Michelle Barr

What year did you graduate from SRU and what was your major?
May 2013 Secondary Social Studies education

What jobs have you landed?
Currently teach high school social studies at South Florence High School, Florence School District 1 in Florence, South Carolina. The past two years I have been teaching world geography and this year I am teaching world history, economics and AP macroeconomics

How did you prepare for the interview for the job you landed?
The career development center on campus was a great tool. The counselors helped develop my resume to work for the applications. I interviewed around 10 times before landing my current job. Each time they commented on the resume. I was also asked a lot of the same questions- why do you want this job?, etc. the resources available on the websites at SRU are extremely helpful and well put together. I also researched the area I was interviewing for. My current job I interviewed on Skype. However, I still looked up the schools website and principals name and looked at articles written. Most of all I tried to remain calm because if I was offered the job these people would be whom I was working with.

What have you done well at that job?
What types of recognition, awards, honors or even activities have you been involved in?
In college I worked in the undergraduate admissions office, as a tutor, lifeguard. I also participated on a care break every year I could. I traveled to New Mexico, Arkansas and Savannah, Georgia. Due to my trip to Savannah I fell in love with southern culture and hospitality and knew when I graduated college I would head down that way plus there would be teaching jobs.
Where I currently work I am advisor for our Mock Trial team and that has been my startup project for the last three years, along with two other teachers. I was also named a teacher of the month my first year teaching.

What SRU experience or faculty influenced you and in what way?
Dr. Jason Hilton- when I was student teaching he told me that I would make a great colleague and that stuck with me. I make sure I do my expected job but I also get out and get to know my co-workers. My number one rule in the classroom is we never say mean things about other teachers. However, if a student says something positive I make sure I tell that teacher.
Dr. John Hicks- when he tells me in class that he had once moved out of state to teach I knew it wasn't a terrible decision. I know eventually my fiancé and I will be moving back north to teach and that's okay because we are both getting great experience down here
Also, I had an amazing student teaching experience at New Castle High School with Mr. John Corey. He had complete confidence in me from day one and his confidence in me helped me thrive while I was there. Also PA has an amazingly thorough process to become a teacher, a lot of what I did as a senior in college was repeated again my first year teaching so I felt extremely confident in my past experiences in student teaching because it rocked.

What else can you tell us about your success story that SRU students could learn from?
I enjoyed every second of it. I loved SRU and I miss it too. However, I met my fiancé, Andrew Cummings, my first day as a freshman and we are getting married June 2016. Don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to say that I don't know why I want to be a teacher right now as a senior because you haven't been an actual teacher yet. I tell people daily how much slippery rock prepared me for teaching and they believe me because it is reflected in how I work with my students on a daily basis. Besides being out of state, I seem to be so much cooler because I am not from the area, or maybe I just think I am.