Eight high schools competed at Moraine Valley Community College’s annual Early Childhood Education Skills Competition in February. Shepard High School took first place while Reavis came in second and Eisenhower ended in third place.
High school students compete at Moraine Valley Community College’s annual Early Childhood Education Skills Competition.
Since 2017, excluding the pandemic years, this competition has been held on Moraine Valley’s campus. Teams of four students from Andrew, Eisenhower, Oak Lawn, Reavis, Richards, Sandburg, Shepard and Stagg high schools participated in the competition.
Students work on creating a lesson plan and materials. Two act as teachers and present the lesson while the other two act as preschoolers. Moraine Valley Early Childhood Education instructors chose this year’s topic – the human body and the five senses. Three judges, who are experts in the field outside of the college, assessed how well the students taught and used the materials within 75 minutes.
“High school competitions require three things – communication, collaboration and teamwork. The fact that teams know other teams are striving to win helped motivate students to become more cohesive and collaborative,” said Gail Ditchman, Moraine Valley Education Program coordinator. “These competitions give high school students a chance to see our campus, ask questions of the early childhood teachers and foster some of the skills that Moraine Valley looks for in a student.”
The event was co-sponsored by the Moraine Area Career System and the college.
For news media inquiries, contact Maura Vizza, Moraine Valley communications specialist and sports information coordinator, at (708) 974-5742 or Vizzam@morainevalley.edu.
