Kaitlyn Dowsett

“Throughout my life, I played lacrosse and had tons of role models to look up to and learn from,”  says Kaitlyn Dowsett. Besides inspiring her as an athlete, her coaches also inspired her as an educator, she said. 

“I eventually began running clinics and coaching myself, the same way those role models did for me,” she continued. “That is when I realized that making a difference in someone’s life, either teaching them something new or making their day a bit better, was something I wanted to do throughout my career.”

After earning an undergraduate degree in Psychology with an Educational Studies minor, Kaitlyn looked for a master’s program that would prepare her to become a certified teacher. 

“Once I heard about how great Sage’s program was and that it offered the residency program, I was sold,” she said.

The residency program she refers to is the Classroom Academy, which allows candidates for a Master of Science in Childhood/Special Education to apply for paid, full-time, two-year residencies with experienced teachers, instead of traditional seven-week student-teaching placements.

“The Classroom Academy opportunity appealed to me right away because it gives a full and realistic experience as a teacher,” said Kaitlyn, now a teaching resident in a sixth-grade classroom in nearby Schenectady, New York. 

Kaitlyn began the year observing. By mid-fall, she started leading small group lessons and working individually with students who need extra help. She will gradually assume responsibility for 50 percent of the classroom teaching by the end of the school year. 

“I am able to see how the classroom is managed from day to day and how teachers build off their lessons into new topics and how they adjust lessons to fit the students’ needs,” she said. 

She appreciates that she is able to immediately apply the lessons from her graduate classes at Sage’s Esteves School of Education to a real-life elementary classroom — and she has added her Sage professors to her roster of role models.

“I have had Kelly Brock for a couple courses so far, and she is awesome,” Kaitlyn said. “Since she is so knowledgeable and has a great grasp on the field, she has a solution for every issue or challenge that may arise while teaching. She is a great professor and resource to have.”