What happens when you grow up surrounded by teachers who encourage you to choose a different career, but your passion keeps leading you back to the classroom?

In this episode of NACCTEP Now, Julie Ferin welcomes Tara Gress, an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher and Early Childhood Education Teacher who began her educational journey at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado.

Tara shares her unexpected journey into teaching, from growing up in a family of educators to working in a correctional facility before finding her way back to early childhood education. As a working mother, Tara balanced a full-time job, college coursework, and raising her daughter, Stevie, while pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher.

Through Northeastern Junior College and the T-PREP teacher preparation pathway, Tara found opportunities and support to continue her education and enter the teaching profession.

Along the way, educators and mentors, including Dr. Valerie Sherman and Donna Brady Lawler, provided encouragement and guidance that helped Tara recognize what was possible.

Today, Tara serves as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher and Early Childhood Education Teacher, making a difference in the lives of young learners.

Her story highlights the importance of accessible teacher preparation pathways, supportive mentors, and the determination of future educators.

Listen to Tara's story of perseverance, family, and finding her place in education.

Learn more at www.nacctep.org.

What happens when you're 22 years old, still finishing college, and suddenly responsible for a classroom of 130 high school freshmen?

Meet Ethan Glenn!

In this episode of NACCTEP Now: Teacher Candidate Voices from the Field, host Julie Ferin sits down with Ethan, a teacher candidate from Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, whose journey to becoming a teacher took a few unexpected turns.

From growing up in a small rural community to exploring meteorology, working in banking, and eventually finding his way back to teaching through the T-PREP pathway, Ethan's story is one of determination, growth, and finding what truly matters.

Ethan opens up about the realities of his first year in the classroom, the challenges of classroom management, the importance of having a great mentor, and those unforgettable moments when students finally understand something you've taught them.

And through it all, he's learning one of the most important lessons of teaching: "I feel to be a good teacher, you always have to have a heart."

Join us for an honest, inspiring, and sometimes funny conversation with a young educator who is finding his way, learning from every experience, and already making a difference in the lives of his students.

What inspires someone to become a teacher? And what happens when those dreams meet the realities of a classroom?

In our very first episode of Teacher Candidate Voices from the Field, a special series of NACCTEP NOW, host Julie Ferin welcomes two inspiring teacher education graduates from Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York, along with their former professor and mentor, Dr. Denise Farrelly.

Jammie Faulkner shares how raising her son with autism inspired her journey into teaching and deepened her passion for supporting children and families. Andrea Ansah reflects on the experiences that led her to early childhood education and the classroom moments that continue to shape the teacher she hopes to become.

Together, they share honest stories about lesson plans that didn't go as expected, overcoming self-doubt, learning through field experiences, and the professors and peers who helped them grow.

And through it all, one message comes through loud and clear. Great teachers aren't born knowing everything. They grow through experience, reflection, and the people who believe in them.

Join us as we celebrate the voices, experiences, and future of the teaching profession.

Community College Voices. National Impact.

This episode has NACCTEP Now in conversation with Dr. Jerell Hill, currently Dean of Counseling and Guided Pathways at Los Angeles City College and Affiliated Scholar at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. Dr. Hill's background from being a first generation community college student through to both public and private universities encompasses more than twenty-five years in education, including as a classroom teacher working with special education students in middle and high school settings before moving into school and district administrative roles. All of these roles have shaped Dr. Hill's research interests which include teacher preparation, academic achievement, educational equity, and student motivation among several other areas.

Dr. Hill discusses the need for leaders to be learners, that students can be both learners and teachers for their teachers. He describes conscious gratitude as honoring and transforming hardships into purposeful successes and achievements, as resilience and determination in the face of the burdens that students face.

His research and work has shaped his new book Developing Conscious Gratitude in Schools: A Blueprint for Shifting from Burdens to Brilliance (Emerald Publishing).

Darcie Peterson of the IRIS Center is back to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the IRIS Center. In this episode she shares how the IRIS Center's modules and resources are constantly evolving based on the latest research-backed information as well as from user feedback. Their primary focus is translating research into high-quality instructional resources that are accessible and flexible.

Among this year's updates are significant revisions to several modules in the secondary transition and early childhood topic areas, as well as the Measuring Behavior case study. Other tools and supports have been relocated to the For Faculty section of the website, including the Wraparound Resources and Navigation Videos.

In order to reduce confusion around earning a downloadable PD certificate for module completion, IRIS has made changes to the module landing pages offering the choice up front regarding whether or not someone wants the certificate or simply to complete the module without earning the certificate which includes pre- and post-tests. They have also removed the module outlines and will be retiring the answer keys on August 31st.

Lastly, Mrs. Peterson feels the hidden gems of the IRIS Center website are the Fundamental Skill Sheets which can be found using the IRIS Resource Locator.

⁠https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/⁠

⁠https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resources/faculty/⁠

⁠ https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/resources/iris-resource-locator/⁠

IRIS Fundamental Skill Sheet Spotlight - ⁠https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vEFTMYqk_R4sEcFINFJt1FrD65Lw0qcU/view?usp=sharing⁠

IRIS Top Tips for Faculty - ⁠https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0v6PEmM-KJ2XN72Mfv20yPIJcVG6ZfX/view?usp=sharing

This special episode bids a fond farewell to Dr. Mark LaCelle-Peterson, Founding President and CEO of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation, AAQEP, and welcomes Dr. Karen Lowenstein to the role. Together they discuss how AAQEP came to be as an accrediting body for educator preparation programs and emphasize that it is not focused on compliance, rather on context and celebrating the innovations of the EPPs that count as their members.

Together with editors Christine DeGregory and Stephanie Schneider, Drs. LaCelle-Peterson and Lowenstein published Locating Quality in the Dynamic Educator Preparation Landscape: Creating Quality in Context (AAQEP Program Evaluation in Education), a collection of experiences from a variety of of AAQEP accredited programs.

Our first episode of Season 5 is a conversation with the NACCTEP Executive Board President, Dr. Lennon Audrain. Listen in as he shares what is on the horizon for the year ahead including our annual scholarships, our latest Fall Institute, our annual pre-conference in February, as well as more exciting resources and programs.

This episode brings listeners to New Jersey where Raritan Valley Community College Professor of Education and Education Program Coordinator Dr. Kathy Suk and Mr. Edward Gordon II, CEO of the Gordon Leadership Academy and founder of the Gordon Leadership Foundation, discuss guiding teacher candidates through RVCC's Associate of Arts in Education K-12 program. During a sabbatical a few years ago, Dr. Suk discovered that 60% of the schools in New Jersey were using the Danielson Framework rather than the New Jersey standards and changed the program to match that. By creating an environment where teacher candidates can feel seen, heard, and valued, Dr. Suk and Mr. Gordon positively influence these students to feel self-confident and to act as leaders among their colleagues and classmates.