Ella Seelye is open about the struggles she had in high school and her uncertainty about a future career path. But one class – and one teacher – changed everything, and set her on a path to become a teacher herself.
“I had a really hard time during my freshman year. I just wanted to give up,” said Ella, 20. “I took the ‘Student Success Class,’ where teacher Mrs. (Michele) Deming taught me about a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. After she taught me that, it made a huge difference for me and I started looking at things differently.”
At Deming’s encouragement, Seelye enrolled her senior year in the Future Educator Academy, a Char-Em ISD Career and Technical Education course hosted by Boyne City High School. It was then, for the first time, she enjoyed learning.
“I was very hesitant about going to college, because I just did not enjoy school up until that point. But in the Future Educator Academy, I absolutely fell in love with learning, and learning about teaching,” Seelye said.
Seelye was recently celebrated by Char-Em ISD at a “Career Tech to Careers” signing event at Boyne Falls Public School, where she is now a teacher assistant working toward her teaching degree. Career Tech to Careers events were established by Char-Em’s Career and Technical Education Department to recognize high school students who pursue careers after graduation based in part on their enrollment in career tech classes in high school.
Students in the Future Educator Academy meet several times a year as a full group at Boyne City High School, the program’s hosting district. After being introduced to the program, students are placed in classrooms in their home district, typically in grade levels where they have interest. There, they learn alongside teachers and get hands-on, real-world experience about what it is like to be a teacher.
Seelye was placed in a kindergarten classroom and then a fifth-grade classroom. She said she enjoyed the older children because she felt she could make deeper connections with them, as she looked ahead to a future teaching high school students.
During high school, Seelye participated in the Early College program offered by North Central Michigan College, which allows students to earn college credits for free. She was able to earn 60 transferable college credits – at no cost to her – and graduated with both her high school diploma and Associate of Arts degree in 2024.
As she works in the Boyne Falls classroom, she is also an online student through the Talent Together initiative, which is a partnership led by 56 Michigan ISDs (including Char-Em) and supported by 18 colleges and universities to train the future education workforce. Talent Together covers all tuition and fees for specific teaching degrees and endorsements, while enabling qualified candidates like Seelye to earn an income and experience through positions like her current role in Boyne Falls.
Seelye was one of just 8 high school students accepted into the first Talent Together cohort upon graduation, from 560 initial program applicants statewide. She is working toward her degree to teach special education with an endorsement in emotional impairments (EI) through Ferris State University, where Talent Together placed her.
Seelye first started working in January 2025 as a long-term sub in a Char-Em ISD classroom. That position led to a full-time job beginning this fall, and she is currently working as a teacher assistant in teacher Mike Olivier’s Boyne Falls ISD classroom.
It also changed her direction of study from initially wanting to teach students with learning disabilities to teaching those with emotional impairments.
“I fell in love with the students and knew that was the direction I wanted to go,” said Seelye.
She said her own struggles in high school have made her naturally compassionate to understanding the struggles of others, especially youth.
“There is always a reason for the behavior, and it’s our job to decode it,” she said. “I can help be the positive change in their lives. School is comfortable for them and safe. And I tell them they can choose their own future path, no matter what challenges they have faced.”
ISD teacher Olivier, whose classroom includes 6th-8th graders, described Seelye as an “amazing” addition to his team.
“Ella is professional and has built a wonderful rapport with our students, which can be challenging as it takes time to develop trust,” said Olivier. “She does a great job processing with students and uncovering some of what’s happening under the surface to help students problem solve and move forward. Ella is a leader and she is willing to step right in and support our students.”
Future Educator Academy co-instructor Erin Luckhardt said Seelye’s empathy is one of her biggest strengths.
“Your struggles are a big part of the lens you bring to the classroom,” Luckhardt said to Seelye. “Empathy is going to be your super power as a teacher.”
Seelye expects she will complete her degree in about 1.5-2 years. Then, she has her sights set on becoming a special education teacher – working to change the lives of those she teaches, just as a teacher did for her.
As part of the ISD’s Career Tech to Careers events, Seelye received a $200 gift card to Office Max from the Mansfield Family Foundation, which has generously supported the ISD’s signing events and career tech initiatives for many years.
Photo caption: Pictured at a Career Tech to Careers signing event for Ella Seelye (seated, center) are (from left, seated) Char-Em ISD classroom teacher Mike Olivier; Jim Rummer, Char-Em ISD Career and Technical Education Director; Erin Luckhardt, Future Educator Academy co-instructor; (back row, from left) Ella’s family, including Stephen Seelye, superintendent of Pellston Public Schools, sisters Annabelle and Aurora Seelye, and mom Michelle Seelye, a special education teacher at East Jordan Elementary School; Ella’s boyfriend Timothy Aemmer; ISD classroom teacher assistant Doug Marvin; Hannah Sanderson, CTE consultant, Char-Em ISD; and Tory Thrush, Career/College Readiness Consultant for Char-Em ISD.