Through UMSL’s innovative Teach in 12, Sam Brown has taught history classes at Affton High School for two semesters while earning his teaching certification. (Photo by Derik Holtmann).

Sam Brown had a string of jobs after graduating from college, but none he felt passionate enough about to turn into a career.

First, there was a gig selling copiers in southwest Illinois.

“A lot of driving from town to town, hoping that some church or business needed a copier to hopefully get paid that month,” Brown said.

He then moved on to a marketing role, sorting through ads all day, making sure that they were brand compliant.

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown went to work at his parents’ catering business for a few years. It gave him time to consider what was important to him and led him to enroll at the University of Missouri–St. Louis to make a career change.

“I think seeing a lot of the things that have happened over the last decade or so since I graduated high school made me want to do something that had a little more impact and a little more societal good for the future,” Brown said.

Last weekend, Brown graduated from the College of Education’s innovative Teach in 12 program, which allows post-bachelor’s students interested in teaching to earn their certification in 12 to 15 months.

When Brown began contemplating a career change, he thought about his desire to help others. That introspection brought him back to his time playing high school football. He always enjoyed running football summer camps for elementary and middle school kids. Athletics also provided an early opportunity for him to flex his leadership skills.

“Those camps helped teach the kids going to them about football or baseball, but it helped teach me, a junior or senior in high school, a lot about leadership and organization, transitioning from activity to activity without everything blowing up,” he said.

Though Brown has a bachelor’s degree in English and strong writing skills, he’s long been fascinated by world history, particularly events such as the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the invention of the printing press. Teaching history seemed like a natural next step for Brown, but he wasn’t quite sure how to go about a career change.

An acquaintance suggested that he investigate the Teach in 12 program at UMSL. After looking into it, he realized it would be the most efficient way possible for him to earn his teaching certificate.

The Teach in 12 program is designed to be completed in three semesters, with students entering the classroom by the second semester. Brown enjoyed the accelerated timeline and the ability to quickly gain hands-on experience student teaching.

“It’s two days a week in the first semester to kind of get your feet wet,” he said. “I like that because if you don’t like it, you haven’t committed so much of your time and effort to it. But I loved it and couldn’t wait to go back for the second semester. That’s four days a week, fully teaching in the classroom.”

Going into the program, Brown had little knowledge of pedagogy or educational theory, but the faculty members in the College of Education got him up to speed.

“A lot of teaching is just being able to build connections and talk to people, which I’ve always been able to do,” he said. “But the other part of it is understanding how people learn and how to best convey the information that you know. So, that’s been very, very helpful.”

Both of Brown’s classroom assignments have been at Affton High School in south St. Louis County, where he’s taught world history and American history. Luann Domek, a clinical educator who oversaw his work in the classroom, noted that Brown quickly forged deep connections with students. One student even approached Domek during an observation to say how much she enjoyed his class.

“She told me that Mr. Brown really cares about her learning and tells stories about history instead of just lecturing about history,” Domek said. “Rarely do high school students notice me in the room, much less talk to me. This is a true testament to the type of teacher that Sam has become.”

Brown explained that those connections stem from a sense of mutual respect, not talking down or condescending to students. He aims to be as honest as possible, while also figuring out each student’s individual sense of humor to lighten the mood when needed.

Because his students have grown up with the internet and instant access to many things, they think about time differently than previous generations. So, Brown works especially hard to convey that the current world was shaped by the past, and students need to understand what’s come before them to look ahead and change the future.

He also works to promote literacy through social studies by utilizing an array of primary source readings. The class discusses the meanings of the passages, and the students also identify concepts and words that are familiar or unfamiliar. At the end of the semester, they have an opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned during a final project on the Age of Exploration.

Seeing his students connect those dots and gain confidence, Brown is certain he’s made the right career decision. This fall, he’ll start his first full-time teaching position at Hazelwood East High School.

“The whole point of doing this was to have an impact on kids and to make them want to learn about their world, the world around them, and make them want to investigate these things,” he said. “It just justifies it all for me.”