DANBURY -- Sarah Lippman has known since she was four years old that she wanted to become a teacher.

The Danbury High School senior said it was at that young age she started playing teacher with her younger sister in their basement. They created worksheets, and printed them up for each other. And they would write things up on their whiteboard.

Now there's a new opportunity for Lippman and like-minded peers at Danbury High School to explore their burgeoning passion for teaching: the Educators Rising club. It launched earlier in the school year, when child development teacher Angela Smith began to explore additional opportunities for students interested in the popular Little Hatters child development program.

Educators Rising, an off-shoot of a national program, is a potential pipeline for recruiting new teachers in a school district that seeks to improve its educator recruitment and retention efforts and to grow a more diverse teaching workforce. Roughly 79 of the district's students are students of color. Meanwhile around 16 percent of teachers are from similar backgrounds, according to state reported data.

The program also coincides with the Academies of Danbury High School, which includes a Professional & Public Service Academy. One of the pathways in that academy is education and human development.

Lippman jumped on the chance to be part of the club.

"One day Ms. Smith was like, 'I'm starting a club for kids who want to be teachers.' She asked me to join," Lippman said, adding that her teacher explained that there will be opportunities to work with other schools in the district and to create connections.

"It just seems like an awesome opportunity as someone who is going to go on to a future in education to be a teacher," Lippman said.

Already, she's gotten the chance to observe one elementary classroom teacher, an experience, Lippman said, "was really fun to watch."

"She was extremely experienced. She was one of the senior teachers and the way she controlled the classroom, I learned so many new skills from her. It was amazing," Lippman said.

Smith launched the club because she saw a need. Many students couldn't get into the child development class, even though they want to become teachers, she said. It's similar to a club she started when she was a teacher in Louisiana.

"I had a couple of students come by, see me in the hallway and say, 'I wish I could take this class,'" Smith said. When she asked students why they didn't, they responded: "'We tried. We just couldn't get in. It was too full.' And so that was where this idea came from," she said.

And she began surveying students in the class to find out how many of them wanted to become teachers. The majority of them wanted to work with children, but not all of them wanted to become teachers. Some said they wanted to be pediatric nurses or psychologists.

For the students who wanted to become teachers, Smith said, "let's do a club solely on this... We know that there's a huge need... These teachers are struggling."

So in the club, students learn about college scholarships, they develop skills like lesson planning and conflict resolution. They shadow teachers in other school buildings.

Already, 36 students have joined the club, Smith said.

Now students are working on lesson planning for pre-school classes that begin in January, and working on skills for upcoming Educators Rising competitions. The club is working on fundraising so they can participate in the Educators Rising national competition in Orlando, Fla. in June 2025.

They've also begun brainstorming solutions for some of the problems they see in education, Smith said. "Issues of teacher shortages; the lack of bilingual teachers; the need for more males and minorities in education -- we have two young men that are working on that.

"Cellphone policies. That's a biggie that they saw after going in and observing high school teachers themselves," Smith said. Students during those observations saw that peers were on their phones. Instead of simply confirming that phones were a problem in classrooms, Smith tasked the group with developing solutions: "How are you going to fix it, when you become the teacher? And so that's some of the stuff they've been working on."

Noah Batista, a senior, is another student eyeing the teaching profession. He was motivated by his older sister, who has a disability, and faced challenges.

"It's definitely a motivator for me. I want everybody to have the same kind of opportunity," Batista said. Now he wants to pursue a career in secondary education, teaching English.

Joel Ochoa, another senior, found out about the program through Smith. He took child development a year earlier. As part of that class, students offer in-school day care to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

"I was one of the only guys that took the class. And it was kind of a different experience. As the only guy, the kids there kind of looked at me differently than everyone else," Ochoa said, as he cradled an infant in his arms. It made him realize that he was seen as a role model by the younger students.

Ochoa said he plans to become an athletic coach after high school. Now he is also considering a career in education.

Olivia Thomas-Grant, like Ohoa, took the child development class a year earlier. Now she's treasurer for the Educators Rising club.

She enjoyed the class, and getting to know the toddlers' personalities. "It's not usually something you get to learn about in high school," Thomas-Grant said.

As for the club itself, it's a diverse group, and members want to make sure it is open and inviting, she said.

"We try to keep it very open, who we want in our group," she said.

Evangeline Samperi is a senior. She, like Lippman, wants to be a teacher. She enjoys the interactions she's had so far with the children.

"It's really exciting seeing the kids actually listen to you, and interact back with you," she said. "It's really fun seeing them learn, and learn with you."

Schools Superintendent Kara Casimiro said district leaders "are very proud of this effort to create a meaningful program and workforce pipeline of teachers" through the new program.

Casimiro said she plans to seek grant funding to support the group and continue student participation.

"There are many benefits for students involved, including scholarships and practical experience. This is all part of the vision behind our academy model and we are excited to get it started," the superintendent said.

Students have already brainstormed ideas to help the community, Smith said. For example, translating for families during parent-teachers conferences. Because they know parents aren't coming to those events, due to language barriers.

"Just seeing them come up with these ideas and then want to get out there and do more for our community. It wasn't just about, 'Oh how is this going to benefit me?' It was literally, 'How can we help our community?'" Smith said.

She said the city needs to do what it can to ensure such students stay in the city.

"That's what it's all about. Keeping these kids and all of their talents and all of them back here, because we definitely need them," Smith said. "And these kids are amazing. They are so smart and they are so active and willing to do stuff that to lose that is a waste."