Senior Mandy Hammond is an aide at MES for Mrs. Carpenter, District Music Teacher. Mandy wants to pursue a career as a kindergarten teacher at EIU. Mandy chose to help in music an an aide because she also has a love for music and is a member of the MHS band. Mrs. Carpenter said, "having a high school student worker provides additional support, valuable experience dealing with young children, and helps develop leadership skills. This also allows the high school student to explore a future career in music education/education. It also gives them a positive sense of community. Some of the skills that Mandy is learning for her future career as an educator/music educator are as follows:
1. Hands-on opportunity to experience the challenges and rewards of teaching young children.
2. Practice communication skills both verbal and non verbal.
3. Builds empathy and responsibility.
4. Real-World knowledge.
5. Fosters a stronger school community."
Mandy said of her experience at MES: "working at MES has helped me with my career goals by allowing me to work with the age group that I plan on teaching and it let's me have some experience with kids that I know. I feel like the students are always happy to see me and quite a bit of them come up and hug me when they walk into class. Some tell me stories and I love to listen to them! I would definitely recommend helping at the grade school because not only am I learning from them, but I'm having fun while doing it!"