At the end of your Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education, or PE Teaching/Coaching major, you may choose to do an internship. The internship option allows you to become a full-time teacher for a year, which counts as your first year of teaching. For an entire school year, you have your own classroom with kids you teach every day in one of BYU's partnership districts. You receive 1/2 the salary of a starting teacher and full benefits. You get to take on your first year of teaching with not only support from your district, but also BYU. Internships only begin in the Fall semester and include an interview process with each school's administrators, so this option can be a little more competitive.
Check out the insight we got about the interview process from two McKay School students who will be starting their internship this fall!
Kirsten Oldroyd is an Early Childhood Education major from Orem, Utah. She recently went through the interview process for her internship and was offered a job at Cherry Hill Elementary in Orem. She will be teaching full-day kindergarten in the 2022-2023 school year.
What was the overall interview process like?
When asked about the interview process, Kirsten said that around late March, she met with each district to hear their proposals and think about which one we wanted to pick. About a week later, she chose a district & scheduled an interview. Kirsten chose the Alpine School District. Kirsten said, "Alpine had group interviews, so it was super fun to go in with girls that I had worked with before and had learned everything with!" Kirsten heard back the same day when the principal called her and offered the job!
How did you decide where to apply for your internship?
"For ECE, we only could apply to one district- either Alpine or Nebo. I chose Alpine because I was more familiar with the district. I grew up in this district and wanted to stay in the area. Both districts are amazing and are so aware of their interns. I would have been so happy with Nebo as well!"
What types of questions did they ask?
"They would ask individual and collaborative questions to us. The facilitator would call your name and specify what order to go in. I can’t remember all of them, but some were:
What is your grade preference?
When was a time you taught a lesson well and why?
When was a time a lesson did not go as planned and what would you change about it now?
If I walked into your classroom during the school day, what would it be like/sound like?
What does collaboration mean to you?
What does DAP mean to you?
What is your philosophy on child guidance/management?
What else would you like to tell us about yourself?"
How did you prepare for your interview(s)?
"I wrote down an answer for each of the interview questions that were given to me by my CFA’s. Mostly, I came up with examples for each of them. They want to hear experiences and examples of your teaching. That was so helpful when they asked something I wasn’t prepared for so I had an experience for every situation!"
How do you feel BYU/the McKay School prepared you for the interviews? Was there a professor/advisor that was helping you throughout the process?
"The McKay school was very helpful! My CFA’s (Shelby & Hannah) and Dr. Mackay prepared us so well. We practiced and went over almost every question and what answer they were looking for."
What are you most looking forward to in your internship?
"Interactive reading with my kids! There are SO many wonderful books and SO many wonderful lessons you can learn from them!"
What tips and/or advice do you have for people who are going to be having interviews for internships this next year?
"Make sure to keep track of your experiences throughout practicum. The good ones and the bad ones- the ones where you worked the hardest and the funniest ones too! They will be the best sources to pull on during the interview questions! Also, don’t forget to be yourself and show confidence. I felt that my best interview was the one I was joking around and just having a good time! They want to see your energy and see you enjoying yourself during the interviews.
If you want to learn more about what an internship is, watch the video down below from our FAQ series!