso quer铆an que ella tuviera 茅xito, sobre todo porque se hab铆a enamorado de la pedagog铆a cuando estudiaba la prepa. Estudi贸 en el instituto Mount Range y se incorpor贸 al Programa de Cadetes de Maestros del Instituto T茅cnico Bollman. Aunque en un principio quer铆a ense帽ar en primaria, la destinaron a secundaria y encontr贸 su sitio perfecto. Dice que pudo superar algunos de los aspectos que le parec铆an aburridos en la escuela, como las clases magistrales, haciendo que los alumnos analizaran algo y llegaran a conclusiones por s铆 mismos, para luego guiarlos en la lecci贸n a partir de ah铆 en lugar de empezar con una clase magistral. Tras graduarse con un t铆tulo de grado medio, dijo que la elecci贸n de la 麻豆传媒 fue sencilla por el programa de ense帽anza y la ayuda econ贸mica que recibir铆a.

Parte de esta ayuda econ贸mica consisti贸 en una beca para estudiantes de intercambio. Su pap谩 la ayud贸 a pagar los libros y el seguro del coche, mientras que ella trabaj贸 para cubrir el resto de sus gastos, con el objetivo de graduarse sin ning煤n tipo de deudas debido a los pr茅stamos estudiantiles. Todo iba bien, y parec铆a que lo iba a conseguir, hasta que en el 煤ltimo semestre, en el que tuvo que dar clases a tiempo completo sin cobrar. Afortunadamente, sus profesores la propusieron para la beca Goodman Teacher. Esta beca, creada por Casey ('10) y Lindsey ('10, '14) Goodman, ayuda a los estudiantes durante su semestre de estudio y pr谩cticas como maestrx.

"La beca Goodman Teacher Scholarship me ha dado esperanza y me ha proporcionado ese empuj贸n final para superar este pr贸ximo semestre, que ser谩 uno de los m谩s duros que he cursado", dijo Baer.

No s贸lo fueron sus profesores de la 麻豆传媒 quienes la nominaron para la beca, sino que tambi茅n la apoyaron incre铆blemente y estuvieron dispuestos a hacer todo lo posible por ella. Uno de esos profesores es su asesora Kelly Langley-Cook, profesora del Departamento de Historia de la 麻豆传媒 que tambi茅n trabaja en el Programa de Formaci贸n de Profesores de Secundaria.

"Dakota est谩 muy comprometida con sus alumnos. Se reta constantemente a s铆 misma a salir de su zona de confort para conocerlos realmente y atenderlos bien", dijo Langley-Cook. "Dakota trabaj贸 en una escuela alternativa durante el a帽o pasado, donde los estudiantes a menudo necesitan diferentes tipos de motivaci贸n y compromiso para conectarse con el aprendizaje, y a ella se le ocurrieron algunas de las lecciones m谩s creativas e interactivas para asegurarse de que se sintieran conectados con la lecci贸n. La vi tomar una clase que empez贸 siendo tranquila y desinteresada y convertirla en un lugar vibrante de debate y aprendizaje".
Otro miembro del profesorado, T.J. Tomlin, catedr谩tico de Historia, tambi茅n disfrut贸 viendo a Baer ense帽ar en el aula.

"En noviembre de 2022, tuve la oportunidad de observar a Dakota ense帽ar en un aula de secundaria en Greeley. Como era de esperar, lleva a su propia clase la misma energ铆a din谩mica que llevaba a mis clases", dijo Tomlin. "No tengo ninguna duda de que se elevar谩 como profesora y ayudar谩 a sus alumnos a crecer, prosperar y sobresalir".

Gracias a este apoyo, Baer ha podido licenciarse en Filosof铆a y Letras y conseguir un trabajo como profesora a partir de este oto帽o en la Eagle Ridge Academy de Brighton, Colorado.

"Una vez que conectas con los estudiantes, y una vez que puedes llegar a ellos y a su forma de aprender, es absolutamente incre铆ble", dijo.

鈥� escrito por Christina Abel, traducido por

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