MoWest education students gain hands-on teaching experience at Hosea Elementary

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph School District has teamed up with Missouri Western State University to give future teachers real classroom experience while they’re still in college. 

Through this partnership, education majors at Missouri Western are getting hands-on practice inside SJSD classrooms — especially at Hosea Elementary.  

Hosea Principal Justin McCarthy said the goal is to help aspiring teachers feel comfortable and confident in a real school setting.  

"That way we can just go around, talk to them and have them see the stuff is not scary and support them through that,” McCarthy said.  

Third-grade teacher Zailey Chambers graduated from MoWest in December 2024. She first stepped into Hosea's classrooms as a student in the education program.  

She said being able to observe students, teach lessons on her own and build relationships in the classroom gave her valuable experience before entering the workforce.  

“So after I did my junior experience with them, I ended up applying to Hosea that next year and I did my student teaching as a full-time teacher and that helped me grow these relationships with the students,” Chambers said.  

Advanced Instructor for the Education Department, Rhonda Chesney, said education majors must spend as much time as possible in real classrooms. 

Chesney said students get to practice the management skills, they get to practice the delivery of the lesson and how kids react to the lesson.  

"They reflect on, 'did the children learn the objective that they were trying to teach, and then what would be the next steps for a continuing lesson?'” Chesney said  

Chesney also shared that she and her students regularly visit Hosea Elementary during the school day for a course called Integrated Arts.  

According to Chesney, the partnership between SJSD schools and MoWest has been going strong for five years, giving future educators meaningful classroom experience and helping prepare them for successful teaching careers.