If you’re in the Elementary Education Teacher Preparation Program, it goes without saying that you probably enjoy being around children more than adults, you love learning and you would much rather spend your days in a classroom than a cubicle. Now it’s even easier to start at TMCC and complete your degree and licensure thanks to a partnership with Nevada State College.
According to Vannessa Nicholas, Nevada State College Coordinator of Northern Nevada, TMCC students who want to complete their bachelor’s degree in education have another option available to them. Through a new partnership with Nevada State College, TMCC graduates of the AA in Elementary Education Teacher Preparation can complete their bachelor’s degree and licensure requirements without ever leaving Northern Nevada thanks to their online program.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for nontraditional students especially,” said Nicholas, who explained that the B.A. degree offered by Nevada State College can be completed 100% online and around your current commitments. “Students take online classes, and some webcasting classes in order to complete their degree and licensure, so they can stay in Northern Nevada.”
Learning... Your Way
Nicholas, who has a long background in higher education serving as an educator, academic advisor and student affairs staff, said that this program is ideal for non-traditional students who are passionate about becoming an elementary education teacher.
“I have one student in the program who lives in Carson City. She works for the local newspaper and has a four-year-old daughter, so if she had to pursue a B.A. at a traditional four-year college, she would have had to probably have taken two years off of her job to do it,” said Nicholas. “Instead, this student was able to take the online classes from Nevada State College and could continue working at the same time.”
While there is a dedicated curriculum to the program and specific course sequences that students need to take in order, when you complete the work for your online courses is up to you. The student teaching webinar—which occurs in the final semester of the program—has a specific date and time that students must attend (albeit virtually) but the class is held in the evening hours, enabling students to continue their daytime commitments.
“I’m also working with another student who wanted to teach in Northern Nevada,” said Nicholas. “This program has enabled him to do that, and now he’s building relationships with the schools and the district in which he wants to teach.”
Building meaningful teaching placements is also a large part of Nicholas’s duties and another reason why this program might be a perfect fit for prospective educators with their eye on Washoe, Douglas, Storey, Churchill or Lyon Counties. “This program enables students to do their student-teaching and substitute teaching hours in the districts where they want to be employed—they can start early on making those important connections,” she said.
A Cost and Time-Effective Option
If the online nature of the Nevada State College Elementary Education program isn’t convincing enough, the financial benefits are considerable. Because Nevada State College is a part of the Nevada System of Higher Education, any existing scholarships (such as the Millenium scholarship) will continue to help you with your education.
Additionally, Nevada State College offers scholarships targeted at graduates from TMCC in the AA of Elementary Education Teacher Preparation program. A student could earn up to $2,000 per semester if they have above a 3.25 cumulative GPA and they are enrolled as a full-time student (12 credits or more) at Nevada State College.
So don’t let tuition costs, class schedules, and difficult parking situations to get in the way of your dreams of changing the future through your important work as an educator.
Learn more about the transfer agreement with Nevada State College today! For more information about the transfer agreement with Nevada State College, contact Vannessa Nicholas at 775-453-6377 or transferinfo@nsc.edu.