Mercer University’s College of Education students recently spent time at Roberts Academy to better understand the needs of children with dyslexia. As part of their junior year curriculum, secondary education majors are required to complete 30 hours of observation in local schools each semester. For the first time this fall, 10 of those hours were spent at Roberts Academy, which is Georgia’s only school for dyslexic learners outside the Atlanta area.
Dr. Matthew Sroka, assistant professor of literacy education, described the initiative as a success and indicated plans to continue it. “It seemed to be really successful, so it’s something we want to continue in the future,” Dr. Sroka said.
Roberts Academy is located near Mercer’s Macon campus and expanded to include sixth grade for the 2025-26 academic year. This allowed Mercer students new opportunities for hands-on experience while fulfilling field placement requirements.
Throughout the semester, several juniors observed and participated in activities within Teresa Kalmbach’s sixth-grade class. “The goal is observation and to experience it and see teaching in action,” Dr. Sroka said. “The great thing about Roberts is Mrs. Kalmbach got all of them involved. So when they came, they didn’t just sit back and watch.”
Kalmbach noted that Mercer students assisted during small group sessions, answered questions, and provided supplemental information related to classroom content. She explained: “We have a diverse population of learners that (Mercer students) will encounter in a general education classroom,” she said. “It’s really important they can get into this environment and see it on a small scale and start to understand the types of behavior and learning needs of these students. What we do here, it benefits all students. Being here helps them to apply it in their own practice.”
Joel Chen, a social studies and history secondary education major, took a student worker position at Roberts after his observation experience there inspired him. He stated: “I think that this (experience) is really going to benefit me,” Chen said. “Roberts Academy uses the Orton-Gillingham (teaching) approach. Getting experience in how they’re using it, I could possibly use some form of it in my own classroom in the future. But also I’m helping these children with dyslexia, so I can maybe pick out who has dyslexia in my own classroom in the future. It’s all about helping the student and making sure they can learn.”
Catherine Spainhour, another junior double-majoring in secondary education and history, helped lead small reading groups and shared her experiences from New Zealand with students during her observation period. She reflected: “I learned how to lead small groups while helping students with dyslexia, as well as how much their learning and struggles range. I loved being able to see how they worked in the classroom with each other through their active writing activities,” she said.
Dr. Sroka emphasized that these observation hours complement coursework such as his disciplinary literacy class by giving students practical exposure to teaching strategies discussed academically: “As they work with students with dyslexia, a lot of the instruction is designed around literacy,” Dr. Sroka said. “In class, we talk about literacy theory and all these strategies that could be done in the classroom, but they actually get to see it in action when they go to Roberts.”
According to Dr. Sharon Augustine, associate dean and professor of education at Mercer University’s College of Education, experiences connecting Mercer students with Roberts Academy are now being built into curricula across multiple disciplines within teacher preparation programs at Mercer.
“It’s really important that we are intentional with making sure that we put our students in courses and field placements that speak to each other,” Dr. Augustine said. “We are making sure Mercer students are benefitting from having the partnership with Roberts and learning from the faculty there. There’s nothing better than sending students into an environment that you know is pouring into those Roberts Academy students, addressing an important need and helping our Mercer students get a hands-on understanding of dyslexia as a superpower and learning difference not a deficit.”
David Robertson supervised juniors completing their observation hours at Roberts Academy this fall for both Mercer’s College of Education health/physical education courses as well as his role teaching physical education at Roberts itself.
“They’re getting to see there’s not one way to teach,” Robertson said. “You have to observe, you have to have hands-on experience, you have to be able to interact and appreciate students wherever they are. I hope they take that experience with them because every year is a new year and every class is a new class. It broadens their horizons of being a teacher.”
