Second year cadet teaching student Miranoctis Freel launched her beginning of the year project last week. Mishawalk This Way! is a project designed by Freel in an attempt to get students and staff at Mishawaka High School (MHS) thinking about their health. The project is characterized by a design of paths and trail markers. The paths are formed by the hallways throughout the first and second floors. Green arrows point participants in the right direction. The trail markers along these mapped out paths tell walkers the number of miles walked so far and how many miles there are to the next marker. The first floor path covers a total distance of one mile. The second floor has two trails that cover a fourth mile and a half mile.
Though Freel was given a prompt to follow, she decided to make it her own. Freel designed all aspects of the project, including the designing of the paths, trail marker signs, research, and advertisement of the project. She designed a pamphlet including information on both the Mishawalk This Way! project and other general health information.
However, much more went into the Mishawalk This Way! project than meets the eye. Cadet Teaching Coordinator Jessica Mann was passionate about the deeper meaning of the project and the behind the scenes work that went on with it. “I wanted students to have to interact with multiple stakeholders as future teachers, not as ‘students’. This project took Mira to central office to speak to the Benefits Coordinator for the district. She also spoke with Mrs. Foley, our MEA union president, about the health issues that affect teacher benefits and salaries. Mira had to get help from several teachers, as well and this helped her see how people collaborate and interact in a building to get things done,” said Mann.
Admittedly, Freel was unsure about the amount of success she might have with the project. “I’m hoping it gets students thinking about their health. I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make. I’d like it to, though,” said Freel. Freel believed the project was more focused on the teachers than the students, however, and was excited about the interest teachers and staff seemed to have in the project. “I think it’s nice to be doing something for teachers, for a change,” said Freel.
After the project, Freel will be going into an elementary school during her Cadet Teaching class to get more hands-on experience in the field and build upon her in-field experiences from first year. “I am excited to try new things this year. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and I enjoy helping the children and making a difference,” said Freel.