In the News

ACES Minority Teacher Recruitment Advisory Council held 5th Annual Future Educators Symposium

May 15th, 2017

On Friday, May 12, 2017 the ACES Minority Teacher Recruiting (MTR) Advisory Council, in conjunction with the Regional Educational Service Center MTR Alliance (RESC MTR Alliance) and the Southern Connecticut State University School of Education hosted the 5th Annual Future Educators Symposium on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University.

The ACES MTR Advisory Council is responsible for planning, developing and implementing strategies to improve the recruitment, support and retention of a diverse educator workforce for school districts in New Haven County. The RESC MTR Alliance works collaboratively to recruit, hire, develop, support and retain a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse teaching and administrative workforce statewide.

One-hundred thirty (130) male high school students of color from ACES, Hamden, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven and Waterbury Public Schools participated in in several activities throughout the day, including two (2) panel discussions and a focus group, that were designed to introduce them to the education profession.

The day began with a welcome by Southern Connecticut State University School of Education Associate Dean Deborah Newton. ConnCAT President and CEO Erik Clemons, captivated the audience with stories of perseverance, first impressions, mentors and finding passion in your life. “Erik has a story to tell; we were excited to have him be a part of the Symposium. Young men need to hear stories of successful adults who highlight their educational journey as the basis of their success” said ACES Human Resources Specialist and event coordinator Kevin Walton.

 “The panel discussions are a significant part of the Future Educators Symposium because it gives the panelists the opportunity to share their personal and professional experiences with a captive audience” said Walton, who also serves as the ACES MTR Coordinator. ACES Director of Curriculum William Rice, shared his unconventional journey to education which involved him leaving his position as an engineer to pursue a career in education. Mr. Rice, who will assume the role of Assistant Executive Director at ACES on July 1^st, shared that quitting his job placed a financial strain on his family because he had no income while he did his student teaching. This was undoubtedly a risky proposition, however, given his love for children, he felt this was the correct decision for him. In the end, Mr. Rice stated, he was motivated not by money but by his passion to influence the lives of young people.

Other panelists included Manny Zaldivar, a first grade ELD Teacher at Smalley Academy in New Britain, Carey Edwards, Middle School Principal Waterbury Arts Magnet School, Hector Cardona 8th Grade U.S. History Teacher at Washington Middle School in Meriden and Ada DeYoung a Spanish teacher at Hillhouse High School in New Haven.

As the urgency to diversify the educator workforce has increased over the last couple of years, there have been several strategies that have been developed and implemented to increase the diversity in the educator workforce. One of those strategies has been to focus on students at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU’S). Seeing that more than half of the black teachers in the United States are educated at HBCU’s, we thought it prudent to have a panel of HBCU educators who would be able to share their HBCU experiences and how those experiences contributed to who they are as educators.

Olafemi Hunter, School Counselor at Hillhouse High School in New Haven shared how Morehouse College “prepared him for real life situations.” Mr. Hunter also stated that his Morehouse experience “gave him the confidence to set goals and attain those goals.” Keisha Redd, Principal at Celentano School in New Haven, stated that she made her decision to attend Howard University while on campus for accepted student’s day because it “felt like home.” Ms. Redd stated that Howard’s “nurturing environment” allowed her to excel and she tries to provide that same type of environment for her students.

The other HBCU panelists included Joseph Johnson, Principal of King Robinson in New Haven, Sean Mosely, English Department Head at Crosby High School in Waterbury and Eugene Foreman, Assistant Principal at Barnard Environmental School in New Haven. Dr. Johnson, Mr. Mosley and Mr. Foreman all attended Howard University, respectively.

The ultimate goal of the Future Educator Symposium is give young people first-hand knowledge of the education profession. But it also a way to let young people know that education is a viable and rewarding profession. “Our panelists did a great job providing honest insight into the profession” said Walton. They also did a great job of dispelling the myth that there is no money in education. The fact of the matter is that, like a lot of industries, the higher up you go the more money you can make. But a recurring theme from the panelists was it’s less about the money and more about being motivated to have an impact on their student’s lives.

“While there has been a slight movement in the effort to diversify the educator workforce, we feel that it is important for us to talk directly to high school students, who are potentially the next generation of educators and education leaders” said Walton.

We are facing a looming teacher shortage in the United States and it is incumbent upon us to market the profession as cool and viable to the next generation who will be soon entering the workforce. Everyone may not want to be a teacher, but there are other positions throughout the profession that are just as impactful such as School Counselor, Social Worker and School Psychologist, to name a few. In a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, seemingly, all students would benefit from having a culturally diverse educational experience including a diverse educator workforce.

There are many cultural differences that children need to explore, experience and share and what better place to do so but in the classroom? If we are serious about increasing the diversity in the educator workforce, we must be diligent in our efforts to develop and implement innovative strategies, including the necessary funding, to recruit, support and retain educators of color. The Future Educators Symposium is a first step in achieving our goal.  

Use this link to see the article in the June 14, 2017 edition of Inner-City News.