Seminole State graduate to teach side-by-side mother in Seminole County

From growing up as a teacher’s daughter, to graduating from Oviedo High School, to switching colleges, Hannah Kraftchick is ready to have a classroom of her very own. Now she returns to Seminole County Public Schools to teach alongside her mother at Lawton Elementary School.

Passion for the future

Kraftchick is among the first to graduate from Seminole State College of Florida’s Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education K-6, and interned at her mother’s school as part of the program. “My mom is so cool because she is just such a good teacher, and I really look up to her. She’s been a teacher for 30 years and still loves her job and her students and has such a passion for it,” she said.

After spending three years at Florida Gulf Coast University on track to becoming an occupational therapist, Kraftchick realized she didn’t have that passion. “When I was in occupational therapy I couldn’t see future me,” she said. “But when I found teaching, I started looking towards the future and looking at what my life could be, and I started getting excited and finding joy in it.”

“I am beyond proud of Hannah for finding her passion to become a teacher and am so grateful for Seminole State helping her achieve that goal,” said Karin Kraftchick, Hannah’s mother and soon-to-be coworker. “Hannah’s greatest asset is her big heart and having that big heart will allow her to build relationships with her students that will support a lifelong love of learning!”

Classroom realities

While she knew from watching her mother how much work goes into teaching, her classes at Seminole State gave her the opportunity to get a more hands-on experience. “I think Seminole State did a great job of preparing us for what is to come,” she said. Through her behavior management course, she recounted ways they learned to de-escalate conflict and how she learned to work with student data in her reading instruction course. “We got fake student data and then had to learn how to adapt our lesson plans to meet the needs of the students who required more help.”

Along with her fellow graduates, most of whom are accepting jobs in Seminole County, Kraftchick will manage student data, run a classroom, communicate with parents and work alongside other teachers to make sure children get the best start possible to their education.

Kraftchick and her peers are part of the solution to Seminole County's need for teachers. Seminole State partnered with Seminole County Public Schools to create two bachelor's degrees in elementary education in response to the teacher shortage. Those programs began in Fall 2022 and now have produced workforce-ready graduates, like Kraftchick, with nearly 140 more in the pipeline.

“We welcome the next generation of talented teachers into our classrooms and the Seminole County Public Schools family. We are thankful for the strong partnership and true collaboration between Seminole State College and Seminole County Public Schools. The community as a whole greatly benefits from opportunities for students at every level,” noted Serita D. Beamon, superintendent of Seminole County Public Schools.