What Ashley Tipton ’10 appreciates most about the Appalachian State University experience is how the middle grades education program prepared her to become not only a great teacher, but also a great leader and collaborator.

The passion and drive she has for teaching middle grades stems from her supportive, encouraging environment in Appalachian’s Reich College of Education, she said.

“The program gave me the skills I needed to become a leader in my school and has provided me with the confidence to lead my school towards more of a middle school concept,” said Tipton, who teaches 7th grade English language arts at H.M. Arndt Middle School in Catawba County.

After finishing her bachelor’s degree, Tipton stayed at Appalachian to earn a master’s degree in middle grades education.

In middle grades, Tipton said, “You get to work with a team for the success of your students and you really get to build a connection with your students over learning.” She valued her own middle school experience growing up because of her teachers’ hands-on approach to learning, which she said she now realizes was their success in “truly following the middle school concept and philosophies.”

Today’s students will find their Appalachian education to be well respected in the field. “When you go to job fairs or you go to an interview and you tell the interviewer that you graduated from Appalachian State, you see an immediate change and they are suddenly impressed,” Tipton said.

“At Appalachian, there is this expectation that the teachers they prepare are going to be the best in the field and they are going to know everything they need to know to be a successful teacher and leader.

“I think that throughout the field of education in North Carolina and in the South, Appalachian has created a higher standard of teachers and educators, administrators, and leaders in the field,” she said.