Photo by Brad Franklin
Courtney Johnson, standing, is this year’s top junior teaching cadet at Goochland High School. Johnson recently paired high school students like Lara Bentley, left, with fourth graders at Goochland Elementary, like 10-year-old Josie Summitt, for a project on France.

Johnson, a student, loves to teach
BY BRAD FRANKLIN

May 06, 2008

Junior teacher cadet spends time doing a lot of both

Courtney Johnson is a bit of a hybrid. On the one hand, she spends a great deal of time being a student. But she also spends a lot of time and energy on being a teacher. And the on-the-job-training she has received this year has only strengthened her desire to make that teaching aspect a predominant part of her future.

Johnson, 16, is one of Goochland High School’s inaugural teacher cadets. As part of the program headed by Shannon Orr, Johnson and the other cadets spent this year not only learning how to be a teacher but also doing in-classroom work throughout the school system.

As part of her field experience, Johnson, who was tabbed this week as the Top Junior Teacher Cadet of the Year, has been working with Zoe Parrish’s fourth grade class at Goochland Elementary School.

Since February, Johnson has been teaching French to seven of the students while others had remediation time.

The fourth graders, who haveall been given French names, have learned a number of things about the country in addition to the basics of the language, such as numbers.

In a project that merged both GES and the high school, Johnson paired seven of David Trumbo-Tual’s French 4/5 students with her fourth graders.

“The basic idea was to have them work together to learn different vocabulary words and have them learn more about France,” Johnson said.

Each group was given a specific aspect of France to study. One group, for example, had food while another had culture and another history. They were required to write a paragraph about their research topic and draw a picture.

Johnson, who took three years of the language herself, said the time spent being the teacher to kids her own age as well as the fourth graders has been tremendous.

“I really enjoy teaching the younger kids,” she said. “And I think this experience has made me even more sure that that’s the age group I want to teach.”
Parrish said that seeing her students work with Johnson has been a real treat.

“It has been amazing to see the kids and the way they respond to her,” Parrish said. “I have been astounded by what she’s been able to do with them.”

The fourth graders’ enthusiasm for French goes beyond times when Johnson is there, she added. In fact, they even practice on days when Johnson isn’t teaching.

In her third year herself, Parrish said Johnson is exactly what her profession needs.

“If she doesn’t become a teacher, the world of education will be missing out.”

To Johnson, teaching doesn’t really feel like work, though.

“It’s my favorite thing to do,” she said with a smile. “And I know it’s something I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life.”

Johnson said it was great to be able to have the experiences she has had as a teacher cadet and to know that she’s on the right path.

“A lot of my friends have no idea what they want to do,” she said. “I know this is it for me and that’s a big deal. It makes things a lot easier.”

Said Orr, “She inspires me to be a better teacher.”

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