Connecting with and educating young children is a skill that builds bridges and creates stronger communities, shares Raelyn Rasset. Raelyn received her Early Childhood AAS degree from Saint Paul College in 2018 and was doing well until the Pandemic came in 2020, and she found out firsthand that distance teaching was very challenging with young children. This period gave her time to reflect on her calling to serve children, and she took the initiative to attend Metro State to pursue her BA Degree.

Raelyn’s primary hope in continuing her education was to learn more about what she could do for the community by being authentic with herself and using reflective practices. Using this approach, she was excited to assess further various teaching techniques that effectively connect with children. She also realized that listening is critically important as she builds bridges with students, parents, and faculty, who are all vested in the child’s future.

As Raelyn reflects on her time at Saint Paul College, she is so grateful for the many lessons learned that gave her a solid foundation for her career ambitions. She referenced that she still uses all of her textbooks from Saint Paul College as exceptional resources loaded with essential concepts in the teaching arena. In addition to attending school full-time, she volunteers 12 hours a week at the American Indian Magnet School with 2nd-grade classes.

Raelyn wants prospective students to seriously consider Saint Paul College’s early childhood program because it:

• Has outstanding classmates who help each other;
• Provides the skills and approaches for supporting strong social justice for families; and
• Instructors are always there to meet you at your learning level and help you improve overall skills that help you get in a classroom and build bridges towards a community!