Preparing students to become leaders in their fields is a core component of many programs at Slippery Rock University. Among the students who have experienced that development is Payton Sciere.
Sciere, a senior early childhood education and special education major from Pittsburgh (Avonworth HS), credits the University for giving her the experiences necessary to become an effective and impactful teacher after spending time with leadership training organizations at SRU and student teaching programs through her major.
“You can be sat in a classroom, and you can be taught, ‘This is what you do in this situation. This is what you do here,’ but none of that really matters until you’ve actually had real firsthand experience of it,” Sciere said. “That’s why Slippery Rock is one of the best, because it gets us out there obtaining hands-on experience.”
Sciere aspires to be a third or fourth grade teacher after her graduation. When she originally started that pursuit at SRU, she knew if she wanted to be a future leader of children and in her profession, that was a part of her toolkit she needed to enhance.
“I came into college pretty shy, and I knew as a teacher, I needed to break that habit,” Sciere said. “I need to become a lot more outgoing. And I figured developing my leadership skills was a really great way to do that.”
To do so, Sciere got involved with the Leadership Development Institute at SRU, which is an extended and revamped version of the Emerging Leadership Experience offered through the University’s Office for Student Engagement and Leadership.
LDI encompasses a flexible, personalized curriculum of leadership activities across a four-level program that is available to all SRU students. Students who successfully complete the program may be eligible to apply for the Green and White scholarship and to become peer mentors themselves.
“I’ve become a lot more confident in myself, in my ability to lead a classroom, but that skill is transferable no matter what kind of major you have or what job you’re looking to have after college,” Sciere said.
One of the first opportunities Sciere pursued with the leadership skills she has developed at SRU was taking on a peer mentor role with the LDI. In that role, Sciere leads weekly cohorts of students through co-curricular leadership development in which they learn 60 student leadership competencies, such as research and responding to change and ambiguity.
One of the bonuses of developing as a student leader for Sciere has been helping others gain confidence and leadership skills, a pursuit she will look to continue in her teaching career.
“I’ve ran three or four cohorts now, and it’s so awesome seeing all these freshmen or people who are new to developing their leadership skills come in and flourish in the same way that I did my freshman year,” Sciere said.
Sciere is also part of the Council for Exceptional Children and Early Childhood Club student organizations at SRU. The latter provides opportunities for students looking into careers in early childhood education.
Sciere has been substitute for two years, which allowed her to achieve her student teaching placement and start making connections early on in her professional development process.
“I’m getting into the field before a lot of people from other schools probably are,” Sciere said. “It’s just not stuff that I would have realized I was able to do without the amazing faculty that we have here at Slippery Rock.”
More information about the Leadership Development Institute is available on their SRU CORE webpage.
More information about the early childhood education and special education major is available on the programs’ webpages.
