By Abby Rathburn | Staff Writer
This year marked the seventh Baylor student honored as Clinical Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas in the last nine years.
Bella Howell, Class of 2025 graduate from Southlake, was honored as Clinical Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas for her student-teaching position during her senior year.
The distinction involved a drawn-out process of interviews but served as recognition of excellence in the teaching field. Newly married and recently moved to Georgia, Howell had a lot going on during the process.
“I just went back to teaching like normal, not thinking anything of it, and then I got that email, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is crazy,’” Howell said.
As part of their degree plan, undergraduate students participate in a senior-year internship involving on-site work, gaining hands-on experience before entering the workforce.
“I just felt like I had a good understanding of classroom management,” Howell said. “I had a good understanding of things I needed to teach on the first day of school because I had seen that before. The school of ed at Baylor is incredible and prepares people so well to be able to be good teachers.”
That sense of confidence and understanding reflects the Moody School of Education’s broader mission to educate “individuals who improve society through leadership, teaching, research, and service within their professions and communities,” according to their website.
Associate Director of Assessment and Professional Development Lisa Osborne said the School of Education’s goal is to prepare students for the classroom after college.
“We do something called co-teaching where we really emphasize that from day one when they walk into that classroom, they are meeting the needs of students together every single day,” Osborne said. “Because we’ve done that, I think it just means that our student teachers, our candidates, are just so much better equipped to do really excellent work.”
Unlike many other institutions, the School of Education’s hands-on approach prepares future educators for real-world challenges. In difficult times, Howell learned to lean on her faith.
“It’s that Christian aspect that just allows you to get through the hard things,” Howell said. “Teaching sometimes is hard, and being able to rely on Christ to get me through gives me patience and kindness and all the things I need to be a good teacher. Baylor definitely taught me a lot of that.”
Although her mother was a teacher, Howell was unsure of her calling upon arrival on campus. In her first semester, she took business and education classes to learn more about both fields. But it didn’t take her long before she found where she was meant to be.
“My first class that I took in the School of Education, it was the intro to education class, and as soon as I sat down in that class, I was like, ‘This is where I am meant to be,’” Howell said.
What began as a moment of realization became a series of experiences that affirmed her calling. During her senior year, Howell participated in a study abroad, another aspect of her undergraduate experience that prepared her for the honor.
“I did the London study abroad program, and it was the best experience,” Howell said. “It was so much fun, and I have made lifelong friendships from it … It was the same sort of thing. I went into the classroom every day and they were so cute and it was so fun and I learned a lot from that, too.”
