FARMINGTON — Mckella Ford has been named the 2023 Foster Career and Technical Education Center Student of the Year.
Mckella Ford of Wilton is the 2023 Foster Career and Technical Education Center Student of the Year. Submitted photo
Ford, of Wilton, is completing her second year in the Early Childhood Education program at the center, located on Mt. Blue Campus. She plans to attend University of Maine Farmington where she will study elementary education because she “wants to be a kindergarten or first grade teacher.”
Ford gained her first experience of teaching from her aunt, who is a teacher. “I would go to school with her on days I didn’t have school,” Ford stated. “I would help in her classroom and I really liked it. I have always liked working with kids. In seventh grade was when I decided I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher and I stuck with that.”
Ford volunteered at W.G. Mallett School in Farmington. She has been doing on the job training twice weekly at Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon. She spends part of each session with a kindergarten class, the other half with a first grade class.
“I have learned a lot from going there,” Ford stated.
She also babysits.
For Ford, the most challenging thing in working with children is “when they’re disappointed in themselves,” she said. “So just letting them build up their self confidence and just ways to approach them that would be the most effective way to help them in the future. Because it’s important for them have that confidence, when you’re able to bond with them. And you just want to see them succeed.”
Ford said working with children is very rewarding. “I’ve had a lot of great mentors, including my aunt, who I started off going to school with, just to help,” she noted. “The early childhood teachers have been huge role models for me, what I hope to be when I’m older. The first grade teacher, Casey Purington, at Cape Cod where I did my on the job training, was also very inspirational. I learned a lot from it.”
“Mckella may appear to be reserved however, her actions display a drive to succeed, not only in my classroom but throughout the school and community,” Sara Spear, early childhood education teacher, wrote in a recent email. “Academically, she is an A+ student with a 99% grade point average. The work she produces far exceeds the class expectations. Mckella has a strong work ethic, she is passionate about working with children, which she displays in her quality and integrity on a daily basis in our preschool and her on the job training experiences.”
Bonding with children is what Ford likes most. “It is really rewarding to see when they’re succeeding and how proud they are of themselves and just wanting the best for them, watching them learn and grow,” she said.
The most unusual part for Ford has been seeing all the different behavioral problems in the classroom. While some have been pretty standard, she has seen students trying to overturn tables in their classrooms.
Ford was a member of the Mt. Blue High School field hockey and bowling teams, is on the softball team. She is on the math team, and a member of the International Club, Interact [high school Rotary chapter], and Blue Crew First Robotics Competition Team 6153. She is also class president.
Ford’s summer work plans are to be determined, but whatever she decides, she will continue to babysit on the side.
“You were more than worth the wait,” Mckella’s parents noted. “You impress us every single day with your achievements, strengths, intelligence, perseverance, and the light in your heart. You are just as beautiful on the inside as the out. Because you chose to go into teaching, we are sure you will touch more lives and do more good in this world every year than most people do in a lifetime. As much as we miss the little girl you were, we are extremely proud of the young woman you have become.”
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