Future Teachers Explore NYC Classrooms
11 February 2020 Future Teachers Explore NYC Classrooms
A key component of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) is creating opportunities for future-teachers to enter the classroom. Over winter break, 10 TEP students visited schools in New York City to gain experience in an urban setting, attend a career fair, and meet alums who work as teachers and administrators and for education-focused nonprofits.
The NYC Teacher Education Program trip offered us as prospective teachers a chance to insert ourselves in different types of classrooms, and solidified for me that my teacher training has prepared me well, says Emilie Sauvayre 20.
While in New York City, students shadowed teachers and helped in classrooms at PS 188 The Island School in Manhattan and Soundview Academy for Culture and Scholarship in the Bronx, where they connected with Soundview Vice Principal Dorothy Nettey-Addo 96. The program was led by Director of Secondary Education Andrea Huskie and Director of Elementary Education and Coordinator of Student Supervision Jennifer Harris P21, P22.
Creating opportunities for teachers to connect, share and learn.
At the Career and Internship Connections (CIC) Fair, more than 60 schools, staffing agencies and nonprofits engaged in literacy and leadership initiatives discussed job opportunities. As a result of a connection made during the event, Clare Long 20 accepted a position at Greenwich Country Day School.
Students also tapped into the HWS Alumni and Alumane Network at the Alums in Education Meet and Greet at The Globe on 23rd St. More than 20 alums attended, representing decades of experience in the education sector.
A graduate student at the Teachers College at Columbia University, Emily Kellogg 17 attended the Meet and Greet and later joined the students as they met NYC Department of Education Teacher Recruiters in Brooklyn. She said they were confident and prepared during their session.
Kellogg, a fifth-grade teacher at North Star Academy Charter School, also reflected on how the TEP program, which requires 40 hours of classroom placement each semester, helped her excel at her first teaching job. By gaining experience working with many different grade levels and working with a diverse group of experienced teachers, I felt far more prepared in my first year teaching compared to some of my colleagues.
In order to learn more about careers in education in the nonprofit world, students met with Assistant Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives at Read Alliance Joshua Leach 01. Read Alliance works to improve the educational trajectory of underserved early education students by pairing students with trained tutors.
I spoke to a number of students who were interested in getting a better understanding of what jobs are available. Most of my professional life I have been doing work in youth development at nonprofits, specifically in fundraising. I hope I was able to open the door around other opportunities that exist, Leach says.
They also connected with founder of ABC Food Tours Matt James, a company leading students on both food and fitness tours through New York City where students taste signature dishes at local restaurants and learn about their history.
The program was funded by the Katherine D. Elliott 66 Faculty Innovation Grant and the SauleT. 56 and Carol R. Pilati Urban Teaching and Learning Initiative Endowment.