Meet Allison: Elementary education

College of Education and Human Development

You get to do classroom observations and have opportunities to start working with children right away as a first-year.

Did you have a favorite teacher growing up?

Growing up, it was my third grade teacher, Mrs. Arabo. She made class so fun. She always made class really interactive and exciting to go to every day.

What is your favorite 51�� recreational activity to do on campus?

One of the activities I really like to go do is go to the hockey games. Western Michigan has a really good hockey team and the crowd is very loud and energetic and it's really fun.

Your best friend is trying to decide where to go to school for elementary education and asks you about Western. What would you say?

One thing I would say about the program is that you get to do classroom observations right off the bat freshman year. Then there's a lot of opportunities to start working with children right away.

How have your interactions with faculty and staff been?

They've been really supportive, giving me a lot of good resources to help me on and off campus. I've made lots of connections with professors and advisors and they're really good to go to for help.

What do you like about the courses?

A lot of the courses are very hands on. We get to do a lot of science lessons that are like what you would do in the elementary classroom. So it's very geared towards elementary based learning. We also get to practice our lesson plans on students, which is really fun.

Why did you choose elementary education?

I always knew I wanted to work with kids, they're really fun and easy going, and I thought education would be the best fit for me.

Elementary education at 51��

The elementary education program prepares new educators to meet the unique needs of learners in Pre-Kindergarten to third grade (PK-3) and in third to sixth grades (3-6) with an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 51�� provides preservice teachers specialized knowledge about the learning needs of children from various contexts and across subjects to be successful in future classrooms.

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