[Sly Fox]

Students are trained while children enjoy program

By John Barnhart
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 11:47 AM EST

Bedford Science and Technology Center (BSTC) operates a preschool.

It's not a sideline for the principal. One of the programs it offers is early childhood education, a course designed to prepare students to either get a job in a child care facility or pursue post-high school education in the field. The central feature of the program is that students get to work with genuine children. That's where the preschool comes in.

According to Fran Pfaff, who teaches the curriculum, it's a good program for students who want to pursue an associate degree in early childhood education. Students who take the class can get up to six college level credits at Central Virginia Community College.

"Some of my students want to get a four-year degree in teaching," Pfaff noted.

The class is useful for high school students who are interested in this career because it gives them the opportunity to experience working with children. This can help them decide if this is truly what they want to do.

The course can also be a motivator for the high school students who take it. Pfaff said that she has seen students who were not doing well in their base schools improve their grades. She said that some students who weren't considering college change their minds after taking the course.

The class can take up to 20 high school students. At any one time, five students are teaching the preschoolers, taking turns teaching the various subjects. The class includes art time, free play and story time. The children are taught facts like the names of colors and numbers as well as the alphabet.

Teaching preschoolers is done through play, Pfaff said. She said that it's important for small children to get interested in being in school.

Story time involves visuals and the student acting as the day's story teller must incorporate these into the plan. Each student must write lesson plans like a preschool teacher would write.

One of the truths they learn is that no two children are alike. Two children will not necessarily respond to something in the same way. The BSTC students also learn positive behavior management techniques.

They take turns running the preschool, which is run like a business.

"We treat it like a job," Pfaff said.

This means that students must call in if they are going to be absent. If they miss two times without calling in, they get fired. They get to come back after a month, but this serves as a learning about the consequences such behavior in the real world.

To get in the class to begin with, they are required to provide two references and a sworn disclosure form.

At the end of the year, they take the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute exam. According to Pfaff, this is a nationally recognized test.

"It is not an easy exam," said Pfaff. "It is a pretty thorough exam."

There are currently eight preschoolers enrolled in the preschool, which means that Pfaff has four slots that she needs to fill.

"We're licensed with social services," she said. "We take up to 12."

Pfaff prefers a full house because it provides the real-world preschool environment that the high school students need. It costs $22 per month to have a child in the preschool, a fee that covers the cost of supplies. Pfaff said that former students frequently bring in their own children. Three of the young women who currently have children in the preschool are Pfaff's former students.

To enroll a child, call BSTC at 586-3933 and ask for Fran Pfaff or Erni Houser.

Future teachers

For high school students who want to be elementary school teachers, Pfaff runs the Teacher Internship program. Students in this program are college bound and must have the recommendation of their base school's principal and two teachers. They work as teaching assistants with elementary school teachers in Bedford County. Four students from Pfaff's early childhood education program will do this next year.

A number of the students who participate in the internship program come back to Bedford County to teach after getting their degrees.

"We got three new teachers this year that came from the program," Pfaff said.

Pfaff said that colleges have a practical experience requirement in their elementary education degree programs. A number of local colleges accept the Bedford County's teacher internship program as fulfillment of this requirement. Pfaff, who is a 1994 graduate of Liberty University, said that she has an agreement worked out with Liberty to accept the Bedford County program.

In addition to graduating from Liberty, Pfaff had the opportunity to personally tell a key decision maker about the teacher internship program.

"My mom's the dean of education over there," she said.

In addition to Liberty, Pfaff said that Longwood College and Radford University also accept the Bedford County program as satisfaction of their practical experience requirement.

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