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(July 16, 2012) A summer immersion program for elementary school students in nearby Hall County helped children polish their language skills and the North Georgia College & State University interns who taught them improved their skills as educators.

A summer immersion program in nearby Hall County paired interns in North Georgia's School of Education with small groups of students from Lyman Hall Elementary School.

"One of the main things that I have learned is that as a teacher you have to teach to each of the different learning levels that students possess," said Katherine Peifer, a North Georgia student-teacher. "It may be more work at first as the teacher, but in the end when you watch a child grow in leaps and bounds, then all the hard work has paid off."

The summer immersion program, a partnership between Hall County Schools and North Georgia's School of Education, was designed to help 5- and 6-year-old students whose native language wasn't English develop language and math skills. The program is part of the yearlong collaborative professional development opportunity for Hall County teachers, North Georgia faculty, and student teachers like Peifer. 

The hard work they're doing as interns is paying off professionally as well. Three School of Education interns have been offered teaching jobs, said Linda Reece, assistant professor in the School of Education. It's a testament to the experience North Georgia student-teachers get through the university's unique partnership with the Hall County School System.

"What we're trying to do is find specific ways we can interact with the school systems and meet their needs, while they're providing our interns with much more authentic-based learning than traditionally we had," she said. "All college and universities have professional clinical practice, that's required. But our students typically do 50 percent more classroom time than is required for certification of student teachers."

Amber George said she feels ready to have her own class of students, thanks to the North Georgia program.

"This whole opportunity has been so great," she said. "I feel when I graduate and get my own classroom that I will be really prepared since I already have had so many opportunities to lead my own classroom independently."

Instruction took place in English during the summer immersion program, but because the North Georgia interns speak Spanish, they also can communicate with children in their native language. The children in the program were from Lyman Hall Elementary School in Hall County, which has a student body that is 95 percent Hispanic.

"This summer, our students worked on specific skill development for challenged learners, and are pilot-testing a Spanish version of a literacy development and curriculum resources program created by faculty at the University of Virginia," said Dr. Robert Michael, dean of the School of Education.

The program wrapped up in June and interns felt they learned a lot in three weeks.

"This summer, I was the lead teacher in the room and therefore had to manage the planning, lessons, activities, behavior, and other classroom issues," Danielle Carver, a student in North Georgia's School of Education. "It also gave us an opportunity to talk to teachers and ESOL staff, gaining a better understanding of what they do and getting tips on how to deal with different issues."