Bailey Nichole Neidel
2011 MARE Scholarship
Bailey Nichole Neidel of St. Joseph, Missouri, is a graduate of Benton High School in St. Joseph School District. She is currently attending Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, Missouri, majoring in Elementary Education.
Bailey shares that education has always been a career path that she considered. When in elementary school, she wanted to become a teacher because she liked writing on the whiteboard. Now, she wants to affect students' futures and have an impact on their lives. Having grown up in a rural community, right outside of Dekalb, I found that rural schools have a laid back, easy going atmosphere that is inviting to everyone that enters through their doors. This is what I envision my classroom to be, a place where students feel safe and an inviting place for students and parents to come in and feel welcome.
One of her former teachers shares that Bailey is an academic leader, setting high standards for herself and constantly striving toward those. She is always looking for opportunities to challenge herself, taking a difficult course load in high school with multiple advanced courses and challenging herself in college by specializing in the field of science as she pursues a degree in elementary education.
A college instructor shares that Bailey has an exceptional ability to analyze and create new solutions to impending problems in analyzing P-6 student work as a teacher candidate. Her study habits, her innate ability to perform well on tests and her superior practicum experiences bode well for her as a very successful university student as she continues her professional studies. Another instructor relates that Baileys understanding of the affective needs of young children and her ability to work cooperatively within that setting makes her the type of classroom teacher this profession desperately needs.
Setting a goal of pushing students to learn to their full potential and a willingness to provide all the assistance needed, makes it appropriate to congratulate Bailey Neidel as the 2011 M.A.R.E. Scholarship recipient.