Madison County Teachers Help Shape Future Educators, Workforce Preparing the Future Workforce

By Brock Turnipseed

Veteran Madison Career and Technical Center (MCTC) teachers Shari Dantzler and Laura Beth Guynes have dedicated themselves to growing Madison County School District (MCSD) students and connecting them to workforce opportunities.

Whether it is teaching skills to future educators or introducing industry to the future workforce, MCTC Director Cody Zumbro says Dantzler and Guynes strive to go the extra mile to help their students and colleagues find success.

“They’re great people,” Zumbro said of Dantzler and Guynes. “They are wonderful teammates. They love seeing their students succeed, and they love helping their fellow teachers any way they can. They’re great leaders in our school and community.”

That willingness to go the extra mile earned Dantzler, MCTC’s Educator Preparation (Ed Prep) teacher, the 2022 Mississippi Association for Career and Technical Education (MS ACTE) Teacher Educator of the Year and Guynes, one of the district’s work-based learning (WBL) coordinators, the 2022 MS ACTE Counseling and Career Development Professional of the Year.

Dantzler Shares Experiences To Guide Future Teachers

Dantzler’s 16-year teaching career spans the elementary, middle and high school levels. She uses that experience to support her current and future educators.

The sixth-year Ed Prep teacher has dedicated herself to preparing MCTC students who might consider a future career in education while also mentoring fellow MCSD teachers who desire to further their education.

Receiving news that she had been named the 2022 MS ACTE Teacher Educator of the Year was validation for her hard work and assured her she made the correct career choice.

“It means so much because teachers often don’t get the recognition they deserve,” Dantzler said. “To be able to work with students and my fellow educators and be recognized for that gives me val- idation that this is where I’m supposed to be. Receiving this award reminds me how much I enjoy teaching.”

Dantzler grew up in a family of teachers, but she sought a different path in college and obtained a biology degree. Family and other obligations caused her to pause a career in the field, so she started substitute teaching. Dantzler fell in love with working with students, so she returned to school to obtain a master’s degree in education degree.

She started teaching fourth and fifth grade math and transitioned to middle school teaching Information Communication Technology (ICT), now known as Cyber Foundations. The latter gave Dantzler her first foray into career and technical education (CTE).

Dantzler did not know about the Ed Prep pathway until MCTC’s then-director, Dr. Aimee Brown, sought out her interest in the position.

“I thought it was an amazing opportunity to work with the next generation of teachers and teach them things I didn’t know coming into it,” Dantzler said.

According to Zumbro, Dantzler’s passion for education comes through in her devotion to helping her students find success in the program.

“She’s passionate about her students and helping them succeed. She tries to lead them and foster their knowledge for education and what it means to be an educator,” Zumbro said. “You can see how much she loves her students.”

Dantzler shares what she has learned in her 16 years in education and exposes her students to teaching through first-hand experiences in various MCSD classrooms.

“It makes them appreciate the profession more, especially as students, because they see everything teachers have to do. It allows them to gain a new appreciation for their teachers,” she said. “I like exposing them to it, and I think they appreciate it.”

Dantzler says her students might know what area they want to focus on but having those different classroom experiences might shape a different path as it did for her.

“I loved elementary and middle school, but high school is a different world for me,” Dantzler said. “I never thought I’d teach high school. You don’t know what’s for you until you try it.”

Some of her students take Ed Prep with no intent to pursue an education career, but Dantzler encourages them not to rule it out because they might change their minds and return to it as she did.

William Carey University (WCU) offered that path for her to get an education degree, and now she supports fellow MCSD teachers who elect to further their education through WCU by helping them register for courses and select the program and degree track they want to pursue.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she would host weekly meetings where the teachers working on different degrees could collaborate.

“They were working through the same classes together, so I was there for extra support and helping them navigate different assignments. When you’re out of school for a while it’s tough to go back and do it online,” Dantzler said.

Having the opportunity to guide the next generation of educators while supporting her peers provides Dantzler assurance that her decision to enter the classroom was the right one.

Guynes Markets The Future Workforce

Guynes grew up with a mother who was a teacher and a father who was in sales and marketing. While she knew teaching was what she wanted to do, she also thought about following in her father’s footsteps.

Regardless of the career path she chose, the MCSD alumna wanted to stay at home and contribute to the Madison community. As a WBL coordinator in the MCSD, Guynes gets to utilize aspects of both of her parents’ professions in growing a future workforce she hopes stays in Madison County.

She has served MCSD as a WBL coordinator for seven years, working with traditional WBL students and providing WBL opportunities for students in the district’s Career Academies.

Guynes said she has poured so much into the MCSD’s WBL program because of its importance in growing the future workforce for the community she loves dearly. That is why receiving the news that she was the 2022 MS ACTE Counseling and Career Development Profes- sional of the Year gave her so much joy.

“I worked so hard for the years when I was the new teacher doing this. It was not easy,” Guynes said. “I was humbled that anyone would notice, and to receive this recognition is a tremendous honor.”

Guynes found her calling working with high school students. She started her education career in the elementary classroom and thought she had followed the incorrect career path.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve made a mistake,’” she said. “At the time, I was helping with youth in our church, and I realized that high school was the age bracket I should be teaching.”

Her high school journey started with the GED program. Realizing her students needed more than sitting in the classroom all day, she worked with the district’s Cooperative Education teacher to help her students with interviews and job shadowing.

That teacher decided to retire, and with the GED program going away, Guynes moved into the role as it transitioned into WBL and has helped the program flourish.

“(Guynes) has formed so many partnerships with local business and industry,” Zumbro said. “She has been integral in planning college and career days in our school and growing the amount of support we receive from the community.”

Through WBL, she ensures students receive mentoring and college- and career-readiness preparation with industry partners to make them more well-rounded and develop their hard and soft skills.

“Nothing can replace getting out there and using those soft skills. We practice handshaking and making eye contact. We develop résumés and cover letters,” Guynes said. “The students giggle, but you cannot replace that when it’s real. We spend the better part of nine weeks working on and getting feedback — from myself or area companies — on résumés to help make them career ready.”

While many teachers spend the entirety of their day inside the school building, Guynes spends a large amount of time in the community meeting with industry and government professionals to expand her WBL network.

“You need that network to make it all work,” she said. “Even if you’re not working directly with a business owner, you’re always getting input from outside the classroom for this type of course. You’re teaching them in the classroom, but you want them out working in the field. That’s why those connections are so vital.”

Guynes says the time spent making those connections can be exhausting, but it is essential in avoiding the vacuum effect that can occur when the focus remains inside the school building.

“I’m a teacher, but in reality, I’m a teacher that is educating the next workforce,”

Guynes said. “Sometimes, as teachers, we forget that because we are so goal-focused on the student, but that big picture is paramount in getting business and industry in the state of Mississippi, which then makes sure our schools stay great.

“You have to get out there and show who you are and who you represent. You won’t get all the opportunities for your students if you don’t get out for them. Learn who they are and let them know who you are; those opportunities will fall in your lap at that point.”

Guynes sees herself as a facilitator between industry and Mississippi’s future workforce, and she is excited to see students’ career exploration opportunities expand through WBL.

“It’s an incredibly valuable opportunity for the students,” she said. “Work-based learning and the process that molds the education and professional sides together are important for making our community stronger and our workforce better.”