The Mini-Mustang Preschool is a lab-class offered to juniors and seniors want to be involved in a future career involving educating young minds.

The program is increasingly becoming a great opportunity for students that are interested, or want an opportunity to explore teaching as a career. The class is meant to teach curricular subjects to three and four-year-olds.

High school students gain experience for future teaching careers, and gain knowledge on the growth of children. They also develop lesson plans, teach age-appropriate activities, and curricular subjects. Lesson plans are usually used with the knowledge and experience from previous classes such as the Child Development and Early Childhood Teaching Lab classes.

“The high school students work very hard to learn the techniques and pedagogy associated with teaching pre-kindergarten students. They spend a great deal of time developing lesson plans and teaching strategies for each preschool student in the class.” Music Department Chair Mr. Devany said.

The students also have to know how to adapt to different situations and circumstances. Since the local community is so diverse, the students have to adapt to different ethnicities, languages, and cultures.

“We have one student that came in only speaking Russian, which we had to adapt to, and we have a couple of other students from different races and ethnicities,” Gilbert explained.

High-school teachers can be extremely busy during school hours, and would want a safe environment for their children to engage in learning. This program is specifically made for those parents.

“Currently, my youngest son Liam is enrolled.  I love hearing about his “day in preschool.”  He  stops by the music area when his class ends.  Liam opens up his backpack and shows me all the things he learned and his artwork.  If I’m lucky, he will even sing me a song they learned that day.” Devany said.

The preschool is based on the community, and a low-cost option for parents locally. It helps parents out when they might be busy, or simply looking for a reasonable option for schooling.

“[It is] an affordable option for preschool parents in the community.” said Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Ms. O’Rourke.