Somerset County Public Schools Success Nothing Less

Mentoring Program: "Breathe Your Wind Beneath Its Wings"

A grant of $45,000 has been approved by the Maryland State Department of Education to be spent in SCPS to mentor new--first- and second-year, teachers. This is the third year that SCPS has qualified for a mentoring program grant from MSDE.

The 2 goals of the mentoring program are: 1) to reduce new teacher attrition rate, due to poor performance; and, 2) to increase student achievement.

It is acknowledged that the process of learning to teach is not complete when a beginning teacher is hired for a position in a classroom. That learning requires at least two years. Help is needed; this mentoring program is meant to help in that process for beginning teachers.

Students in the classrooms of beginning teachers also can be at a disadvantage, through no fault of their own or of the new teachers. Still, they are expected to perform as well as those students who learn in the classrooms of "master" teachers, who have more experience and have traveled further in the process of learning to teach. As the new teachers are helped to develop, it is believed that students will derive the direct benefits, and their achievement will increase.

In order to help new teachers' growth and performance (Goal #1), two resources are available: 1) a trained, experienced mentor in the school, and 2) a course in "effective teaching practices." The two MSDE-sponsored courses, for mentors and for new teachers, were scheduled to begin at the end of September. With too few registered, the course for mentors was delayed. The course for beginning teachers (and any other teachers who were interested) began, as scheduled, on September 26 and will conclude in April. Both courses are offered, through the grant, with free materials and 3 in service credits.

New teachers enrolled in the current "Using Effective Teaching Practices" class are: Pat Benner (WES), Dawn Bozman (GMS), Melissa Cavanaugh (WPS), Christa Dise (WPS), Jennifer Follensbee (GMS), Andrea Hill (GMS), Kim Maurer (WES), and Jamine Walker (WES). Already, after just two sessions, they have coalesced as a group, sharing ideas, experiences, concerns and beliefs. Among the teachers who completed the first "Using Effective Teaching Practices" class were: Brandy Horner (PAP), Rachel Portanova (WPS), and Christina Truitt (PAP). We wish them well as they take advantage of this opportunity to grow as professionals and learn that they can depend upon each other for resources and support, throughout their careers!

Teachers who already have been trained, through this program, as mentors include: Terry Drechsler, Michelle Gandolfi, Kristen Harrington, Karen Linamen, Barbara Long, Renee McLaughlin, Suzanne Middleton, Rebekah Polk, Melinda Porter, Christy Scott, Deborah Tull. Congratulations to them, as they work with us to make the best of the experiences, and retention, of our new teachers, and as a result, maximize the potential of our students.

Other master teachers who have served as mentors, and continue to do so, are to be commended for their commitment to the system and to our profession. They include, at CHS: Patricia Carson and Ginger Moses; at GMS: Kathy Crockett, Karen Curtis, David Decker, Glen Ennis, Clarice Mathies, and Andrew Todd; at JM Tawes: Melvin Higgs and Mike Lokey; at MSP: Bonnie Bradshaw, Anne Hess, Tracie Holland, Julie Laird, Patti Monk, Mary Pruitt, Linda Swift, and Phyllis Thomas; at PAP: Jamie DelliGatti, Michelle Gandolfi, and Melinda Porter; at WES: Pat Davis, Kristen Harrington, Mary Lou Horseman, Kathy Reynolds, Kirstin Schultz, Deborah Tull, and Sylvia Williams; at WHS: Monique Birckett, Lois Collins, CJ Davenport, Anne Knight, Suzanne Middleton, Tina Taylor, and Bill Williams; at WMS: Jean Adams, Patti Butler, John Robertson, and Jessica Simone; and at WPS: Becky Bonneville, Kay Dodson, Patti Howeth, and Cheryl Tull.

In addition to these on-site mentors, the "Project Mentors" are retired teachers. Those include, for elementary schools: Carol Ann Miller and Anita Stephens; and for secondary schools: Sharon Clark.

Three facets of the mentoring program, in this our third year of MSDE grant funding, have been added. One, is publishing this information on the SCPS web site. A second is conducting four evaluations--in October, January, April and June. (It is anticipated that "mid-course" corrections can be made more quickly through two additional evaluations.) The third has just been completed; "initial meetings" were held at each school, with the principal, new teachers, and their mentors present.

Mr. Lawson, who recognized the need for this program in SCPS, who wrote the original proposal for grant funds from MSDE, and who continues to monitor its success, reports that aspiring teachers ask, during their interviews, if mentor help is available to them after being hired. Thus, beginning teachers recognize the value of mentoring for new teachers.

Results of the first, October, evaluation are coming in. We will share the results with you. Stay tuned...