Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2001 Page: 2 of 8
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2 January 25, 2001
■H.
Teach for America
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gram proves stress]
Lee Williams
(Princ-
(U-tyjfgLHlUMdqtTON, NJ.-
When Beth Lowenstein was
Amcr-
’^IWpHn^tWWTOPal edu-
cation in Baltimore’s inner city,
she expected her new job to be the
beginning of a career in teaching.
But Lowenstein, a 1993 gradu-
ate of Connecticut College, soon
found herself juggling myriad tasks
and responsibilities that would have
easily overwhelmed a veteran edu-
cator.
“I was definitely struggling. Mv
school was not supporting me but
making me feel really stressed and
pressured," she said. “They were
totally laying it on thick, and me
being 23 and [in my) first [year]
out of college and not really know-
ing, I was like, ‘OK, OK, I’ll do it.’
That was what was so hard and I
couldn’t deal.”
Unable to cope with the situ-
ation, Lowenstein eventually left
the school. She did not return to
the teaching profession for seven
years.
“It didn't totally turn me off
[from teaching! but it certainly did
for a few years," she said.
With seniors tackling the task of
finding jobs, many look to nonprofit
organizations like Teach for Amer-
ica, founded by Princeton alum
Wendy Kopp. The program places
recent college graduates in under-
served school districts across the
country to teach for two years.
"Overwhelming is probably the
best word to describe the first days
of teaching,” said Nora Meltzer
‘99, who teaches at Dr. William H.
Horton School in Newark.
Though the program has been
"tremendously positive" for her,
she said that not everyone is as for-
tunate. "That’s a big thing with the
program. I think experiences can
varv so greatly -- the principal, how
welcoming they are and how wel-
coming the school is."
Kyle Waide, director of public
relations for Teach for America, said
program coordinators are aware of
the many obstacles young teachers
often face during the first year.
Consequently, he said his orga-
nization has an intensive selection
process to find teachers who can
deal with the challenge of teaching
for the first time.
"We look at people who have
had academic success. We also look
at people who have records of lead-
ership. Eighty-seven percent are
leaders in their schools or com-
munity," Waide said. “That is just
as important. Teaching is funda-
mentally a leadership position. It’s
about setting a vision, it’s about
investing the people around you
in that vision and it’s about going
above and beyond to help everyone
meet the goals of that vision.”
But vision does not always
translate to successful teaching,
and some critics say the Teach
for America program fails to ade-
quately groom its participants to be
effective educators.
For the program's five-week
training course, new Teach for
• America corps members assemble
and get their first classroom experi-
ence teaching summer school.
While working with the students
-- many of whom are underprivi-
leged — new corps members col-
laborate with experienced teachers
and Teach for America alumni.
A group of four new participants
team-teaches a summer school class
together.
Katherine Boles, lecturer on
education at the Harvard graduate
school for education, said the Teach
for America training program is too
short to train a teacher adequately.
"It’s like training a brain sur-
geon in six weeks," she said. “I’m
not so sure that a person in the
suburbs wants that kind of person
teaching their children."
Boles said she believes Teach
for America would benefit from a
more extensive training system.
“What Teach for America does
not provide is support, instruction,
pedagogical techniques and curric-
ulum that you've got to have to be
' a good teacher," she said. “It's very
minimal."
. Bui Waide said the program
leaves teachers with techniques
they can apply in the classroom.
•/, "Our program provides our corps
’ members with a very strong foun-
News
Over-enrollment hinders student learning
Continued from Page 1
jy<M
dation on which they can build,” he
said.
Frank Lind, a senuu at Cornell
University, is in the process of
applying to Teach for America.
He said he worries about being
sent with little training to teach at a
school already suffering from lim-
ited resources.
“It’s inadequate preparation for
a very serious situation,” he said. “I
know they’re looking for students
that can deal with gical challenges
and work long hours under tough
conditions, but I wonder if that is
really taking enough care to help
the schools."
Waide said the program’s plan-
ners would naturally prefer a longer
period to train new teachers.
“In an ideal world, of course
we would," he said. "At the same
time we feel our program provides
our corps members with a very
strong foundation on which they
can build."
Princeton graduate Brian John-
son, who teaches in a rural Loui-
siana school, said he learned as he
taught.
“[Teach for America is] good
about training you how to teach,
and more importantly how to find
out what you need to know and
how to find resources,” he said.
"Laying that groundwork during
the institute has really helped me to
develop as a better teacher through-
out my two-year commitment."
