Only weeks before a group of around 15 students was set to leave for a 16-week student teaching course in Germany, Ball State canceled the program.
Lydia Newland, a senior elementary education major who was going on the trip, had already quit her job and found someone to sublease her apartment when she heard the news.
Although Newland was able to find a student teaching job through Yorktown Pleasant View Elementary, where she had spent her practicum in a first grade classroom, she said it was tough to figure everything out.
“I had lots of feelings when I first read the email," she said. "I was in shock and went into defense mode. I had given up everything. My lease was ending and I had to find a new house and job. I felt like I had to scramble to put the pieces back together.”
After a $500 deposit and months of preparation and planning, students were told via email on Nov. 24 that the program — which they were set to leave for on Dec. 27 — was canceled.
In the past, elementary and secondary education majors have taught in Germany through the United States Department of Defense schools. They were placed on an Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany where they taught American children whose military families were stationed there.
Jonathan Dee, director of the Office of Teacher Education Services was the one to deliver the news.
“We received word that student teaching placements in Germany had yet to be officially confirmed,” Dee said. “Because of this delay, and the fact that there were only three weeks left in the public school calendar, we made the decision to not place any student teachers in Germany next semester.”
Dee said that while they were disappointed, they made the decision considering the student's best interests and academic success.
He said after the news was released he immediately reached out to his clinical practice network to get new student teaching placements for the students.
"We have a great team who were able to quickly confirm a few placements within the week following the decision," Dee said. "All of our students have either received a new placement already, or are being considered by a school.”
Senior elementary education major Joanna Ziarko had a similar experience to Newland after the news broke.
“I was so bummed when I opened the email,” Ziarko said. “I was banking on going to Europe and then when I got the news that we weren’t going, I kept thinking ‘Oh my God, I’m not going … this is crazy, what am I going to do now?’”
Because the email was sent the week of Thanksgiving break, the students had no way to get in contact with anyone to get more information, which freaked Ziarko out.
After break, the college held a meeting with the students.
Ziarko said they were given three options: go to Texas and join a student teaching program there, take spring semester off and go to Germany in the fall, or stay and get a student teaching placement.
"We only had one day to get back to them," Ziarko said. "It was so stressful."
Like Newland, Ziarko was able to find a placement at Yorktown Pleasant View Elementary, which was also where she spent her practicum teaching in a kindergarten classroom.
2014 alumna Haley Richter, who teaches wellness at Fall Creek Junior High in Fishers, participated in the Germany student teaching program last year.
“When I heard the program had been canceled, it was heartbreaking,” Richter said. “It was a completely life-changing experience that not many student teachers get to have in their lives.”
Richter spent four months in Germany and said her overall perspective on life changed after working with the American children while being able to travel.
“Haley Richter going in and Haley Richter coming out were two completely different people,” she said. “I got to spend time doing what I love in a part of the world that we sometimes overlook. I had never left the U.S. before, so living in a different culture and working with teachers who were German natives taught me a lot.”
Richter said even after a year, her experience in Germany has continued to impact her career.
“When I get interviewed, the first thing that they ask about is my teaching experience,” Richter said. “It’s really an impressive thing to have on your resume and it shows that you are willing to put yourself out there. I’m extremely thankful for that.”
While the students were disappointed when their program was canceled, Ziarko found a positive to focus on.
“The school has honestly been working so hard to make sure we find jobs and graduate on time,” Ziarko said. “I know that Germany would have been huge, but I don’t know if I would have ever had this opportunity to stay at the school [Yorktown Pleasant View Elementary] that I love teaching if this hadn’t happened to me.”
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