North Forsyth has many pathway options for students to explore various career choices. Teaching as a Profession, taught by Tracy Mooney, is a hands-on class which “gives students the opportunity to learn and experience what it is like to be an educator.” Moony states that the class “is a fun hands-on class that will help in all areas of human service… (it is) about serving others.”

Teaching as a Profession is a three level pathway. The first level, “Examining the Teaching Profession”, is a year-long introduction to education. Mooney explains the class covers “self-understanding, history of education, importance of reading, understanding how to write and designing lessons to teach.” The second and third levels make a combined year-long class which students take during their first and second periods. “Contemporary Issues in Education”, the level two class, helps students to understand “problems and issues that schools face and the impact they have on students.” The third and final level is a Practicum course which places students in feeder elementary schools and prepares them to enter this career through mock interviews.

Mooney has taught the Teaching as a Profession pathway for 17 years.“It is my passion and I want to influence students to go into education,” she comments. Mooney loves making connections with her students and she loves knowing “that my students come back and teach in our county.” 

Teaching as a Profession is a class enjoyed by many students. Junior Maddie Wysocki completed the Teaching as a Profession pathway last school year and explained she “not only liked doing assignments that represented being a teacher but also being able to put those assignments to use during my internship.” Wysocki loved interning at the elementary school and learning how to work with different students and their learning styles, and getting to know them personally.” 

Wysocki volunteers at her church and uses “a lot of different techniques when approaching different situations” with the toddlers. Wysocki admitted she was glad her class “talked about real life issues…happening in the education world without sugar-coating it.” After she graduates, Wysocki plans to go to the University of North Georgia and major in Early Childhood Education. “What I’ve learned in TAAP will help me tremendously when doing what I love,” she commented.

North Alumni Riley Lucas completed the teaching pathway her junior year in 2021. Lucas loved having the opportunity to “go into the classroom and work with the kids each morning” and “creating your own lesson plans and actually getting to help teach.” Lucas loved the hands on aspect of the teaching pathway, some of her favorite things were “writing the storybook and sharing it with the class” and learning the history behind education.  

Currently, Lucas is majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education at UNG while also working in a daycare. Lucas admits “it can be challenging, but using the information taught in the class, especially to deal with students’ behaviors, has really helped.” Lucas added that “having Mrs. Mooney as a teacher just made being in the class and learning fun.”

Junior Brandon Zurblis is a current level two student whose “favorite memories are the many projects we do within the class. Thus my favorite moments were us making our miniature classroom models.” Zurblis also loves the community within the teaching class and “the people and friends I’ve made around me.” Zurblis is currently planning to get his masters degree, then move into a school within a city.

Choosing a career path can be intimidating; however, most students in the Teaching as a Profession pathway had no problem jumping into this career path. Wysocki explained teaching has been her dream for a long time and “being a kindergarten teacher has been my dream since I was in elementary school.” For Zurblis, “the prospect of one day having (his) own classroom and to teach my own kids” drove him to choose this pathway. Similar to many others, Lucas has “always been interested in teaching and when I heard about the pathway (he) immediately signed up.

Interested in the Teaching as a Profession pathway? Lucas “highly encourages anyone interested in the profession to take the pathway.” Something to remember is to only take this pathway “if you have the right mindset and truly consider it as a possible profession,” Zurblis noted. Teaching as a Profession can be fun, but its not for everyone. Anyone considering this class as “a filler class” and can’t see themselves teaching, Wysocki explains, “it probably wouldn’t benefit them to take.” This class is perfect for anyone who truly loves kids or has a hope or passion for teaching. For more information, visit the North’s Career Pathway Page.