Katherine Bauer Prepares for a Career in Education Through Service at Dayspring School of the Arts

Many seniors serve at schools across the St. Louis area. But, Katherine Bauer has the unique opportunity to work at Dayspring School of the Arts, which is a  program that provides art education as well as other enrichment classes for homeschooled students. Her service allows her to understand different types of education as well as to bond with the students.

“Even though it’s not a typical elementary school, it’s pretty much the same atmosphere, and the kids are still amazing and really enjoy having someone to look up to,” said Bauer. 

Bauer assists the teacher with different tasks in the classroom, which helps prepare her for what it will be like when she manages her own class in the future, as she hopes to do. 

“I basically help the teacher with whatever needs to be done. Sometimes that involves making copies and cutting things out, but I also get to do things with the kids a lot, such as reading to them or helping them with different activities,” Bauer continued. 

The activities at Dayspring are geared towards stretching the kids’ imaginations and teaching them in an unconventional way. One way the kids in Bauer’s classroom do this is through an activity called “Think Outside the Box Thursdays.” 

“We do an activity every week where the students have a partial shape already drawn for them, and then they have to add on to it and make it into something different [than the original shape]. I always enjoy it when they show me the creative and imaginative pictures they come up with,” said Bauer. 

Although working at Dayspring was not her first choice of senior service, Bauer is incredibly thankful that God placed her there because she knows her service is preparing her for a future career. 

“I knew I wanted to do [my senior service] at an elementary school so I could get some experience helping in a classroom since I am going into teaching as a career, but all my choices were full when I signed up. I was already familiar with Dayspring because I took a theatre class there when I was younger, so I chose it mainly because it was an organization I was somewhat familiar with. I enjoy having [teachers] to learn from and look up to while still serving in the way God is calling me to at this time,” Bauer concluded.