Internship Profile: Teacher ED
Lara Lichty – Elementary Education, The Chicago Center
As both an elementary education major and a person with an avid interest in learning the Spanish language, I thought spending a semester at the Chicago Urban Life Center would be perfect. I could complete my student teaching there as well as spend time in a bilingual school teaching both English and Spanish.
Once there, I discovered that my placement in a bilingual school had fallen through. My placement ended up being a fifth-grade classroom at the magnet school Galileo Scholastic Academy of Math and Science. I was under Mr. Cupicciotti and had 34 students of mixed racial background and very mixed ability levels. Although it was not a bilingual school, a big disappointment for me, a majority of the students at the school did speak Spanish.
Getting used to the city was interesting. Since Chicago is built on a grid, it was very easy to find my way around, even as a small-town girl. Riding the buses, as well as chasing after them, became natural. My seven-mile commute took an hour each morning, and it was evident that city life would require much more patience than I had.
Racism presided all over the city, which surprised me. I guess my isolation from diversity in Kansas gave me the impression that racism was not an issue among my generation. I was wrong. I lived on the south side of Chicago, which to most people means the dangerous part of Chicago. I never felt threatened by anyone, but the comments I got on the street were a harsh welcome to reality. If I stood at certain bus stops alone, men would ask me if I was lost. “A white girl standing at this corner. . . Don’t you know that white girls get raped here?” When I went out with a group of fellow students, cars would stop to see if we needed directions because they thought we white suburban residents should not meander the South Side. I felt like it was the 1960s again. Will we ever learn that people are just people, or will there always be this bitterness?
The most prominent message following me home was that learning occurs everywhere. My students taught me much more than they will ever realize, perhaps much more than I will ever realize. I learned a lot from my cooperating teacher, Mr. Cupicciotti, as well. However, learning also occurs on the subway, on the bus, at the theatre and while walking home from work. You learn from people singing on the streets. You learn from a lost woman who doesn’t speak English. You learn from your roommates who have gathered from all over the nation. You learn from your neighbors who secretly look out for you every afternoon at the bus stop. In the end it matters very little that my fluency in Spanish didn’t get much better. I still gained so much from my experience.
I think it would be safe to say that the most important lessons I have learned while in college have not come from a textbook. I have had chances to travel the globe, spend time in a range of schools, and now, live and work in a city. When I think about the kind of educator I want to be, I am so thankful to have been presented with such an opportunity.
Nicholas Grummert is a senior elementary education major, also completing his ESL endorsement. He began his student teaching in a fourth grade classroom at Washington Elementary School, and is now working on the ESL portion of his experience at Cottonwood Elementary School in Salina. 
Brendan Netherton is a senior physical education and health major. He anticipates student teaching in the spring at Goessel High School.