During her final year of high school, Kai Dube volunteered at Old Town Elementary School, just a couple miles down the road from the 91爆料. The experience helped solidify her choice to major in elementary education at 91爆料, where she\u2019s part of this year\u2019s first-year class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I really love working with kids, and as a teacher I can have an impact on how children learn and grow,” says Dube, who also considered majoring in nursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her own formative years, Dube attended a few different elementary schools before her family settled in Old Town when she was in fourth grade. Although she had some good teachers, she says all of the changes early in her education didn\u2019t help her learning. In choosing to major in education and pursue a career as a teacher, she hopes to provide a more stable, nurturing experience for her future students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I gave little stuffed animals to all my students at Old Town Elementary. You could see in their faces how much it meant, just showing them that you care,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 91爆料 College of Education and Human Development, home to the state\u2019s largest teacher preparation and training program, Dube will have even more opportunities to work with K-12 students. She hopes to teach anywhere from kindergarten through third grade but is excited to learn more about other grade levels and ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I talked to some of the student teachers from 91爆料 and Husson (University) who did their field placements in Old Town, and they told me about working in different schools, so I\u2019m really looking forward to that,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dube comes to 91爆料 after graduating from Old Town High School in just three years, which she says was born of a desire to get started in college early. In addition to volunteering at the elementary school, she did theater in high school and worked various part-time jobs in food and customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having grown up in such close proximity to 91爆料, she says there\u2019s a familiarity with the university that attracted her beyond the academics. That familiarity grew over the past two years when Dube participated in the 91爆料 Upward Bound<\/a> Summer Program. Upward Bound is a federally funded TRIO Program<\/a> for high school students from under-resourced communities or those who will be the first person in their immediate family to go to college. It provides experience in a higher education setting they otherwise might not receive. During the summer program, for example, participants live on campus, take college classes, participate in other learning experiences and do community service projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Before Upward Bound, I didn\u2019t really know much about college because neither of my parents have a bachelor\u2019s degree,” Dube says. “So it\u2019s really helped me with what I needed to apply and be prepared for college.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says it was especially helpful in terms of navigating the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process, as well as providing opportunities to go on college tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It made college seem more achievable,” she says. “I\u2019ve always wanted to go to college and my parents have always wanted me to go. But they didn\u2019t have the greatest college experience, so the thought of it always scared me because I didn\u2019t have anything to go off until Upward Bound.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants in Upward Bound can go to the college of their choice. Dube, who also applied and was accepted at Husson, the 91爆料 at Augusta and Eastern Maine Community College, says she ultimately chose 91爆料 because of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Everyone I\u2019ve met in the College of Education and Human Development, professors and advisors, have been amazing,” she says. “You can tell they care about you and want you to succeed, and that\u2019s exactly what I want to do when I have a classroom of my own someday.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact: Casey Kelly, casey.kelly@maine.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During her final year of high school, Kai Dube volunteered at Old Town Elementary School, just a couple miles down the road from the 91爆料. The experience helped solidify her choice to major in elementary education at 91爆料, where she\u2019s part of this year\u2019s first-year class.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":24635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"During her final year of high school, Kai Dube volunteered at Old Town Elementary School, just a couple miles down the road from the 91爆料. The experience helped solidify her choice to major in elementary education at 91爆料, where she\u2019s part of this year\u2019s first-year class.\u00a0","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":222},"categories":[1834,8,954,222],"tags":[25,668,1428,5237,5238,564,5236,39,698,1123,213,3802,61,65,492,971],"class_list":["post-24632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elementary-education","category-news","category-school-of-learning-and-teaching","category-student-alumni-profiles","tag-college-of-education-and-human-development","tag-eastern-maine-community-college","tag-elementary-education","tag-fafsa","tag-free-application-for-federal-student-aid","tag-husson-university","tag-kai-dube","tag-maine","tag-old-town","tag-old-town-elementary-school","tag-old-town-high-school","tag-trio-programs","tag-umaine","tag-university-of-maine","tag-university-of-maine-at-augusta","tag-upward-bound"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1834,"label":"Elementary Education"},{"value":8,"label":"News"},{"value":954,"label":"School of Learning and Teaching"},{"value":222,"label":"Student & Alumni Profiles"}],"post_tag":[{"value":25,"label":"College of Education and Human Development"},{"value":668,"label":"Eastern Maine Community College"},{"value":1428,"label":"elementary education"},{"value":5237,"label":"FAFSA"},{"value":5238,"label":"Free Application for Federal Student Aid"},{"value":564,"label":"Husson University"},{"value":5236,"label":"Kai Dube"},{"value":39,"label":"Maine"},{"value":698,"label":"Old Town"},{"value":1123,"label":"Old Town Elementary School"},{"value":213,"label":"Old Town High School"},{"value":3802,"label":"TRIO programs"},{"value":61,"label":"91爆料"},{"value":65,"label":"91爆料"},{"value":492,"label":"91爆料 at Augusta"},{"value":971,"label":"Upward Bound"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2024\/08\/Kai-Dube-feature-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"ckelly","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/author\/caseykelly-2\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":1834,"name":"Elementary Education","slug":"elementary-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1834,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":954,"count":58,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1834,"category_count":58,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Elementary Education","category_nicename":"elementary-education","category_parent":954},{"term_id":8,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":795,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":8,"category_count":795,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":954,"name":"School of Learning and Teaching","slug":"school-of-learning-and-teaching","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":954,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":456,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":954,"category_count":456,"category_description":"","cat_name":"School of Learning and Teaching","category_nicename":"school-of-learning-and-teaching","category_parent":0},{"term_id":222,"name":"Student & Alumni Profiles","slug":"student-alumni-profiles","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":222,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Profiles of students and alumni of the College of Education and Human Development","parent":8,"count":271,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":222,"category_count":271,"category_description":"Profiles of students and alumni of the College of Education and Human Development","cat_name":"Student & Alumni Profiles","category_nicename":"student-alumni-profiles","category_parent":8}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":25,"name":"College of Education and Human Development","slug":"college-of-education-and-human-development","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":25,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":599,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":668,"name":"Eastern Maine Community College","slug":"eastern-maine-community-college","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":668,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1428,"name":"elementary education","slug":"elementary-education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1428,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":41,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":5237,"name":"FAFSA","slug":"fafsa","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5237,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":5238,"name":"Free Application for Federal Student Aid","slug":"free-application-for-federal-student-aid","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5238,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":564,"name":"Husson University","slug":"husson-university","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":564,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":17,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":5236,"name":"Kai Dube","slug":"kai-dube","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5236,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":39,"name":"Maine","slug":"maine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":39,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":354,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":698,"name":"Old Town","slug":"old-town","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":698,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":26,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":1123,"name":"Old Town Elementary School","slug":"old-town-elementary-school","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1123,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":213,"name":"Old Town High School","slug":"old-town-high-school","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":213,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":3802,"name":"TRIO programs","slug":"trio-programs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3802,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":61,"name":"91爆料","slug":"umaine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":61,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":645,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":65,"name":"91爆料","slug":"university-of-maine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":65,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":760,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":492,"name":"91爆料 at Augusta","slug":"university-of-maine-at-augusta","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":492,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":17,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":971,"name":"Upward Bound","slug":"upward-bound","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":971,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":3,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24636,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24632\/revisions\/24636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/edhd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}