Everyone knows that being a teacher can be stressful, to say the least, especially with finals coming up. But how exactly did they begin teaching? Lots of people have shared the dream of being a teacher since childhood, however, the process of becoming a teacher is a lot harder than you might think. According to teachercertificationdegrees.com, “all Washington teachers are required to hold a bachelor’s degree, complete an approved Washington teacher preparation program, and pass the required content exams.” Meeting each of these accomplishments can be a difficult and lengthy task.

AP Human Geography Teacher, Robin Hall explains her experience with background checks when it comes to new jobs within the teaching business, “[Teachers] have to pass a background check. [The police will check you for] felonies and [teachers] have to be fingerprinted. They just wanna make sure that you’re not a felon and that you’re not a child molester. Everybody has to do that. I’ve done it for other jobs as well.” Between the background checks and the numerous programs and exams you must go through, it’s a wonder there are so many people that are so passionate about teaching. Hall also explains how the process of getting hired at Tahoma is different from any other job she has previously worked at, “One of the unique things we do at Tahoma is that there are students on that panel. I interviewed for a couple jobs and this is the only one that had students.” Tahoma truly finds the best teachers available for each position.

Tahoma high school principal, Terry Duty explains that Tahoma has very competitive hiring practices. It is a fairly well-known fact that Tahoma is one of the best schools to work at, but what Duty says they look for in a student is fairly simple, “Anybody can teach Math, Science, or History as far as the content goes,” Duty says, “But not anybody can work with kids. I always look for people that talk about ‘the look in kids eyes,’ ‘getting kids to smile’ or ‘getting kids to say a-ha.’”

Being a teacher can be a strenuous, but rewarding task. Students who want to become teachers need to realize the difficulty that comes along with the job, as well as the time and effort that is necessary.