When high school students go to school, it is typically to learn something at school, but five Norwin High School students go to school to teach.
Norwin seniors Avery Waszo and Sydney Valenta as well as juniors Vivian Gale, Torrie Rhodes, Bartalina Furin go to school like any other student, but for three juniors they learn school in the morning and for two seniors they learn school in the afternoon, they leave the school to go to the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center to teach elementary school children through the Aspiring Educators Program.
The Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in in New Stanton is a part-time career and technical school for high school students from 10 sending districts, offering programs in fields like automotive, cosmetology, culinary arts, and health occupations, alongside adult education courses, one of the schools that send students to this place is Norwin High School and one of the programs that they offer is Aspiring Educators.
According to the official Central Westmoreland website: ”This program [Aspiring Educators] is geared toward students interested in becoming educators, preparing them for a career at the elementary and/or secondary school building levels. This course facilitates teaching candidates the ability to apply leadership, ethics, communication, and decision-making skills from various settings to contemporary challenges in building-level educational situations. It also serves as the platform that initiates development by planning lessons based on national and state teaching standards and the program task list outlined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Relevant and contemporary educational literature will be used to accomplish course goals and frame our classes.”
The program is made up of junior and senior members and consists of students from all over Central Westmoreland. 11th-grade students learns about professional teaching practices, and for the last 30 minutes of class they get experience working with teaching children. Seniors are learning about professional teaching practices as well, and on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they participate in the practicum ( pre-student teaching ).
“Mr. Colcombe recommended me for the program after I completed both Child Development courses at the high school,” said the president of the Aspiring Educators program, senior Avery Waszo. “I filled out an application and completed the requirements, including an interview, before being accepted.”
The program is also very difficult to get into, and they only take a couple of students from each school. Students have to talk to your guidance counselor, and they will send you the paperwork to do, and then you have to write an essay and get letters of recommendation, and finally do an important interview to see if you are a good person for the program.
“It [Aspiring Educators Program] teaches me how to work with kids and how they think and many other things like the pain in teaching and the facts behind it,” said senior member Sydney Valenta.
One of the main things that students do in the Aspiring Educators Program is go to an actual classroom and help out the teacher. First year students in the program get to pick an elementary classroom from kindergarten to fifth grade to complete their practicum at Stanwood Elementary (where the program is held). 2nd year students get to pick an elementary classroom from kindergarten to 8th grade to complete their practicum. The students go into classroom to help out the teacher by create activities for the children, organize/create classroom materials, assist individual students, and participate in general student interaction.
Students in Aspiring Educators Program also have opportunities to participate in extra education enrichment opportunities or competitions. There are two types of competitions: the first one is through Educators Rising, and the second one is Skills USA competitions, which is a vo-tech organization but is available for all, vo-tech students. Both have several options/categories, but they are completely optional.
“Working with children has always had a special place in my heart and always been a passion for me,” said Waszo.
Different competitions have different purposes, such as public speaking, knowledge of early childhood, and speeches on education. In November of 2024, junior member Avery Waszo competed in Skills USA in early childhood education and won regionals, but she wasn’t done there. In March of 2025, she competed in the Skills USA competition and won the state. The second and third time she competed in Skills USA in June of 2025, she even won nationals and became the best in the entire country.
