By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
LEEDS – The newly renovated courtyard at Leeds High School was put to good use on May 2 when staff and senior students celebrated Career and College Signing Day.
Many wore the shirts of the colleges they plan to attend to: Montevallo, UAB, Troy, A&M, Samford and so on during the celebration. Some students danced to music that played through the entire event, briefly joined by career coach Catrice Thomas, who hosted the occasion.
The celebration at Leeds High School was part of a national event that other schools take part in, Thomas said.
“It’s a national event celebrated in May to highlight the decisions that all of the seniors make,” she explained. “Whether they’re going to school or what school they’re going to, if they’re going to work, if they’re going to the military but this is just the time to celebrate them in a nice little fun way.”
Several students at the high school intend to going to the Army, Navy and Marines branches of the U.S. Military, Thomas said, while others have already been given offers after attending the Academy of Craft Training.
“A lot of kids made some good decision,” Thomas said.
Teaching as a career was a fitting part of the signing day.
A sponsor from the Future Teachers of Alabama (FTA) was present during the event with two seniors who plan to go into education as careers. Carlie Swindle explained that FTA is an organization dedicated to encouraging students interested in becoming teachers. This was FTA’s first time at Leeds High School for a signing.
“It is a field that is lacking teachers,” she said. “And this is just to kind of give students an opportunity to see what education is like, if they think they’re interested in education. They get mentoring. They also get peer teaching, going to the schools, do a lesson plan, implement the lesson plan into the classroom and just get an idea of what education is like before they enter into the collegiate field.”
The seniors, Lisa Ragsdale and Avery Ford, signed letters of commitment to show that they will “follow out their education journey” as they head into the field of teaching.
“So it’s not a scholarship or anything, it’s just saying that they are committed to becoming a teacher and to help educate the future of Alabama,” Swindle said.