As Assistant Director of the Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with Elementary and Secondary Teacher Certification Program, I am continuously delighted to see from which corners of the world the students in our program hail. While being a fully online program might be seen as a disadvantage to some, as students don’t have the opportunity to meet face-to-face in the classroom as they would in other programs, I believe that it is an advantage as the fully online nature of the program means that quite literally anyone in the world can enroll in and become a certified teacher in Michigan through our program!
Like most things in life, it’s all about perspective. Being able to exchange ideas and strategies with peers from a wide variety of teaching situations and locations means that MSCI candidates are able to further deepen their understanding of how K-12 students truly learn and grow.
As our program grows, the number of students not living in or near the Ann Arbor area continues to grow as well. We currently have at least eight students teaching and living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (the UP). My family and I traveled to the UP this summer and where I was excited to be able to meet and spend some time with three of our teacher candidates: Mary Ruonavaara, Karen Crist and Stephanie Kesti. My daughter and Stephanie’s children even enjoyed some play time at Chutes & Ladders Park in Houghton!
Mary and Karen, along with several other students in our program, teach at Copper Island Academy in Calumet. Copper Island received a Grow Your Own grant that is helping them certify all the teachers in their building in collaboration with Concordia. Stephanie is pursuing a teaching certification after serving as a substitute teacher in Calumet Schools; a role that she is looking forward to continuing this coming school year.
In my roles as both a K-8 Reading Specialist and as Assistant Director of this program, I have been interested in the educational model used by Copper Island Academy (CIA). CIA is a K-8 charter school located just south of Calumet Village proper. The school opened in 2021 and its Mission statement is: Copper Island Academy prepares all students for college, work and life success through the implementation of highly effective Finnish education practices while embracing traditional American ideals.
Via email, I was able to speak with Mr. Matthew Laho, an Instructional Coach at CIA and one of the drivers behind CIA’s opening, who told me that CIA takes much of its inspiration from the Finnish model of education and that they have partnered with Tim Walker, author of Teach Like Finland, to bring their vision to life. Arguably, Finland has one of the best educational systems in the world with 93% of Finns graduating from an academic or technical high school compared to 75% in the United States. As an educator, I was aware of the success of the Finnish educational model, but I couldn’t figure out why a group of parents in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula had chosen this model upon which to build their school.
The first Finns to move to the UP were recruited to work in the copper mines in the Peninsula in the late 1800s. Their ancestors remained in the area and it is said that the UP now has the highest concentration of Finns living outside of Finland. Having learned all of this during my visit, it makes sense that CIA integrated ideas from the Finnish educational model into their school!
One of the things that I love the most about CIA is that the students go outside for unstructured play every 45 minutes for 15 minutes regardless of the weather. While observing 2024 program graduate Allyssa Loven Lutz via Zoom for her student teaching, she informed me that the students “would be in the classroom shortly as they’re just finishing up on their time on the ice skating rink”. After I finished proverbially picking my jaw up off the floor, Allyssa was kind enough to walk her laptop to the window so that I could see the children skating.
While there are times that I still lament the fact that many of the students in this program will never meet face-to-face, it is experiences like the ones described herein that remind me that a strong community still exists amongst the students of our program. What we may lack in physical proximity to one another, we make up for in the fact that the different life experiences that are brought to the program make us all better educators in the end. If you’re looking to cultivate a sense of community while getting to inspire the next generation of learners, I encourage you to check out our program. Who knows, maybe next summer my travels will take me to your neck of the woods.
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Concordia’s Teacher Certification Program is the perfect fit for those who currently hold a bachelor’s degree in any subject area but wish to move into the world of education. Our collaborative program allows you to earn both a master’s degree and Teacher Certification online through convenient eight-week, self-paced courses.
—This is written by Stephanie Howay. She serves as the Assistant Director of the Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction with Elementary and Secondary Teacher Certification Program. When she isn’t attending hockey games with her husband and daughter or tending to her garden, you can find her taking walks with her dog Bailey or researching innovative educational models.