Saturday’s number of graduates at Hannibal-LaGrange College (124) is now approaching totals seen during the spring graduation. In part, that is due to the addition of the Master of Science in Education degree that is now being offered. A total of 23 individuals earned their M.S.E. degree during Saturday’s commencement program.
Among those earning her masters Saturday was Missy Barrie, who teaches government at Hannibal High School.
“It was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision,” said Barrie of entering the program. “I heard about it and thought, ‘Why not? I can get it done in 18 months.’ I signed up at the last minute and decided to do it. It was a lot of fun.”
While Barrie wholeheartedly endorses the program, she suggests that some might want to take a little more time to complete it.
“I may not recommend doing it in 18 months like I did because that was pretty hard doing eight hours a week outside of teaching and other duties. But I would definitely recommend the program to any teacher looking to get their masters,” she said.
Also endorsing the program is Brad Page, a junior high/high school math teacher in Payson, Ill.
“One of the best things was being in classes with a bunch of other teachers and hearing ideas and getting ideas from other teachers. I would recommend it to other teachers,” he said.
Neither Page or Barrie had any reservations about entering the new program.
“I kind of saw that as a good opportunity being the first year and kind of jumping in with a bunch of people that are doing it for the first time. I liked the idea that it was a first-year program,” said Page.
“We all feel very historic, like we’re pioneers. We have done something really special and new, so we’re pretty excited about it,” said Barrie.
Benefits of the program have already been noted by Barrie.
“I think it really reinforces a lot of the things that I learned in my undergrad. I think it’s made my kids have a better teacher,” she said. “I went back through and decided what’s important and what my kids really need to learn. A lot of classes gave me new ideas to try with my kids. It was really nice because you could take everything we did in class on Monday nights and I could try it in class on my kids on Thursday. It was really good to immediately practice all the things we were learning.”
