OMS Continues Partnership with I.S.U.
On Thursday, October 1, Dr. Keith Tilford’s C&I 395 class
was held at OMS during the afternoon. The class is part of Illinois
State University’s Middle Level Partnership Program. The Middle
Level Partnership Program is a year-long experience designed to
prepare middle school teacher candidates through a combination of
university course work and extensive clinical experiences. It is an
intensive program that requires a professional attitude and
commitment from beginning to end. During the first semester,
university students will gain 350 to 600 contact hours in a middle
school and complete a minimum of 12 university credits. The second
semester consists of actual student teaching at the same middle
school and 3 to 5 seminar meetings.
There are currently 3 middle schools in the area that are part of
the Middle Level Partnership Program. They include Tri-Valley
Middle School, Bloomington Junior High School, and Olympia Middle
School. This school year OMS is host to 3 Illinois State University
students who are part of the Middle Level Partnership Program. They
are Sarah Belton, Justin Wahls, and Gabby Radon. Ms. Belton is
assigned to sixth grade and her cooperating teachers are Mr. Dillon
and Mrs. Griffin. Mr. Wahls is also assigned to sixth grade and his
cooperating teachers are Ms. Boitos and Ms. Schwarting. Ms. Radon
is assigned to seventh grade and her cooperating teachers are Mrs.
Johnson and Mrs. Wade.
These 3 aspiring middle school teachers are currently at OMS on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Some of their responsibilities
at this time involve assisting with teaching lessons, keeping their
own plan book, helping to grade student work, making lesson/plans
for the upcoming clinical block experience, and working to get to
know the students in their classes. After this semester is over,
the 3 students will return to OMS full-time to be student teachers
during the second semester.
OMS is proud to be part of Illinois State University’s Middle Level
Partnership Program. We are glad to help assist teaching future
middle school teachers, and glad also to know that our own teachers
learn and grow from this experience.
