Pacific Oaks College student and Golden State Teacher Grant recipient Nicole Alise’s journey as an educator began with a passion for special education. Her experience extends back to high school where she worked as an adaptive teaching assistant to her running coach and volunteered with the Special Olympics, assisting children with cerebral palsy. That enthusiasm carried over to her undergraduate experience at the University of Arizona where she worked as a reading tutor in the Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center.
After college, Alise went into advertising and public relations but realized she didn’t love the work and was looking for the next chapter in her life. “I volunteered on pajama day in my sister’s third-grade classroom in Culver City,” she says, “and I loved watching her teach.” From that experience, Alise had found her calling as a teacher with a particular interest in working with children with special needs.
A calling and a career change
Because Nicole’s interest was in special education, she joined Teachers On Reserve, a private institution that places substitute teachers all over Los Angeles in a variety of different school environments. “I am very versatile in adapting to different learning environments, so they were sending me all over Los Angeles to teach,” she says.
In the course of her placements, Nicole fell in love with children who have emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders, along with their learning disabilities. “I found that I had a real knack for being able to connect with them and work with their emotion and behavior to help them learn better and achieve their academic goals.”
Her career took a detour when she became a mother. Her ex-husband was traveling for work, and she felt it was important to provide a stable home life. At the same time, the salary she was making from an internship at the time didn’t offset the cost of daycare, so she took a break and stayed home with her child while substitute teaching.
Curriculum that educates and inspires
As her son got older, Nicole was eager to get back into her career and have her own classroom. She had intended to attend Cal State Fullerton, but as part of meeting the prerequisites, she took an anti-bias course at Irvine Valley College. She loved the course and the curriculum, particularly the anti-bias component of the course. She asked the teacher where she learned to teach.
“She said, ‘Pacific Oaks,’” Nicole recalls. “So, I decided I’d better investigate Pacific Oaks. And, sure enough, it was a much better fit. The anti-bias piece is important to me.”
“I feel very grateful that I had exposure to teaching in Los Angeles, from a lockdown facility all the way to a preparatory academy, teaching honor students and everything in between,” Nicole says. “There’s a lot of need for that right now. We have a lot of learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.”
Colleges are more than just classrooms
Of Pacific Oaks, Alise says, “The curriculum and style of teaching is a very good match for me.”
Nicole credits the financial aid office at Pacific Oaks for steering her toward the Golden State Teacher Grant, which provides grants to students to help pay for their education in exchange for a four-year commitment to teaching at a high-need field in a priority school. She is completing her education specialist credential and expecting to continue teaching special education upon graduation.
“I’m very grateful that I applied and got it,” she says. “It’s just exciting! I’m so excited about education. I still have a lot of enthusiasm. I need a place for my creativity and energy, and if it can benefit children, then I feel really fortunate. I think Pacific Oaks is amazing.”
To learn more about degree programs at the School of Education at Pacific Oaks College, click here.
