The 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 VTfT cohort visits the School Administration Building to learn about Human Resources and receive their official badges.
Welcome to the homepage for the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow (VTfT) program at First Colonial High School! Thinking about joining this special program? 2026-2027 course registration is just around the corner. Keep reading to learn more about these very special classes!
The VBCPS media team took some videos from our Fall 2025 visit!
Were you busy on December 11, 2024, when we held an after-school Zoom session about the VTfT classes at FC? No worries! Check out the recording from the meeting HERE:
This is the introductory level VTfT class that covers some of the "basics" of education: children's literature, human development, educational theories, psychology, instructional strategies, and a little bit of educational history.
Students progress through the Teacher Cadets curriculum for the first semester and beginning of second semester, then take the AAFCS Education Fundamentals CTE examination for an industry credential. Students are dual-enrolled with Tidewater Community College in the spring semester to earn credit for the EDU 200 Foundations of Education course. *NEW as of the 2025-2026 school year: VTfT I students also earn credit through TCC for "SDV 108: College Survival Skills" (3 credits) as part of their coursework!
As part of the VTfT I course, students are placed at an internship at either an elementary or middle school that partners with FC. Students visit the school during their class meeting block (3B for the 24-25 school year) on Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday, depending on where the B days fall that week, beginning and the end of February and continuing through May. All VTfT students attend class at First Colonial on Fridays, where they reflect and share about their experiences during the week and work on their portfolio to sum up the experience and eventually potentially submit for the Future Teacher Award.
Official VBCPS Course Description:
Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow provides students with exposure to the field of education through participation in a world-class curriculum and field experiences related to the teaching profession. Students are guided through the history of education and the functions of schools and school divisions. Additionally, students experience the classroom as they become acquainted with teachers and teaching on a personal and professional level, including a brief internship in a classroom setting. Admission to the course is through application only. Interested students should contact their high school's guidance office or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow instructor. This course is currently offered for dual enrollment credit through Tidewater Community College at select high schools.
Students enrolled in VTfT II have already completed the VTfT I class. They enter their Level 2 internship - sometimes with the same host teacher and school as their Level 1, sometimes somewhere else - towards the end of October and remain there throughout the year. *NEW as of the 2025-2026 school year: VTfT II students earn credit through TCC for "EDU 250: Foundations of Exceptional Education" (3 credits) and "EDU 295: Continuing in the Teaching Profession" (3 credits) as part of their coursework!
Official VBCPS Course Description:
This course is a continuation of Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I. The course will extend the focus on historical and contemporary topics relevant to an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required of classroom teachers. Students will have the opportunity to research and reflect on professional practices in preK-12 classroom settings and in alternative educational program sites. Students will take part in a year-long internship while developing a professional portfolio.
The VTfT classes consist of lots of opportunities to learn and grow OUTSIDE the walls of FC. Check out some pictures below of a couple places that VTfT students have visited on field trips this year!
To ease the sign-in process with observations and internships later in the year, VTfT students visited the School Administration Building in October to acquire an official VBCPS ID badge and learn about college teacher prep programs and the hiring process.
At the end of October, VTfT students had the chance to visit Longwood University's Education and Teaching Immersion Day, where they had the chance to tour the campus and learn from current students and faculty about pathways to earning teaching credentials from Longwood.
How do kids act when they're outside of school? We attended a performance of the musical A Christmas Carol in December - yes, with all the theatre kids - to see different approaches that schools and teachers use to bring their students "out and about."
VTfT students visit a nearby elementary school to see exemplary teachers in action and observe the way that younger students beave and interact in the classroom setting.
A big thanks to Lynnhaven Middle School for hosting our VTfT I students! Shortly before starting their internship, and select high school classes as part of their coursework to consider evidence of the different developmental stages of adolescents.
Students from First Colonial and all Virginia Beach schools are eligible to participate in the Virginia Educators Rising competition, usually around the beginning of March.
Students in the Level II Internship begin a 70-hour experience with a cooperating VBCPS teacher in October to go most 3A class periods through May. Students in Level I begin their 40-hour internships in late February.
Graduating First Colonial seniors who participated in VTfT can wear 1-2 teal cords, reflecting how many years they participated in the program.
Students graduating at the end of the year have the chance to apply for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools Future Teacher Award, which offers guaranteed employment to VTfT students when they complete their higher education (usually a four-year undergraduate or five-year Master's degree) to come back and work in Virginia Beach! Interested seniors, who can either be enrolled in VTfT I or II or have taken VTfT I at some point, can apply in April. VBCPS is able to Award as many students as qualify, but the top 2 students from each school receive special recognition at the May school board meeting!