From law to homeschool to the classroom…
Many people, like Colleen Diedrich, have a story about an influential teacher who drove them to be their best. For Colleen, it was a “quirky” ninth-grade science teacher she wanted to emulate.
She says the teacher “…found a way to make biology riveting. She used creative lab partner pairings to make our class a cohesive unit and let us use video technology (which was new and exciting at the time) to make classroom presentations. There was nothing I wanted more than to be like her.”
Instead of becoming a teacher, though, Diedrich stepped away from that initial plan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English, became a paralegal, went to law school and found a position in employment law. After several years, however, the journey did not satisfy her and made her feel “adrift,” so she stepped away to raise her three children.
The turning point
When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Diedrich reached a dead end. She was “…at home with a kindergartener, a preschooler, a two-year-old, and a neighborhood full of other young children who were also stuck at home.” Thus, the Diedrich homeschool experience began.
Diedrich explains:
We started a letter-writing campaign and wrote letters to friends and family members in other states to see how their COVID-19 experiences differed from ours. We did science experiments and art projects. We worked on fine motor skills and language development. We went on scavenger hunts around the neighborhood, testing materials to see if they were magnetic, listening for nature sounds, and searching for shapes and colors. I planned social distancing activities for the neighborhood kids. We made Valentine’s Day art projects and taped them up on the outside of our elderly neighbor’s windows to spread cheer, and I organized a series of virtual book reports that the kids wrote themselves and presented to each other over Zoom. I loved every minute of it.
For the past three years, Diedrich has been volunteering at the preschool her daughter attended. It has been so fulfilling that when an opening became available for a teaching position, she wanted it. Unfortunately, teacher certification was necessary, and she missed the opportunity to have her own classroom.
By now, the reader knows that Diedrich persevered.
The plot continues
Today, Diedrich is a student at CUAA and will soon earn her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with a PreK–third grade teacher certification. The choice to attend has been right for both Diedrich and her family. She says the program allows her to “earn a teaching certification without giving up my job, and have the time to support my children in all their endeavors.”
Attending CUAA for the MSCI program is right for Diedrich, who says she does not “…have to fit commuting time or lecture time into my schedule, and I can do the reading and assignments while watching soccer practice, waiting for theater rehearsal to finish, or while sitting through long hours of dance competitions.”
Each step has prepared Diedrich for the next. Having strong teachers, becoming a lawyer, building a homeschool, learning she wants to be a teacher, and earning her master’s with teacher certification have paved the way for Diedrich as she follows her passion.
Written by Shelly Venema, adjunct professor for the School of Education
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