Hillari Carringer is a senior at Seymour High School (SHS) and is already working toward career aspirations.
Thanks to the Career Internship Program that is offered by all of the Sevier County High Schools, Carringer, who wants to be an elementary school teacher, has the opportunity to get a head start on college classes with some hands on training.
She leaves SHS at 1:30 p.m. and spends the rest of the school day working with Mrs. Joan McMahan’s first grade class across the street at the Seymour Primary School. Carringer, who has been nominated for “Who’s Who Among American High School Students” for the last two years, is a great example to prove the validity of such educational programs.
“I’m so happy that Hillari has chosen to be a teacher,” said McMahan. “She’s a very caring person, she’s a good student and I know that she’ll make a wonderful educator.”
You could say that Carringer and McMahan have come full circle.
McMahan, who has been teaching at Seymour Primary for 11-years, was Carringer’s fourth grade teacher. It was then, at that young age, that Carringer started making her future plans.
“She was my fourth grade teacher,” said Carringer. “I remember that she was really nice and how she tried to make coming to school fun for her students. She helped me make my mind up to be a teacher. When I was younger I said that I either wanted to be a veterinarian or a teacher and after I had her class, I knew wanted to be a teacher.”
Carringer, who has a 3.45 grade point average, also credits Seymour High School Guidance Counselor Sarah Houser with helping her identify her ambitions. Houser helps oversee the internship program at the high school.
“She (Houser) helped me get in the program and then helped me get into Mrs. McMahan’s class,” said the 17-year old. “She’s real supportive. I know that if I have any questions, I can go and talk to her anytime.”
Carringer says that she just enjoys working with kids and plans to major in Elementary Education at either Carson Newman College or Johnson Bible College next year.
“I’m very thankful that Hillari has chosen me to be her mentor,” said McMahan. “You can just watch her working with the children and how they respond to her. She takes a personal interest in each child. I think this is a really good program because it gives students an opportunity to find out if they really do want to work with children and try out different grade levels and see which is the best for them.”

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