Third-generation Bronco channels business passion into hands-on classroom experience

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Ask business eduction student Gracie Feckovics what made the decision easy to come to Western Michigan University, and she'll say family legacy. Or wanting to be like the teacher that inspired her all throughout high school. Or learning how to make classrooms accessible and supportive for all students. Or the perfect mix of everything.

"WMU has always been that school that I could see myself going to. My mom graduated from here, my grandma graduated from here, my grandpa worked here and I have memories of walking the campus as a kid," says Feckovics. "And when I was thinking about what I wanted to do in the future, it was to be like my business teacher, and Western had the exact program to get there. It was perfect." 

Always knowing that teaching was the path she wanted to follow, she found her true calling after taking a marketing class in high school. After connecting instantly to the subject, Feckovics continued taking marketing classes for three years and was eventually able to manage her school's spirit shop as part of her capstone course.

"My teacher basically made me the manager of the store and put a lot of trust in me with handling the money and day-to-day operations," explains Feckovics. "It was really nice to have someone, especially a teacher, trust you and be confident in you." 

Applying coursework to real-world experiences

Feckovic's Western experience has already given her the opportunity to complete a pre-internship with Gull Lake Community Schools alongside one of their business education teachers. While there, she often found herself applying the same concepts and critical thinking skills she was learning in her classes at WMU's Haworth College of Business.

"Part of my pre-internship was teaching a lesson during the high schoolers' entrepreneurship class, and I chose to do it about customer discovery surveys, something I was doing in my own class at WMU," says Feckovics. "This whole semester has been working towards building their businesses for a school fair they are hosting and selling products at, and discovery surveys can help with their ideas."

In addition, she leaned into using techniques she acquired during one of her education classes. According to Feckovics, the course taught her about accessibility and creating content that could be understood by all students, regardless of barriers or learning disabilities. 

"It's called 'universally designed learning,' and it teaches us how to navigate special populations of students. So even if you don't have students who have a disability, you want to design the classroom to meet all needs regardless. Not only does increasing font size help students with low vision, but it helps students to learn better because the font is clear and big," says Feckovics. "It was cool to design and use lessons thinking about universally designed learning, and it taught me a lot about how to use it as a business education teacher."

Completing her pre-internship last semester, Feckovics is looking forward to her upcoming full-time internship. While she doesn't know where that will be yet, she plans to excite and inspire students in the field of business by carrying the torch that was passed down from her teacher.

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