School of Education

Paige Lehman

Junior, Secondary Education

Setting A Higher Standard for Education

Paige Lehman has been visiting IU her entire life. Her mom attended IU, and she visited the campus several times when she was younger. But when she was a senior in high school, one of her visits to campus changed her life.

“I was touring the School of Education, and Katie Paulin, the admissions director, told us about the Direct Admit Scholars program. In secondary education, you don’t spend as much time at the ed school, and I wanted to be engaged. This was an option for me to become really involved,” Paige explains. “The education program is really good here and that was ultimately the big deciding factor for me.”

As a Direct Admit Scholar, Paige is able to reserve classes in advance, have an academic advisor from the School of Education starting her freshman year, and meet other students who share her passion for education.

“You’re looked at as someone who has set a higher standard,” says Paige. “I am on the Board of Direct Admits, and we’ve set up a mentor program for freshman Direct Admit students. It’s nice to know you’re there for someone and can help them through their first year at IU. We also bring in people to talk to our group and plan events so we can get to know each other as educators.”

Paige splits her time between her biology studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and her education classes.

“It’s very intimidating to be an education major in the science courses here because there are so many students who are pre-med and the material is very dense,” she says. “I try to learn from how my science professors teach. I keep my ‘teacher-me’ there too.”

“Teaching is a job where you’ll give back for the rest of your life.”

While Paige loves learning about science, she’s also glad that the curriculum at the School of Education allows her to study biology and education at the same time. “My first semester I was taking a biology course and Communication in the Classroom.

“I like the curriculum here. It’s what I want to be learning. I like having the support of teachers that have experience as teachers who are teaching future teachers. That’s really valuable. I’ve learned how important classroom management is for your first year of teaching and how it sets the tone for future years.”

Paige decided to become a high school science teacher because she had an anatomy/physiology teacher, Miss Day, who showed her how fun learning could be.

“She would teach subjects in such an innovative way. We had these black desks for lab benches, and she drew an outline of an animal on the desks, and we would write down the parts of the animal in chalk. She made it fun for her students, and I want to do that too.

“I’m looking forward to being that teacher that everyone wants to have, like my Miss Day in high school. Teaching is a job where you’ll give back for the rest of your life.”