A Slippery Rock University graduate student and mother of four is ready to make a new impact in the world by becoming a teacher. Natalie Goodman, a secondary education major from Chicora (North Hills Christian HS), is resuming her career path in education 10 years after she earned her bachelor’s degree and started a family.
Goodman is in her final semester of SRU’s Master of Education program, earning certifications in math and science. She is already contributing to the lives of students in the community as a student teacher in the Karns City Area School District.
Goodman said her greatest value as a teacher is to be someone who cares about and supports students in more than just their educational journeys.
“I want to be that consistent adult in a kid’s life where they say, ‘I can show up to school and I’m going to be welcomed and loved here’,” Goodman said. “Even if I’m not loved elsewhere, I know in Mrs. Goodman’s room, I’m meant to be here.’”
Lessons Learned
Goodman’s desire to be a teacher was inspired by the support she received from her teachers as a kid.
“They would kind of take me under their own wing,” she said. “I always felt like I was loved by my teachers. They always made me feel like I was welcome. I wasn’t just there to take a test and learn something new. They cared about me as a person.”
Goodman has seen the way this support changes a classroom for the better during her time student teaching, and before that, working as a substitute teacher.
“There was one kid that would always give me issues if I was in his classroom,” she said. “Then I got to sub as a co-teacher for someone else, and I got to see another teacher interact with that same student. And it was mind-blowing to me.
“He went to her, something had happened in his personal life that he was concerned about, and before class even started, he went to her and she just discussed it with him. His behavior in that class was so different than anything I’d ever experienced.
Amazed, Goodman asked the teacher about the encounter, and she was told it took time and years of building that relationship with the student.
Goodman is always excited to see these interactions, emphasizing that these experiences build on the reason she wants to be a teacher.
“It changes the entire environment of the classroom;just building a relationship with those kids,” Goodman said.
Life Changes
Goodman did not work as a teacher after getting her bachelor’s degree in education at an out-of-state school, and she did not get her teaching certificate because she could not meet the qualifying standards for certification in Pennsylvania after moving back home. She also got married and started raising children two years after graduating.
“I started a family very young and my focus was just then on being a mom,” Goodman said.
Still, she desired to become a teacher.
When Goodman’s four children were older, she began substitute teaching and realized how much she still loved the profession.
“I really loved being with kids of all ages,” Goodman said. “It’s fun connecting with them and building relationships with them, especially kids you can tell maybe get in trouble a lot or don’t fit in very well.
“I just really enjoyed connecting with them and that was when I was like, ‘Nope, I got to get my teaching degree. Like this is it, this is what I want to do with my life.’”
Choosing The Rock
When Goodman decided to go back to school, she was told that SRU was a great place to go.
“I didn’t go to talk other schools. I went straight to Slippery Rock,” Goodman said.
She is endlessly grateful for how supportive SRU has been for her.
“It was like painless,” Goodman said. “I remember going in-person for an adviser meeting and my adviser had it all written, like the 18 credits of undergraduate work I needed. Besides the fact that I had a 12-year gap between school, it was relatively painless to jump back in.”
She highly recommends the University to any non-traditional students.
“Anyone who has maybe gone a different route in life and is heading back to school with some weird situations, Slippery Rock has been amazing.
“Everything has been like a puzzle piece where it’s worked together perfectly in the time that it needed to.”
Teachers Engaged in the Community
Goodman’s placement at Karns City continues SRU’s strong connection with local school districts through its teacher education programs. Hundreds of student teachers like Goodman are placed in classrooms throughout the region each year. During the 2026-27 academic year, 367 SRU students will complete student teaching, including 257 in spring 2027 — the University’s largest student-teacher cohort in a single semester in more than a decade.
SRU works regularly with more than 100 school districts, creating partnerships that benefit both the University and local schools. These placements give SRU students valuable hands-on experience while bringing aspiring educators into area classrooms to support teachers, engage with students and become part of the school communities where they may one day begin their careers.
More information about the Master of Education program can be found on the program’s webpage.
