Teaching tiny tots

By Umaymah Rashid
The Collegian

Teaching is not just for education or child development majors anymore. Now, any student from any major can become a preschool teacher.

The Pearson Teacher Fellowship was made possible through a partnership between the Jumpstart program at Fresno State and international media company,

Pearson and allows graduating students from any major with at least 12 units in early childhood education or development coursework to become a preschool teacher while gaining intense orientation and training, a salary, and a stipend.

“It’s really a win-win situation,” Amy Lukianov, director of the Jumpstart Program at Fresno State said.

“You can have the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child, earn a teaching salary, and on top of the salary, you earn a $12,500 stipend over the course of two years.”

Jumpstart and Pearson are hoping that the training provided as well as the $12,500 stipend will be enough of an incentive to encourage students to apply and help fill the void of passionate, well trained teachers dedicated to serving the needs of low-income children.

According to Jumpstart the need is great considering the fact that 35 percent of American kindergarten children arrive at school unprepared to learn while another 50 percent of all children from low-income families start first grade up to two years behind their peers in preschool skills.

Another source of encouragement to students is the fact that students no longer need to be a specific major in order to teach. The hope is that students will teach preschool and eventually another grade level where the need for teachers is also prevalent.

“They wanted to open it up to different majors to increase the number of students that could become preschool teachers,” Neil Dion assistant site supervisor at Jumpstart said. “There is such a great need for teachers currently and getting students to come in to the program may give them the training and experience to where they feel comfortable being a teacher and teaching maybe another grade level.”

Elisa Campos, a preschool teacher at the Huggins early Education center who is considering applying for the program said she thinks the fellowship is a really good thing.

Campos said that many people from different majors who never considered teaching change their mind once they experience what it was really like to be a teacher.

“You have to have the heart for this,” Campos said. “This is a great opportunity to see if this is something that’s built in you.”

Campos also said that any one who becomes a fellow would benefit greatly from the Pearson program.

“Whoever joins will be enriched by the experience of working with low-income children and actually making a difference in their lives,” Campos said.

Lukianov reiterated the benefits of teaching and of the Pearson Fellowship as well.

“I think there are so many people who have a love for children but don’t always have the opportunity to have a double major in teaching and some other field,” Lukianov said. “It’s kind of a nice way for everybody to sample and get a taste of what it’s like to be a teacher and really change the life of a child.”

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