OHIO Chillicothe teacher candidates practice interview skills with local educators

Ohio University Chillicothe’s graduating education majors participated in mock interviews this week with local educators and administrators to help sharpen their interview skills and prepare for the job search while learning what their local school districts seek in new teacher candidates.

Associate Professor of Instruction Karen Corcoran, who serves as regional coordinator of professional internships in teaching for the Patton College of Education, hosts the unique bi-annual event with support from other education faculty at OHIO Chillicothe.

“This annual event benefits both our graduating teacher candidates and the school districts in our surrounding area,” Corcoran said. “The teacher candidates get to practice this important job search skill, and the local administrators get to practice interviewing and meet viable candidates for teaching positions in their school district. This event also allows Ohio University Chillicothe to continue cultivating strong relationships with our partner schools that host our teacher candidates in clinical field opportunities, including the capstone internship (formerly called student teaching).”

Matt Henry is graduating this semester from Ohio University’s Patton College of Education with a Bachelor of Science in Middle Childhood Education. An Air Force veteran, Henry completed his professional internship in a ninth-grade classroom at Unioto High School this fall. He serves in the Air Force Reserves and will deploy next year before launching his teaching career.

He said the mock interview day helped prepare the graduating teacher candidates for their next steps.

“We learned what kind of educators our community calls us to be. I can't think of a better capstone to a wonderful college experience than that,” Henry said.

Chillicothe Primary School Principal Dustin England appreciates the partnership between Chillicothe City School District and Ohio University Chillicothe and the opportunity to interact with teacher candidates as they prepare to enter the workforce.

“We're always searching for candidates, even if we don't have jobs (posted), and this is a nice opportunity to see if they're going to be a good fit for us," England added.

Eric Tattersall, assistant principal of Miami Trace Elementary School, said he was glad to connect with the Ohio University teacher candidates as well as the OHIO Chillicothe faculty who teach them.

“For Miami Trace (School District), it was a great opportunity to meet future educators, to introduce ourselves, to teach them a little bit more about our district, or at least educate about who we are as a district and what we stand for, and our core values and our core beliefs,” Tattersall said.

Katie Dettwiller is graduating this semester with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. She completed her professional internship at Portsmouth Elementary School and appreciated hearing feedback from school administrators after her mock interviews.