Laurel Ridge hosts Future Educators Academy commitment ceremony

Leaders from Laurel Ridge, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), area public schools, and local and state government welcomed a special group of high school students to the teaching profession, assuring them of their support and encouraging their pursuit of such an impactful vocation, during a ribbon cutting and commitment ceremony Tuesday at the Middletown Campus.

Twenty high school juniors make up the first cohort of the Future Educators Academy (FEA) at Laurel Ridge this fall. The college’s partner, Germanna Community College, enrolled its first cohort in fall 2024. One of the first lab schools to be established in Virginia, the FEA allows students to earn an associate degree in Education at the same time as their high school diploma.

“Germanna has set the bar high,” said Laurel Ridge President Kim Blosser. “We’re going to do well because of all that we’ve learned from them.”

Academy students will be brought each day to Laurel Ridge’s Middletown Campus, where they’ll stay from 8 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Those who successfully graduate from the FEA are guaranteed admission to Mary Baldwin, Mary Washington, Shenandoah and Old Dominion universities, with more agreements pending.

While providing these students with the first two years of college free, and putting them into their own classrooms as soon as two years out of high school, the FEA is also helping to shore up a critical shortage of teachers, especially in elementary school and special education.

Teaching is “life-changing work,” said Ethan Good, policy assistant for the Office of the Secretary of Education.

“As a teacher, you have limitless potential to do good in the world,” he said. “Forty-four teachers start their coursework this fall between Laurel Ridge and Germanna, with 17 returning this year. That’s over 60 future teachers in the pipeline. The academy will change the educational landscape for generations.”

Dr. David Doré, chancellor of the VCCS, shared that he started his career as a high school teacher.

“I would have loved to have had the opportunity to go through a lab school when I went to high school,” he said. “[These students] are getting a significant head start on their post-secondary education.”

“Teachers really are my heroes,” continued Dr. Doré. “You’re preparing to enter what I believe to be one of the most noble professions that there is. You’re demonstrating a commitment that I admire.”

Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent George Hummer spoke of the impact the FEA students will have on society.

“We have the best profession in the world,” he said. “We’re leading youth, we’re building our futures and we’re the starting point for the next stage of our community. All of us have a teacher or somebody that has guided us and has led us. You all are about to feel what that’s like – to lead somebody else, to guide them and to be an impact to our community and our society. Thank you for choosing this career. We will be here every step of the way.”

Before Tuesday’s ribbon cutting, the students took an oath promising to be responsible, dedicated to their studies, and involved with their communities.

“Today is the public affirmation of your commitment to this noble and transformative work of teaching,” FEA Director Lori Killough said. “This journey won’t be easy – most meaningful things in life aren’t.”

Thirty-first District Del. Delores Oates, a 1986 Laurel Ridge graduate, spoke of the inspiration she was given by her fourth-grade teacher, who told her she was made for great things.

“You’re a dream dealer, not just a teacher,” Del. Oates told the FEA students. “You might spark the idea in a student of what they were made to do.”

FEA student Bryce Sciuto, a junior at Strasburg High School, said he was inspired by his mother, a special-education elementary school teacher.

“She showed me a great path, and I want to walk down it with her,” he said.

Learn more about the Future Educators Academy at laurelridge.edu/FEA.