Jeromie Whalen, who earned a master’s degree in learning, media, and technology in 2018, didn’t take a conventional route to teaching. The Northampton High School (MA) media production teacher considered a minor in education to pair with his history major as a UMass undergraduate, but opted for a film certificate instead. When he eventually started his career in teaching, he took the MTELs for his initial licensure and began teaching with some experience but without conventional teacher training. It could have been a disaster. But with support from his school community, a UMass Amherst graduate education, and a lot of work, he has quickly become an accomplished and effective teacher.

Planning a career in nonprofit media production after college, Whalen volunteered with Northampton Community Television and took a job with them when he graduated. Located in Northampton High School, NCTV had begun establishing a relationship with the school, providing educational opportunities for students and access to equipment. Thanks to a grant, Whalen and NCTV were able to team with the school’s technology students to create news broadcasts, giving Whalen the opportunity to teach a class.

While Whalen and the class were brainstorming ideas for broadcasts, one student suggested video games, as one would might expect from a teenager. Instead of dismissing the idea, Whalen ran with it. The group came up with the idea for “Iron Gamer,” based on the cooking competition “Iron Chef,” with students playing Nintendo Wii games against teachers and administrators. “We’d have a three camera live shoot going with the director, and a floor manager, and all this stuff, and they totally forgot about playing the video games,” he recalls. “All of a sudden, they’re so enamored by the whole production process.” It was at that moment that Whalen knew he wanted to teach.

After a detour traveling in South American and working at a community television station in Santa Cruz, CA, Whalen decided to return to Massachusetts and apply for teaching positions. He knew he’d have an uphill battle, because he hadn’t gone through a traditional education preparation program and had no practicum experience. As luck would have it, a job opened up at the school that already knew he had great teaching skills—Northampton High School. He interviewed, and before he got out of the building, they offered him the position.

Read more at University of Massachusetts College of Education