By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
Prospective Baylor students previewed the School of Education (SOE) at Monday’s first-ever SOE expo.The expo, aimed at high school seniors in the process of applying to Baylor, gave the prospective pupils a peek at what Baylor’s School of Education has to offer.
Dr. Jenifer Johnson, associate director of recruitment and first year experience for the School of Education, said the expo was designed to cover the most important aspects of an SOE education.
“We start the day off with lunch in Penland, we have a welcome session and then we come here and we are participating in education sessions,” Johnson said. “They get to hear from the Impact Living-Learning Center program director, financial aid, current students and the certificate coordinators in the School of Ed.”
Dr. Barbara Purdum-Cassidy was one of the coordinators fielding questions from the high school seniors and their families. Purdum-Cassidy said her role was to show students what a School of Education degree plan looks like.
“The goal of this particular session is to provide an overview of the four years as a student at Baylor—what does that look like in the School of Education?” Purdum-Cassidy said. “Then let them ask any questions that they want to and provide a little bit of an overview of what the degree looks like… what kind of experiences can they have?”
Purdum-Cassidy also said meeting the School of Education’s future students was an exciting opportunity.
“It lets us get the word out and it lets us meet our incoming students,” Purdum-Cassidy said. “That’s what’s so exciting… to meet our future: the students we’re going to teach.”
The School of Education’s student ambassadors also spoke to the prospective students. Austin freshman Anna Murray said there were two things above all else she wanted prospective students to know.
“Baylor is the most loving and welcoming place anyone could ever be a part of,” Murray said. “If we’re talking specifically the School of Education… [the faculty are] there to prepare you, to shape you to become the best teachers that you can possibly be.”
With this year’s SOE expo being the first ever, the group of prospective students were the first to experience the benefits of the expo’s crash course in college preparation. Murray said if the option had been available to her as a high school senior, she would have taken full advantage of it.
“It’s very good to hear perspectives from other college students [that have been] through a very similar experience in college and are there to help guide us through our decisions,” Murray said.
