Student Profile: Rebecca DuFour

Year: 2011 graduate | Hometown: West Allis
Major: Elementary education 1–8

Rebecca DuFour believes teaching literacy to middle school students brings out a lot of creativity and imagination.

That alone makes DuFour, a June University of Wisconsin Oshkosh graduate with a degree in elementary education and a minor in language arts, excited for her future as a teacher. She hopes to teach at the middle school level.

DuFour didn’t start her educational journey thinking she’d be a teacher, however. Instead, she wanted to be a nurse.

“I always had the urge to improve people’s lives,” she said.

Unsure of where her career path pointed, she transferred to UW Oshkosh as a sophomore and began to pursue teaching. In June, she finished her second stint as a student teacher.

DuFour, who spent a semester teaching at two different schools — Carl Traeger Elementary and Perry Tipler Middle — within the Oshkosh Area School District, said connecting with students was her favorite part of the student-teaching experience. It was one more tool to prep for her future.

“I think the connection she makes with students is key,” said Amber Tritt, a literacy teacher at Perry Tipler Middle School, who DuFour spent nine weeks teaching with. “That and her drive, plus the fact that she’s prepared, will make her successful.”

In the future, DuFour said she hopes to inspire students to read and write.

“My mother always read to us as kids. I got such enjoyment from that,” she said. “I want to end up somewhere there is a need, and want, to improve literacy.”

Tags: Perry Tipler Middle School