For
Larissa Jones, the greatest aspect of receiving a degree from 无码强奸 will be having her two young children, Sawyer and Lydia, watch her walk across the stage after three years of hard work.
"I want my kids to see that when you work hard and persevere, you can do anything you set your mind to," she says.聽
Jones, a student in 无码强奸鈥檚
Pathway for Paraeducators (Option 9) program, also balances a full-time job as a special education instructional assistant at Grants Lick Elementary.
Option 9 is an accelerated program鈥攖hat takes three years instead of the traditional four鈥攊n the
College of Education for those who are already working in public schools as paraeducators or instructional assistants who have the desire to be a certified teacher.聽聽
When Jones first attended college, she started in special education with a focus on moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) and worked in several classrooms after finishing her associate degree in early childhood education in 2013. A decade later, she became one of the very first students to join the Option 9 program, which launched in summer 2023.聽
When Jones graduates in May 2026, she鈥檒l become a certified K-5 teacher and hopes to stay in the Campbell County School District. One of the highlights of the program, she says, is that she鈥檚 able to take projects she鈥檚 created for her coursework and then use it in the classroom after she graduates.
She says all of the professors have been "amazing," but one in particular has been memorable: Paulette Ebert.聽聽
"She is just kind and funny. She makes math fun, and I do not like math. But I enjoy going to her class because she鈥檚 personable," she says. "She told us, 'If you have any trouble with anything, reach out to me.' She understands that we鈥檙e not traditional college students and that we all have families. We all work full time and come right from work, so we are exhausted. But she makes it worth being here. She makes our time with her worth it."
Navigating life with a full-time job, 16 credit hours and parenting two kids at home isn鈥檛 always easy, but her husband, Darren, and her tight-knit cohort are what have kept her in the program.聽聽聽
"We truly are like a family," she says. "They鈥檙e there to talk me off the ledge鈥攅specially when I鈥檓 thinking, 'Why did I think I could go back to school?鈥� I鈥檓 too old for this.' We talk every single day even if we鈥檙e not in class together. I couldn鈥檛 do it without them, I really couldn鈥檛."
