The Times Weekly, web editor
Joliet Township High School is growing their own educators by offering a Dual Credit Course, Exploring the Teaching Profession, in partnership with the University of St. Francis. The innovative course allows JTHS students to gain hands-on teaching experience while simultaneously earning high school and college credit and igniting a passion for education the district hopes will lead to students returning as teachers.
Robert Elkins, a Joliet West High School teacher, completed the Exploring the Teaching Profession course as a senior at Joliet West High School during the 2017-2018 school year.
Immediately after graduating from Joliet West, Mr. Elkins continued his educational plans by pursuing a post-secondary degree in Secondary English Education at the University of St. Francis. While in the college of education program at USF, Mr. Elkins was given the opportunity to gain exposure to a variety of classroom settings very early on.
“My very first field experience was placement at Joliet Central in a 9th grade English class. I enjoyed every second of being in the classroom, from observing a veteran teacher, putting into practice pedagogical approaches I learned in my college courses, and, most importantly, building relationships with students.”
Although Mr. Elkins was intrinsically committed on becoming a teacher, he attributes a lot of his success to MERIT, a program at the University of St. Francis that is intended to recruit and prepare teachers that match student demographics.
“In school, I never had a teacher that reflected my cultural background. This is one of the reasons why I chose the profession, among many others.”
Mr. Elkins finished his senior year at USF during the 2021-2022 school year where he completed a year-long student teaching internship at Joliet West.
Currently Mr. Elkins is a proud freshman English teacher at Joliet West High School.