When Abigail Crane walks into her kindergarten classroom each morning, she’s greeted by a group of children who are waiting to learn, play, and have fun together. These children have changed her life just as much as she is shaping theirs. For the Linton, Indiana, native, teaching isn’t simply a career choice. It’s her calling.
“I get to hang out with twenty of my best buds every day,” Crane jokes. “I didn’t expect it to be this much fun.”
For anyone who knows Crane now, they might be surprised that she didn’t always envision herself at the front of a classroom. Growing up surrounded by educators in her family, she admired their passion, but she wasn’t sure she’d follow the same path. In high school, she considered two potential futures: social work or teaching. Indiana State University—known for strong programs in both areas—quickly became a top contender.
But everything changed when Crane spent her senior year assisting in a kindergarten classroom. The experience sealed the deal for her, she says, and she chose elementary education. Indiana State’s Bayh College of Education, with its deep legacy of producing exceptional teachers, became her obvious choice.
“When I started to apply to colleges, I noticed almost all of my teachers went to Indiana State. They’re proud to be Sycamores. Being an Indiana State alum, it’s almost like a lighthouse in the dark. If you want to be a teacher, Indiana State is calling your name,” Crane explains. “So many people said to me, ‘You want to be a teacher? So, you’re going to Indiana State, right?’ Indiana State is the place to be if you want to be in education. There’s nowhere else like it.”
From her first semester on campus, Crane felt drawn to kindergarten – a surprise even to herself.
“Kindergarten is a hard yes or a hard no for most people,” she admits. “I never thought I’d want it. But every practicum and every observation put me with the littles, and I just fell in love with teaching kindergarten.”
To Crane, kindergarteners have bright curiosity and so much energy to share. She calls them “sponges” – because they absorb everything, from letter sounds to social skills. She has watched their personalities unfold as they learn to share, socialize, and care for one another.
“They’re brilliant, funny, honest little humans who soak up everything around them,” she says. “It’s incredible to watch them go from learning the alphabet in August to reading full sentences in January. Seeing that growth firsthand… it’s magic.”
Indiana State’s Elementary Education program gives its students something invaluable: early, consistent time in real classrooms. Crane visited multiple schools across Vigo County beginning her freshman year, gaining confidence in classroom management long before her student-teaching semester. She didn’t have to wait until her senior year to understand what it’s like to really teach a kindergarten class.
“Getting into classrooms early made all the difference,” she says. “I learned classroom rhythms, expectations, and what teaching really looks like.”
Student teaching brought everything full circle. Crane remained with the same mentor teacher she had previously worked with, allowing her to step seamlessly into the student teaching experience.
“It’s been the most beneficial, most fun, and most hands-on part of my entire experience,” she says.
And Crane speaks of her mentor teacher with admiration. “She’s phenomenal. She’ll say, ‘Here’s how I do it,’ and she’ll model it for me. I’ve learned more from her than I ever could from a textbook.”
That blend of theory and practice is a signature of Indiana State’s approach to the Elementary Education program. Many faculty members have taught in elementary classrooms, bringing their knowledge and lived experience right into their classes. They teach education theory, but they also teach the reality of evolving classroom needs.
“They’re so in touch with what’s happening in education right now,” Crane says. “Everything I’m learning in class is exactly what I’m doing in the kindergarten classroom.”
Looking ahead, Crane is excited for her own future classroom and the generations of children she’ll meet. “Every group of kids has its own quirks and its own little personality,” she comments. “It’s so fun to see what each year brings.”
For anyone considering becoming a teacher, Crane has one message: “I can’t recommend Indiana State enough.”
Her four years have been transformative – filled with mentors who believed in her and classroom experiences that shaped her. She adds, “I wouldn’t be the person or the teacher I’m becoming without Indiana State. It’s been such a good four years.”
And, in just a few months, she will join the proud legacy of Sycamore educators whose influence reaches far beyond the campus – all the way into the bright, curious eyes of the children they teach.
