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| Embracing New Teachers: First lady lauds Mercy College's National Training Program NY Newsday, September 3, 2003 The Associated Press First lady Laura Bush welcomed hundreds of mid-career professionals to teaching yesterday as city officials promoted a training program that will bring 2,500 new teachers to city schools this fall. "Our children's future depends on their education and America's future depends on our teachers," the first lady said at the Manhattan campus of Mercy College, which educated more than 600 teaching fellows this year for the New Teacher Project. Bush, a former teacher and librarian who has placed special emphasis on education and reading as first lady, joined Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and new fellows who completed a summer course as part of the New Teacher Residency program. More than 6,000 professionals around the country went through the program and will start teaching at schools in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and several other cities this year, said Michelle Rhee, chief executive of the New Teacher Project. Many of the fellows in the nationwide program are in their 30s and contemplating new careers, Rhee said, although they range from college graduates to people in their 60s. A $1.25-million grant from Washington Mutual, a Seattle-based financial services company, helped fund the project, which continues training the new teachers for two years in a master's and certification program. Jackie Nethersole, a former lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission who quit six years ago to raise a family, said she decided to become a teacher when she saw a newspaper ad that said: "Do you think New York City students deserve a quality education? Then prove it." "I was hooked," said Nethersole, who went through a six-week training program at Mercy College and then taught fifth-graders at a public school in the Bronx. "Every single day of work is an adventure." Nethersole, a former PTA president, said she had always worked closely with the teachers of her three children, but wanted to help some children who didn't have as many opportunities. Bush, who said she decided she wanted to be a teacher at age 8, recalled that she found it difficult to prepare for her first day of school as a teacher. "No textbook can prepare you for 20 sets of eyes staring at you," she said. But one thing that binds all teachers, she said, "is a love for children." Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc. | |
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