Trudy Sykes, coordinator for the secondary education team in the College of Education

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Trudy Sykes’ interaction with secondary education majors is important.

With her mentoring techniques and previous teaching experience, the academic staff coordinator for the secondary education team in the College of Education helps place students in schools across the state for their internships.

But almost equally important is her contact with the teachers at the schools where the students are placed.

“I would say that one of the reasons that (the College of Education) does have such a high ranking is that we consistently get very positive comments from school administrators and teachers who have hired our students,” she said. “ They tell us that when they interview a Michigan State intern, who’s looking for a job – which they’re all doing right now – that they stand out in very significant ways.”

Sykes points all of this success to the fifth year of student teaching that is required for education majors.

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