Kizer Morando wearing red shorts and gray t shirt, sitting on a stone wall in his front yard in front of a sign that says Future Teacher Lives Here

Tonganoxie High School junior Kizer Morando recently attended the Kansas Future Teachers Academy at Emporia State University. Sponsored by The Teachers College, this immersive five-day course has graduated more than 1,200 high school students since its inception in 1989. Selected students have the opportunity to learn in-depth about what being a teacher entails, including the challenges and rewards of teaching and what it takes to accomplish this professional goal.

Says Kizer, “At KFTA, I learned all about what it takes to be a teacher. I learned about how to engage students and getting to know them. My final project was all about engagement, but that’s not everything I learned about. I learned about how make to make projects and assignments fun and how to handle high school and middle school kids. I learned about inclusion in the classroom and accommodations.... Finally, I learned about the importance of teaching, and all of this reinforced my own idea of wanting to be a teacher.”

Well done, Kizer!