MUW honors FCLE's Platt as 2022 top intern for education

Franklin County Lower Elementary School first-grade teacher Kaylee Platt feels at home in the classroom, and brings a passion for learning to those in her charge every day.

Platt, a Franklin County native, was honored on Tuesday, May 16 by the Mississippi University for Women with the institution’s “Outstanding Teacher Intern” for the 2022 academic term through MACTE — the Mississippi Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

“This really means a great deal to me because of the hard work that got me here,” Platt said following the presentation of her award.

“I enjoy teaching and feel like I have learned a lot along the way. This is something I wanted to do and I get to do it in the community I call my home — and it means a great deal to be here.”

Platt’s love for teaching is something that garnered her lots of attention during her college years at MUW’s campus in Columbus and beyond.

“Kaylee has always been very efficient and put more into her lesson plans than any other student,” MUW instructor and intern supervisor Deana Pendley, who is based at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, said.

“Kaylee is very detail oriented and is focused on getting the most out of her students. More than anything else, she always had phenomenal ideas that made her shine and that continues to make her a great teacher.”

Pendley said her interactions with Platt were always productive because of her positive attitude and a willingness to learn when alternative suggestions were made.

“That made it really neat in working with her because she had a natural ability that made it easy to teach her and she has a great deal of creativity,” Pendley continued.

“Fostering the talents she already had made it a joy to be around her as her enthusiasm and willingness to take what she learned and take it a step further.”

Pendley said every MUW instructor who had worked with Platt was unanimous in nominating her for the MACTE award from among a field of 26 interns in the institution’s outreach program.

She pointed out four of the six intern awards in recent years have gone to students with ties to Southwest Mississippi.

“We actually contribute a lot of that to the ‘teaching academies’ that students have been taking part in,” Pendley went on to say.

Franklin County offers a Educators Preparation program, under the leadership of Beth Larkin, through its Career and Technical Center in Meadville.

As MUW’s Department of Education Visiting Chairman, Dr. Bob Fuller said he did not get the opportunity to teach Platt, but called her a shining example of his school’s teacher intern initiative.

“She was an incredible intern who is now in the classroom, and we could not be more proud of what she is doing on a daily basis for every child in her class and what she means to this school and the Franklin County School District,” he noted.

“Our program’s undergraduates are in a classroom setting from the first semester of their junior year throughout their internship, and Kaylee was truly among the best of all our undergrads.”

Franklin County Lower Elementary School Principal Page Goff also praised Platt and her other teachers who are helping to build a foundational love for learning among students.

“Kaylee is a wonderful addition to our school and we are proud to see someone who went to classes in this district return to educate future generations,” Goff said.

“She has a love for what she does and for every student she teaches, and that makes a tremendous difference in reaching young people.”

Goff characterized Platt as having an infectious optimism that drives her innovation in the classroom.

“She and other teachers in kindergarten through second grade are vital to the process of learning to read — the cornerstone of our educational process,” Goff said. “That’s because, by the third grade, students are reading to learn. Having a solid foundation to build on is key for our students, and Kaylee understands that.”

Platt said she get a personal and professional thrill by challenging her students to learn new things and step outside their comfort zone on a daily basis.