By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – For Sam Heitz, there was never really any question.
He’s always planned to pursue a career in education.
“Both of my parents are educators. Both of my grandmas are educators. It just kind of presented itself to me,” he said.
Heitz grew up in Wakefield and graduated from high school in York. Now, he’s a senior studying music education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
“There’s just something special about music in an education setting,” he said. “It’s cross-curricular. Music involves math and science and history and language, so it can help bring all of these subjects together. It’s also a form of communication. Music has a wonderful way of bringing people together.”
During his time as a Loper, Heitz has been involved in campus choirs, the Pride of the Plains Marching Band – he’s a drum major this year – and organizations such as the Elementary Educators Club, Secondary Educators Club and National Association for Music Education.
That’s one of the things that stands out about the UNK music education program – “everyone is involved in everything.”
“I really like our professors,” Heitz said. “They’re very kind and very knowledgeable about what they do. They’re always willing to work with you to help you have the best college experience that you can.”
His experiences off campus have been equally valuable.
Heitz has spent time in several elementary classrooms, observing educators, co-teaching and leading his own lessons. He also led summer music lessons and coordinated the Ukulele Club as an instructor for the Kearney Family YMCA creative arts program.
“All of these experiences are so important because there’s only so much a textbook can teach you and there’s only so much the professors can do to prepare you for the classroom,” Heitz said. “There are some things that you just have to learn by doing it.”
As he prepares to student teach next semester, Heitz couldn’t be more confident in his career choice. But he still has one big decision to make.
“I know I want to teach in Nebraska, I’m just not totally sure where yet,” he explained. “We’ll see what opportunities present themselves.”
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Heitz was among the more than 200 UNK students who attended Thursday’s Education Opportunities Fair at the Nebraskan Student Union on campus.
Organized by UNK Academic Advising and Career Development, the semiannual event gave future teachers a chance to connect with representatives from roughly 60 school districts and educational organizations across Nebraska and beyond its borders.
Kinsey Talbert, human resources and payroll manager at Wray School District, made the 3 1/2-hour trip to Kearney to promote student teaching and professional opportunities in the rural Colorado community. It was her fourth straight year recruiting at the Education Opportunities Fair.
With an emphasis on “putting kids first,” Talbert said the UNK programs mirror the school district’s goals and ideals.
“We feel like UNK students will mesh well into our district and our community because they have the same beliefs and morals that you will find in our small town,” she said.
Talbert talked about education as a way to change lives and give back to the community. Facing an upcoming “retirement boom” among current teachers, she was looking for students interested in starting their careers in Wray. The district offers housing assistance and stipends up to $5,000 to help student teachers get their foot in the door.
“We want to help them grow in their educational futures,” Talbert said. “We want to support them and give them guidance and mentorship while they’re here, then they can decide if this is a place where they’d like to be long-term.”
Like the northeast Colorado district, Schuyler Community Schools also offers financial incentives for student teachers, along with benefits that allow full-time employees to advance in their careers.
Alicia Keairnes, an elementary principal in Schuyler, believes these are important selling points as districts across the state combat a “critical” teacher shortage.
“Being in education, there’s always room for growth,” she said. “In a lot of careers, it’s harder to move up the ladder, but education offers opportunities to increase your pay and advance to higher positions.”
There are other rewards, too.
“You have such a large impact on so many people,” Keairnes said. “It’s not a hidden profession by any means. You are out front, making an actual impact in communities and the lives of so many people. It’s a career for people who truly want to make a positive impact on the world.”
Currently, Schuyler Community Schools has open positions to fill, so Keairnes and fellow elementary principal Bill Comley were interested in upcoming graduates who want to start working in January. They also hoped to create connections with younger students that could pay dividends down the road.
“We’ve built a lot of relationships at events like this over the years,” Comley said. “Some of our hires started with conversations at a career fair.”
