April 27, 2017
Late last term education student Jordyn Knight travelled from her home in Nebraska to complete the final practical section of her education degree at St John’s Lutheran School in Kingaroy.
Jordyn is a fourth year student at Concordia University, Nebraska, a private university which runs teacher education programs.
One of the programs offered through the university is to travel and experience classrooms and educational practices in other countries.
Jordyn has been working in a Year 4 classroom at St John’s for the past four weeks and says she is thoroughly enjoying the experience.
“‘The first thing I noticed was that even though our cultures are quite similar, the layout of schools are very different, as our schools in America are normally in one building,” Jordyn said.
“The classes are separated into rooms with grade levels close together.
“Lunches are also provided for students and are made by lunch ladies every day.
“We do not have a morning tea and a lunch break, rather we only eat once, at lunch time.
“We also start our school year in August and end in May. We then have a three-month long summer break where kids can go to camp, work with animals for fairs (shows), relax, or get a summer job.
“So I will be returning at the end of the school year.”
Jordyn will return to the States at the completion of her practical work in mid-May.
She has secured a job at Broken Bow, Nebraska, in a Middle School as a Special Education Teacher.
St John’s teacher Naomi Kotzur said the Year 4 class had enjoyed having Jordyn as a student teacher and the various insights she had been able to provide.
“It has been a wonderful opportunity for our students to engage with Jordyn and learn more about another country,” Naomi said.
“The students were astounded that Jordyn had not been to the beach prior to her arrival in Australia. Overall the experience presents benefits to all involved on many levels.”
Principal Helen Folker said the international program had been in place for a number of years.
“Jordyn is the third pre-service student from the States we have hosted at St John’s,” she said.
“We have found that the student’s experience and added insights are valuable not only to our students, giving them a world-wide view but also to share experiences and conversations about educational practices and programs are interesting for our staff.
“It has been lovely to see how Miss Knight has become part of our community, joining in with staff activities and getting to know our families.”
Jordyn was able to do some travel during the recent Easter holidays.
“I have greatly enjoyed traveling around Australia and packed as much in as I could during the last holiday.” she said.
“In two weeks I managed to see Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Brisbane, and Cairns. Each one was beautiful and offered a peek at the ocean, which I had never seen before coming to Australia!”
