By Josh Shepherd

Michael Sharp, a student in the College of Education, completed basic military training in the fall of 2000. He then enrolled in the UK College of Education’s elementary education program and joined the ROTC program at Buell Armory. This summer, he will attend Officer Basic Training in Virginia, at the conclusion of which he will be a fully commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the National Guard. And he will have also completed his certification as an elementary teacher in the state of Kentucky.

In regard to all his academic and military training, we asked Michael Sharp what was more intimidating: a battlefield or a classroom of seven-year-olds?

Our question was met with a long … thoughtful … pause.

Okay, that’s not true. He answered “classroom” right away. However, laughs Sharp, his friends in the service regard his decision to teach primary grade children as courage above and beyond the call.

Sharp is one of three men who completed elementary education certification in the spring of 2003. He now looks forward to his first teaching position, “wherever that may be.” At the time of this article, he was student teaching at Picadome Elementary School in Lexington.

“I love primary grade students. They have terrific energy and enthusiasm. They’re anxious to show off what they’ve learned and eager for attention. It was a surprise, personally, how much fascination I have found teaching primary grade children. It was not at all what I expected from myself,” Sharp said.

The Danville, Kentucky native admitted that teaching was not his first career choice. He earned his bachelors degree in psychology from Transylvania University in 1999 and originally planned to go into school psychology. However, several weeks spent shadowing a professional school psychologist exposed him to a variety of school environments. He found himself captivated by the work in elementary education.

“It wasn’t that I got disenchanted with the work of a school psychologist. On the contrary, I think my educational background in psychology will help my teaching. When I observed the atmosphere in the elementary schools, it didn’t seem to be a job. The teachers exhibited a passion for teaching that I immediately understood,” Sharp explained. Primary grade education presented him a greater opportunity to have a lasting impact on students in the younger grades than in middle or high school education and relished the idea of being a role model for young people.

However, returning to school was easier said than done. Sharp, like any other student fresh out of school didn’t have the money to pay for two more years of college. That was when the National Guard entered the picture. Through the ROTC program and the Montgomery G.I. Bill, his tuition costs were covered and Sharp even got paid! “It was too good a deal to pass up,” he said.

Sharp feels the organizational and leadership skills he learned from the military, combined with his academic work at the College of Education, will make him a better teacher. “One of the biggest challenges ahead of me, I think, is developing a balance between the needs of the classroom and that of each child. That’s where I hope my leadership training will help me,” Sharp said.

Sharp will go through two months of officer training in the summer and hopes to be teaching full time once that training is complete. He looks forward to starting his professional career with only a little anxiety.

“The College of Education has me well prepared to go into the classroom and I hope that my military experience can add a little extra to the quality of my classes. But I know, from having observed other elementary school teachers, that I’ll have plenty of help and support. I honestly can’t wait to begin,” Sharp said.