Teach for America received
more than 4,100 applications last
year and accepted just over 1,000
applicants.
Approximately 900 of them
joined the corps.
Teach for America now has
about 2,000 teachers in both rural
and urban schools across the coun-
try.
Its organizers hope to double
the program’s size during the next
three years, Waide said.
Despite the program’s growing
popularity, leach tor America
teachers are not always made to
feel welcome at the schools where
they are placed, said some partici-
pants.
Indeed, some said they felt
neglected by their school’s admin-
istrators.
Boles said that sense of neglect
could stem from participants' lim-
ited term of commitment. "Prin-
cipals aren't putting much energy
into them because they’re going to
be gone in [two] years," she said.
Waide said it is rare for princi-
pals and teachers to treat Teach for
America members as inferiors.
"I’m sure that exists occasion-
ally, just as it must exist at any
school," he said. “[Corps members]
work diligently to enter the com-
munity at their school and rely on
the advice and expertise of other
teachers."
Susan Ballantyne, principal at
John Marshall Fundamental School
in Compton, Calif., said teachers
trained by Teach for America have
had a very positive impact on her
school.
“A lot of my colleagues don’t
like Teach for America in our
schools because they only stay nor-
i*(>f two yeflfs M Ballantyne
said. “But what they bring in those
two years I will take because they
bring so much excitement to the
classroom. They are just dynamic
people."
Mary Kay Dutming ‘99, a
teacher at Miller Street Elementary
in Newark, said she had enjoyed
her Teach for America experience,
despite the long hours that have
come with it.
“I knew it would take a lot of
energy and a lot of work," she
said.
“I’ve loved it, but obviously I
haven't loved every minute,” she
said.
For Lowenstein, memories of
Teach for America will always be
tempered by regret.
“They just choose people that
are really enthusiastic and dedi-
cated and creative and innovative.
I mean, the caliber of applicant is
high," she said. '
“They get really motivated
people involved and. depending
on a lot of things these teachers
either sink or swim. And it's too
bad because every person that goes
through Teach for America has
the potential to be an excellent
•.wHBI .f iM - oiA,'
"I think that in physiological,
for example, I won’t have those
guys write a major paper, simply
because I couldn’t get it graded.
I think it not only affects written
material but also working one on
one with students.
"It changes the dynamics of the
classroom. With a smaller group,
you get to know those people and
have a sense of where they are in
terms ol what they know and don’t
know. I also think with smaller
numbers students tend to come to
class more. With larger numbers,
you can be anonymous. 1 think it
affects attendance.”
To correct this situation, Dr.
Kiesinger suggests the hiring of
additional faculty members and
offering multiple sections of certain
courses. There needs to be a “uni-
versity wide commitment to limit
class size in ways that are consis-
tent with what is promoted on the
web site and in other university
publications.” said Kiesinger.
“Long-term plans call for adding
more faculty. This is part of the
Strategic Plan as well. Of course,
it depends on money, and it affects
the need for office space and class-
rooms. There are 8 faculty searches
underway (Bio, Rel, Com, Edu,
Eng, Kin, Spa, and Mus.) 3 are for
new tenure-track positions.” said
Stones.
Purdy agrees, “I think that the
administration wants to hire more
faculty, which is the solution. It’s
common knowledge that we rely
too much on part-time help, so
that’s not the solution. The solution
is to get full time faculty members
so that you can offer enough sec-
tions to keep numbers down...but I
think that it is hard to do because it
requires more than just the money
ST
answer and there is no quick answer.
We Hist have to be patient ”
Until the university hires more
faculty in several departments, over
enrolled classes are here to stay.
Hopefully the numbers will soon
decrease and the university will
again meet its’ goal of an average
class size of 20 students.
CAFFEINE AND CAREERS
Don’t want to trek to McCook-Crain?
Then Career Services will come to you!
Drop in at your convenience and bring your questions,
have your resume critiqued or learn about job searching,
internships, etc.
Free drinks provided!
When: Wednesday, January 31, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Where: Sharon Lord Caskey Community Center
Who: All students welcome!
Sponsored by Career Services.
For more information call x1346.
Want to win $100?
Want to get a resume written professionally for you, free?
Career Services presents
the Spring 2001 Resume Drive
If you don’t have a resume and want Career Services to write
it for you, free*:
1 Turn in a completed Resume Worksheet by February 2
2. Schedule and complete a follow-up appointment by
February 16
‘Limited to first 25 respondents.
