A Teacher that Students Need: Carley Mittag

CARLEY MITTAG, DECEMBER CLASS OF 2024
B.A. Middle Grades Education, Concentrations in Math & Science

As Carley Mittag walked through Mebane Hall, she couldn’t go anywhere without being stopped. Peers and professors alike paused to express how thrilled they were to see her and offered the kindest words of recommendation; her positivity was clearly infectious from the moment she walked through the doors. 

It was evident she had found her home in Cato College, but that wasn’t always the case. Mittag actually came to Charlotte as an engineering major, but found herself disengaged after a semester. When she reflected on what she might want instead, she didn’t search for something that would be the most fun or lucrative.

“I thought back to when I was a kid… about what would make an impact, and I thought teaching.” 

So, to Cato College she came.

She confessed, “I wasn’t always the best student, because I didn’t have the teachers that I needed, so I want to become a teacher that students need.”

Daniel Maxwell, Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education University Supervisor, thinks she will be. He applauded her introspection, saying, “It’s her capacity to reflect clearly and accurately on her practice that will make her an outstanding educator. Her spirit of lifelong learning and active reflection will serve her and her students well throughout her career.”

She’s already had opportunities to be that supportive, inspirational teacher even before graduation. “I’ve had a speech impediment my entire life,” she shared. “I’ve always struggled with it – in high school, I got made fun of quite a bit… so at first, I didn’t know if I wanted to be a teacher.”

“But when I was student teaching, there was a kid who had the same speech impediment as me, and he immediately recognized it… it made me feel good, because I could show this student that he can be confident.”

Mittag has already been hired by the middle school where she was student-teaching to have her own classroom in January, where she will teach math. She’s deeply appreciative to her principal for encouraging her to look at other positions elsewhere, even though they offered her the role within her first month, but this school just felt like home.

Dr. Hillary Dack was the professor that had the most impact on Mittag. Hearing that her former student had been hired already, she expressed her confidence. “She’s built a learning environment that helps every student feel a sense of belonging. Her school and her students will be lucky to have her!”