Transfer student named Teacher of Promise 

  Tuesday, December 11, 2018 9:00 AM
  Academics, People and Society, News

Pittsburg, KS

 

Madison Freeman has gone full circle, as the saying goes. 

As a middle school student who excelled in math, the Commerce, Oklahoma, resident took Algebra 1 along with a few classmates in 8th grade. 

That experience, and her teacher, inspired her to seek a degree teaching math at the secondary level. 

In January, she’ll be back in an eighth-grade classroom, this time as a newly-graduated teacher who earned recognition from Pittsburg State University’s College of Education as one of two Teachers of Promise. She’ll receive that award in a ceremony planned for Monday morning at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts. 

“Having my own classroom is so exciting," said Freeman, whose last day student teaching at Miami (Okla.) Middle School was Wednesday. "I got a taste of that this week, when the kids I was student teaching brought me candy, a homemade pair of slippers – which was the coolest thing ever – and things I’ll need to save for a scrapbook. I taught for them six weeks, we made such a great connection, and it reaffirmed that I made a great choice to become a teacher.”  

Freeman transferred to PSU from NEO as the recipient of a transfer scholarship. 

“The education program here is so strong, and it’s close enough I was able to drive back and forth,” said Freeman of PSU. “But I had no idea when I came here just how many opportunities there would be to actually spend time in classrooms, going to school districts, interacting with kids, to get experience.” 

“I also had great encouragement from my professors. People like Dr. Coltharp, my math advisor, who is really, really good at what she does, and she’s also good about getting you excited about what you’re going to do,” she said. 

In January, she’ll begin teaching at Tahlequah (Okla.) Middle School. 

“I was really shocked to be picked for this,” she said of the award. “It’s a great way to finish up my semester.”