Six students from Ashdown High School were recently honored at Southern Arkansas University in an induction ceremony for teacher cadets. The Arkansas Deputy Commissioner of Education, Dr.
Pfeffer, spoke to the students. The Teacher Cadet Program at Ashdown High School is a concurrent credit college class, partnered with SAU, that encourages “academically talented, high-achieving, high school students with exemplary interpersonal and leadership skills to consider teaching as a career.” The Teacher Cadet Program has become the national model for pre-collegiate teacher recruitment programs across the United States. The course will include, among many other things, instructional, motivational, and disciplinary tools for teaching and first-hand knowledge of teaching through practical experience in the elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The Teacher Cadets include Ricky Branscum, Will Burnett, Blaire Gentry, Lannah Huddleston, Anna Moss and Keely Turner. The instructor is Dr. Julie Sheppard.