Codey Fickes started his Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction with online teaching certification in 2018. He chose to pursue certification in online teaching because he viewed it as an opportunity to gain new skills in a growing field. “I saw online teaching opportunities expanding within my own school and wanted to have the skillset to teach [online],” he said.
With the onset of COVID-19, Codey put his knowledge to use sooner then anticipated. “The skills I learned in my online teaching courses have had a huge impact on me professionally over the past two years as a lot of my instruction took place online, whether it was hybrid, asynchronously or synchronously,” he said. “It allowed me to be flexible, help my colleagues and maintain high-quality teaching even when we shifted to online settings.”
One of the best aspects of the M.Ed. program for Codey was the faculty. Professors and advisors were there for support every step of the way.
“This degree would have been much harder, if not impossible, to complete if it were not in an online format,” said Codey. In addition to teaching, he is the assistant director of the theatre program and the student council and homecoming advisor. “Most days I can be found staying late at school planning an event with students or in the theatre rehearing for our fall play or spring musical,” he said. “Messiah's online program allowed me to do all of the things that I love to do while working on my degree.”