A single school district in Atlanta’s metropolitan area placed 32 student teachers from Grand Canyon University this semester.
It’s so uncommon – at most, a handful might be placed in one district – that College of Education leaders singled out an alumna at the center of that Lope invasion of DeKalb County School District.
Chelonnda Seroyer, DeKalb’s field experience coordinator, is one of GCU’s biggest cheerleaders.
“GCU was really a leader in this space of allowing candidates to get online degrees that were rigorous and very much so relevant,” she said. “The fact they were able to get this many candidates (in their schools) speaks to the quality of the program.”
She says education students in Georgia have dozens of online options but “there is a reason why they chose Grand Canyon.”
“What I hear from GCU students is they say, ‘We didn’t feel like we were attending an out-of-state school because they were so communicative and responsive and made the process much less stressful.”
Only one other university, hometown Georgia State University, has more student teachers in the DeKalb system, which is third largest in the state with 138 schools.
Marne Verdusco, a GCU teacher placement counselor, says she has worked with Seroyer for many years, and she always takes extra care of GCU candidates. "She truly cares about the teachers in her district, and the teacher candidates that we all work with," she said. "She is nothing less than outstanding when working with me each and every semester."
One example is Columbia High School, where Principal Dr. Pammy Darden says two student teachers on her staff this semester are getting master’s degrees from GCU – Erika Thompson, who works with children with disabilities on social skills, and Christopher McCord.
“They have been doing well, and are dependable and dedicated," Darden said.
Thompson, who expects to complete her master's in special education next month, said GCU helped her excel in the classroom, teaching her "teacher preparedness, and so much more about the logistics of teaching and all that it entails as far as knowing the language of special education, right down to classroom management procedures."
Seroyer knows the quality GCU students can bring to a school. She’s been there, earning her master’s degree in educational leadership from GCU in 2011.
“With the professors I didn’t feel like I was out there alone trying to figure it out,” she said. “There was no mystery to what classes I needed. Everything was clear and up front, and I was able to clear a path to graduation that fit my life at that point.”
When she became DeKalb’s field experience coordinator 6 ½ years ago, she recalled her own student teaching experience. “I felt lost in classroom management. I wanted so badly to not be like the classroom I was student teaching in.”
A friend suggested Harry and Rosemary Wong’s book, “The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher,” a how-to manual on classroom management that sold millions of copies, and it helped her so much she became a teacher of the year in Alabama and contacted the author to thank him. He invited her to tour with the book, and she lectured worldwide with the Wongs, including at GCU in 2013.
Her main message was having structure and consistency in the classroom and a strong, healthy relationship with students.
“So I have a passion for teachers,” Seroyer said. “I knew the value of really strong field experience as a foundation for a long career in teaching.”
It wasn’t long before she sought out GCU products, with the help of Verdusco in Phoenix and university development counselor Artell Chaney in Georgia.
To her, the reasons for the large numbers of GCU placements in Georgia go beyond changes in Georgia that allow paraprofessionals to continue their jobs while doing field experience requirements.
“I think it is because of the robust curriculum at GCU, and their field experience office. They uncomplicate it,” she said. “I worked with 26 universities, so I see how they process things, and GCU is very organized, and they are very clear about the requirements. They are not confusing.
“And although they are in another state, they don’t feel so disconnected. It attracts candidates when they know they have that level of response from a field office that is committed to ensuring they have everything they need.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at mike.kilen@gcu.edu
***
Related content:
