NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University student Ella Reitzell is putting her education coursework into practice in the community where she grew up through student teaching at South Grant Elementary School.
Reitzell, a senior elementary education major from Grant Parish who attended school in the parish, is completing her student teaching in a first-grade classroom under cooperating teacher Stacy Slayton.
“This experience has taught me a lot, and it has made me really fall in love with teaching and being in the classroom every single day,” Reitzell said.
Reitzell said she has wanted to become a teacher since childhood.
“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. I used to play school in my room, and I was always the teacher,” Reitzell said. “I always viewed teachers as basically celebrities when I was young, and so I couldn’t wait until I grew up and could be a teacher.”
NSU teacher candidates gain experience in P–12 classrooms throughout their education coursework, progressing from early field experiences to residency and student teaching. During student teaching, candidates work with a cooperating teacher and university supervisor who provide guidance and evaluation.
Reitzell said her coursework at NSU gave her the foundation she needed before stepping into the classroom.
“Before you can really go into a classroom, you have to have all the background knowledge of how to teach a lesson, how to prepare a lesson, basic classroom expectations, rules and procedures, and NSU has prepared me for every bit of that,” Reitzell said.
Working directly with first-grade students has given Reitzell an opportunity to apply that preparation while learning how to respond to individual students and their needs.
“Being in here versus in the college classroom has taught me how to deal with students, how to connect with them and help them grow on their own levels,” she said.
The experience has also helped Reitzell build confidence as she prepares to transition from student teaching to leading a classroom of her own.
“It has made me feel successful and confident in myself to be able to graduate and actually go into my classroom next year and be by myself,” Reitzell said.
Reitzell will graduate from NSU in December 2026 and plans to teach fifth grade at Pollock Elementary School.
For information about NSU’s School of Education, visit nsula.edu/academics/colleges-and-schools/gallaspy-college-of-education-human-development/soe/.