Like many students, Brenna Penrod’s path to education started with a simple church requirement.
“In high school, our church made us do missions trips,” Brenna explains. When these trips included a Vacation Bible School, the participants were required to teach a couple of lessons.
What began as an obligation quickly became something more. Those VBS lessons led to teaching children’s church, and “just by interacting with the kids, it just gave me a love for teaching.”
Now, with her elementary education degree and reading endorsement from Faith Baptist Bible College in hand, Brenna has just completed her student teaching semester—and she couldn’t be happier with her choice.
Finding Faith During Covid
Brenna’s journey to Faith wasn’t typical. As a high school junior when Covid hit, her college visits were limited. “A lot of my options for schools to go visit were not available for me to visit,” she recalls. “And I’ve been to Faith before, and it was one of the only schools that I was familiar with.”
Sometimes the best decisions come from unexpected circumstances. What seemed like a limitation turned into exactly the right fit.
From Observation to Action
Faith’s education program impressed Brenna from the start, particularly how quickly students get real classroom experience. “You’re able to get in the classroom your first semester, so you’ll be able to see if you have any passion for it or not,” she notes.
The progression felt natural. Sophomore and junior years brought observation hours. Senior year ramped up with practicum placements. By the time student teaching arrived, Brenna found herself in familiar territory—literally.
“I’m in the same classroom for student teaching now that I was in the fall,” she shares. “So it prepared me well because I was familiar with the students in the class.”
The students weren’t strangers anymore. They knew her, and she knew them. It made all the difference.
More Than Lesson Plans
While Faith’s education program challenged Brenna with detailed lesson planning—”it’s not fun to do the long lesson plans”—she appreciates how the process forced deeper thinking. “They help you really think through your lesson,” she explains.
The practice teaching opportunities proved especially valuable. “You can see how other people teach, like your senior fellow peers teach as well, and you can get different ideas for how to teach differently because you see different perspectives from a bunch of different classmates.”
Mrs. Whitcher, her reading endorsement instructor, became a particular source of encouragement. “She had a lot of supplies that she had used when she was teaching recently for us to use. And she was just a great help just to go to whenever we needed.”
When Bible Classes Meet Real Questions
One unexpected benefit of Faith’s approach became clear during student teaching. While working through lessons about salvation and Jesus’s life on earth, Brenna’s elementary students started asking deep questions—the kind that might stump some college graduates.
“Some of these students have a lot of questions and questions about deep stuff, like about heaven and just salvation,” she explains. “Going through all my doctrine classes has prepared me well, because I’m able to answer these questions with confidence and I can actually answer them.”
Even little kids ask big questions. Thanks to her Bible classes at Faith, Brenna was ready.
The Reward of Student Teaching
Despite all the warnings about how challenging student teaching would be, Brenna discovered something surprising: “It’s honestly been my favorite semester of college so far.”
Yes, it’s different from regular semesters. Yes, it requires a lot of work. But “it’s really fun and it’s rewarding being able to put into practice what you’ve been doing the last couple of years.”
The collaborating teachers and students “just help reaffirm your love for teaching.”
Advice for Future Educators
For students considering Faith’s education program, Brenna’s advice is simple: start early and don’t be afraid.
“You should definitely try it out at least your first year, because education has a lot of heavy classes. So the sooner you can start, the better.” The classes build on each other, so getting an early start matters.
And for those worried about student teaching? “It’s not as much work as you think it is. It’s a lot of work, but it’s really fun.” The payoff makes the preparation worthwhile.
“Even though it might not be fun with all the classes right now, it pays off in the end.”
From a VBS helper to a confident classroom leader, Brenna’s journey shows how God can use even church requirements to shape a calling.
Her advice to future teachers? Try it, start early, and trust that the hard work leads somewhere beautiful.
Sometimes the best discoveries happen when we’re simply fulfilling our responsibilities.