Resume Worksheet available at Career Services or
at www.southwestern.edu/careers/Students/publications/
publications.html
•f you already have a resume:
1. Register with CareerConnections and
2. Enter resume into the system by February 16.
If you choose to have Career Services write your resume,
you can also register with CareerConnections by February 16
for a chance to win $100 at Best Buy! All students not previ
ously registered (prior to January 1, 2001) with CareerConnec
tions are eligible for the drawing, to take place on February 17.
Please contact Career Services at x1346 for rietailsi
In the news
Bonnie Casson
Megaphone Staff
-Woodland Park, CO- Four
of the notorious “Texas Seven”
band of escaped convicts were
apprehended in a small moun-
tain town about 15 miles west
of Colorado Springs Tuesday.
Another convict, Larry
Harper, committed suicide in a
motel room Monday afternoon
after being barricaded by police
in a motel room.
Two of the escapees, Henry
Murphy Jr., and Donald Keith
Newbury were arrested yester-
day.
-Over the weekend a group of
hackers attacked governmental
websites in the US, United King-
dom and Australia. According
to Attrition.org this infiltration
is one of the largest and most
systematic attack on the Web.
-Taba, Egypt-Serious peace talks
between Palestinian and Israeli
leaders continue amidst two ethni-
cally charged explosions reported
in Gaza. The negotiations are
expected to last longer than ten
days.
-London, England-In a 212-92
vote on Monday the British House
of Lords established new laws
allowing limited cloning of human
embryos. The decision has come
under intense scrutiny from lead-
ing religious officials.
-Orlando, Florida-Scheduled to
open February 5, 2001 is a new
theme park, The Holy Land Expe-
rience.
This Christian theme park, com-
plete with a replica of Jesus’ tomb,
a Hebrew prayer laser light show,
according to park officials is the
perfect form of “family entertain-
ment.” Members of the Orlando
Jewish Community are outraged.
-London, England-The “Inter-
net Twins,” two American bom 6
month olds who were adopted over
the Internet by a Welsh couple,
have been remanded into authori-
tative custody.
The adopters, The Kilshaws are
heartbroken but claim that their
fight for custody is just beginning.
-Washington, D.C.-Monday, the
28th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade,
President Bush reinstated an order
banning the use of federal funds
to aid international abortions. In a
letter read at a Pro-Life rally in
D.C., the President stated that we
should not “advocate or actively
promote abortions either here or
abroad.”
-Capetown, South Africa-If you
thought that the Olympics were
over, think again. The 2001 Pigeon
Olympiad is being held in South
Africa. The event includes pigeon
races and a show featuring pigeon-
racing paraphernalia.
-Puerto Baquerizo, Galapagos
Islands-An Ecuadorian oil tanker
lies turned over and has been
leaking oil since ea/ty Friday.
The US Coast Guard has been
called into the site which lies
about 550 yards from San Cris-
tobal Island.
The leakage poses a huge
threat to the many endangered
and exotic species for which the
Galapagos Islands are famous.
-Edinburgh, Scotland-A cre-
ative Scottish jewel thief who
happened to swallow his loot has
been treated and cured from a
four day bout with constipation.
In an attempt to escape, the
man jumped out of a window
thus breaking his hip. When an
x-ray was conducted thedoctor
noticed something odd logged in
his stomach.
With a bit of laxative the
jewels were recovered. The evi-
dence is now being sorted out by
an unlucky police officer.
teacher.”
TOAST **.
^ Megaphone
Editor-in-Chief
News Editor
Features Editor
Opinions Editor
Arts & Entertainment Co-Editor
Arts & Entertainment Co-Editor
Sports Editor
Photo Editor
Comic
Jennifer Getson
Tolly Moseley
Scott Rocher
Alan Suderman
Sara Gray
Lindsay Dold
Manuel Jovel
Sarah Meyer
Joi Lakes
Writers
y
Lacy Klosterman
Lisa Iyer
Bonnie Casson
Cris Roach
Ryan Roe
Bretnie Grose
Jeff Fowler
Sara Springfield
Megaphone is the official, student-run newspaper of Southwestern University in
Georgetown, Texas. It is published every Thursday when classes are in session.
Please send submissions to SU Bos 7444, Georgetown, TX 78626. For more
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clarity. No article will be printed if it is not accompanied by the real name
and title of the author. Upon request, the author’s name can be withheld.
Special thanks to:
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Justin Harris
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Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 25, 2001, newspaper, January 25, 2001; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634399/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Southwestern University.