Dual-enrollment classes are one of the best opportunities Eaton High School has to offer their students. Either through the University of Northern Colorado or Aims Community College, EHS provides classes of college credit for their students free of charge, up to six credits per semester. As former college biology teacher, Zac Lemon, left his teaching position to become the Eaton High School Athletic Director, Justice Aleman took his teaching position. Aleman was previously a science teacher at the Eaton Middle School and recently graduated from Grand Canyon University with a Master’s Degree in Biology.
As Aleman transitioned from middle school to high school she was in the process of getting her Master’s Degree of Biology. When she started her position at the high school she had 18 credits and was ready to receive her credentials, which she later received in Nov. 2023. “We were very clear with Aims about her situation and we thought that it was approved, but there was a break in the communication,” said Lemon. She began the school year teaching with the materials Lemon gave her from when he taught the course, until problems started to arise mid-first semester. Lemon said, “Aims offered Aleman one date to come in to learn the expectations and talk about the class, but it was the same required professional development day for our staff on campus, so we requested a different day for her to attend that training and I am not sure if that was ever honored.”
Aims Community College employees met with Aleman to go over the material she was teaching to the two classes of General College Biology, which was resolved invalid. Aleman said, “The confusion started in the middle of the first semester. Aims reiterated what I was doing wasn’t necessarily quote on quote teaching. There was a lot of miscommunication as far as what they wanted and what was expected of me.” The understanding was that because Aleman didn’t have her Master’s Degree in Biology Credentials certification, the lessons she taught were therefore invalid. Aleman said, “Aims made it sound that if I didn’t make a schedule that the Department Chair at Aims agreed to, then it would be harder for everyone to receive college credit. The students therefore wouldn’t get the college credit if I didn’t jump through all the hoops.”Aleman followed Lemon’s materials that he had used for years of teaching, along with the General College Biology textbook, Biology 2e, and was very focused on teaching her students at the highest level.
Due to Aleman not having the entirety of the Master’s Degree of Biology at the beginning of the school year, Aims Community College advised Aleman to reteach the material taught in the first semester. Aleman has always provided her students with quality education regardless of her having the paper certificate of a Master’s Degree in Biology. Now Aleman is responsible for reteaching chapters one through seven from the College Biology textbook, Biology 2e, in the second semester, as well as the planned chapters seven through seventeen. “Everything that I taught in the first semester, I am having to reteach in this [second] semester. Including all of the labs we have done, I now have to do straight from the Aims lab manual and if I am wanting to change any lab, then I have to write a proposal to the head of the department to have it changed,” said Aleman. To fit a year-long lesson plan into one semester is going to be very difficult because the majority of the class is seniors that attend their last day of school on May 15, 2024. Lemon said, “Aims wants Aleman to teach the year-long course in one semester, which is difficult to do with our schedule.”
Handling this situation properly involved many people from EHS and Aims Community College. Aleman wanted to do what was best for the students and overall make sure they were accredited college credit for their work in the class. Aims Community College wanted to make sure their dual-enrollment students were meeting the course requirements and expectations, regardless of obstacles from a crammed semester. “Our school district is handling this correctly and Justice Aleman is certified as she wants to do what is best for students. Aleman has great knowledge of what she is supposed to be teaching and our district office is advocating for our students. Aims has two different departments working on it too, they have a dual enrollment department and a biology department. Those two are trying to coordinate with our district curriculum and Justice Aleman,” said Lemon.
Throughout this process, enrolled students of the General College Biology class have become frustrated. The frustration is in no way directed at Eaton High School or their faculty, but rather the fact that Aims Community College knew that Aleman didn’t have her Master’s Degree in Biology when she became the teacher in Aug. 2023. “I don’t think any one person is to blame, but I am confused on how this issue didn’t surface sooner to people such as the Aims Community College Administration. I think the situation is frustrating for everyone involved and it has made the class much more stressful,” said senior student Charlotte Spaid. As Aleman continues to reteach her first year of General College Biology, she seeks students’ effort and understanding through this process. “I feel like this whole situation has put a strain on my relationship with a lot of my college students. Nobody has really been upset with me but you can tell they are frustrated by the situation so it gets sort of taken out on me. One of my favorite things about teaching is all the relationships I make with everybody and I just don’t want this whole Aims issue to ruin the perspective that students have of me,” said Aleman. As the school year continues, Aleman and Aims Community College are continuously communicating the expectations and requirements for the class to finish the course to ensure students receive the credit they deserve.
