Washougal High School students gain job experience in Gause Elementary Classrooms

WASHOUGAL — Washougal High School students in the child cevelopment and education course are gaining hands-on job experience by assisting in classrooms at Gause Elementary School. The program exposes Washougal High School students to possible career paths in the education field while earning high school and college credits.

“Students learn highly transferable skills in this class,” said Washougal High School teacher Carla Ecklund. “Students taking Child Development and Education may be interested in becoming teachers, pediatricians, child care workers, paraeducators, children’s dieticians, and more in the future.”

Child development and education is a part of the Career and technical education program at Washougal High School. The class is a prerequisite for the careers in education class that completes the education and training career pathway at the high school. The careers in education courses are designed to allow for early career exploration.

Elementary and high school students both benefit from the extra help in Gause classrooms. Older students are not only helping hands in the classroom, but also serve as positive role models to younger children.

“When we’re mapping out course curriculum, our focus is on how to best prepare students for successful careers and lives in the future,” said Director of Career and Technical Education Margaret Rice. “This class prepares high school students interested in working with children for successful futures. It gives them the opportunity to apply classroom learning while supporting elementary school students in their classroom.”