Sophia Henry realized something about herself, in an indirect kind of way, that led her to a career path she loves. Growing up, she always enjoyed cooking, especially for her three younger brothers, because it made them happy. When she decided culinary was not her future career path as she once thought, she focused on another avenue for making kids happy: teaching.
“I wanted to try something new when I took the Future Educator Academy class my senior year,” recalled Henry, who graduated from Petoskey High School in 2023. “I knew that I wanted a career where I could make people happy, especially kids.”
Henry, 20, was a member of the first Future Educator Academy cohort, a Char-Em ISD Career and Technical Education class, when the program launched in the 2022-23 school year. It solidified for her the decision to go into education, with a focus on younger children.
She is now putting her naturally nurturing personality to work as an associate to the lead teacher at the new Early Learning Center at North Central Michigan College, a child care program that opened in summer 2025.
“She is doing amazing,” said Jennifer Wixson, NCMC Early Childhood Education Program Director. “She has demonstrated a real dedication to her learning and she puts what she has learned into action, always doing what’s best for kids. Her focus is always on what’s best for the child.”
Henry was recently celebrated by Char-Em ISD at a “Career Tech to Careers” signing event at the child care center. 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.
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.
During her time in the program, Henry was placed into a 1st grade classroom at Central Elementary School in Petoskey, where she fell in love with working with young students.
“I love how high-energy they are. They’re really fun! And I love seeing how much progress they make in a school year,” said Henry.
She said she enjoys seeing that progress with the even younger children served by the Early Learning Center, which cares for children 3 months to 4 years old.
“Here, every day is progress,” she said. “Even with the babies – we see them start to crawl, then pull themselves up, then start walking. It’s amazing.”
This is Henry’s second job in an early childhood setting. Right after graduation, she was an assistant teacher at the Montessori preschool in Petoskey. When the Early Learning Center was getting close to opening in summer 2025, Wixson said she knew she’d love to have Henry on staff. The two were acquainted previously when Henry was working on her associate’s degree in early childhood education at NCMC.
“Now, she is already an incredible role model for other college students who come into the program as part of their college coursework,” said Wixson.
While working on her associate’s, she also spent time as a teacher assistant in a Char-Em ISD Early Childhood Special Education classroom at the Patricia A. Taylor School for Exceptional Learners, aka “Taylor School.” She is also considering going into special education for young children as well.
At the Early Learning Center, Henry’s day starts around 7 a.m. with setting up classrooms and activities for the day before children begin arriving around 7:30 a.m. She enjoys planning the fun activities and creating action plans for some of the children. The center is open until 5:30 p.m. each week day.
“These babies and toddlers, they teach you a lot of patience and how to slow down. I like this job a lot because of the flow of the day – we follow the children’s interests and flow with them,” Henry said.
In between hugging toddlers coming to see her during the signing event, Henry lauded the Future Educator Academy for helping her see this was her path.
“It was so helpful to be placed in real classrooms, to see what it is like to be a teacher,” Henry said. “Being in the program also made me realize this is actually what I want to do as a career.”
One of her former FEA instructors, Erin Luckhardt, said Henry’s energy and enthusiasm are her trademarks.
“She always took a lot of initiative. She was nervous at first, but confident, going into the classroom placements,” said Luckhardt. “Having that experience helped her to thrive. She stands out as a leader and as a human being.”
While preschool staff often are young, Wixson says Henry provides something special. “Not a lot of young people can put their new knowledge into practice so early on,” she noted.
About taking career tech classes in high school, Henry advised other students: “I would definitely say try to take them while you have the chance to explore new career paths. I’m so glad I took the Future Educator Academy and that I had the chance to see three different classrooms. It really made me realize I definitely wanted to go into early childhood.”
As part of the ISD’s Career Tech to Careers events, Roberts 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 the recent signing event with Sophia Henry (seated center) are (seated, from left) Erin Luckhardt, FEA Instructor; Jen Wixson, NCMC Early Childhood Education Program Director; (standing, from left) Jeff Leslie, Petoskey Public Schools Superintendent; Tamara Kolodziej, Petoskey High School counselor; Hannah Sanderson, CTE consultant, Char-Em ISD; and Tory Thrush, Career/College Readiness Consultant for Char-Em.