A Penn State College of Education program is giving student teachers the chance to learn about education in a diverse environment. This semester, six Penn State student teachers are living in Pierre, S.D., to help instruct American Indian students at the Pierre Indian Learning Center.

The center is a federally funded school where American Indian children, grades one to eight, from 13 different tribes come from as far as 10 hours away to receive instruction. The school strives to help these children achieve realistic goals. For student teachers, it challenges them to teach in a diverse environment and adjust their instruction to meet the special needs of children in their classes.

As student teachers, Penn State students help the instructors teach the children a wide range of subjects, ranging from science to English.

Teaching at the center is a very demanding experience, said Lynette Shaffer, coordinator in the office of pre-service teaching experiences.

"It's a very challenging place to be, but it's also a very rewarding experience for student teachers," she said.

The challenge for student teachers lies in dealing with different teaching circumstances involved in working at the Pierre Indian Learning Center.

"These students are very affectionate, but they have been deprived in many ways of a stable environment," Shaffer said. Due to its tough nature, the program carefully selects Penn State students, said Shaffer, who interviews prospective student teachers.

Shaffer said she looks for students with "previous experiences with children who have been educationally at risk and also have dealt with other kinds of problems."

Carolyne MacAdam (senior-secondary education), one of the students chosen for the program, said she is up to this challenge.

"To really understand the children here, you need to be understanding of their experiences and their culture," MacAdam said in a press release.

She also said that although at times it is difficult to tell whether they are making any progress, she believes teaching serves an important purpose in improving people's lives.

The program was created 10 years ago by a retired Penn State professor, Victor Dupuis, and the center's superintendent, Darrell Jeanotte, who was awarded a masters degree in school administration from Penn State's American Indian Leadership program in 1978.

Dupuis created the program "to provide a different kind of experience for kids in student teaching dealing with a minority group."

He also said that he wanted "to give the school an assist by sending in some highly qualified people to help the teachers work with the kids."

The Penn State student teachers have fulfilled this expectation, said Jeanotte in the release.

"Top candidates have been sent to our school -- students who are really committed to education."