Photo Courtesy of Nancy J. Deering
NEWARK, NJ — What started as a conversation in 2019 to create a pipeline of internal teacher candidates by developing them from the high school student population has now come to fruition due to the dedication and groundwork of Newark Superintendent of Schools Roger León, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and recently appointed Montclair State University President Jonathan Koppell. Thus the Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy was created and implemented at East Side and University high schools. The program is strategically centered to benefit the students, the district and the community, while at the same time helping to address the constant challenge of teacher shortages.
“We are redefining education in Newark by creating something for the next decade and we are doing it simultaneously as our students are preparing for their futures,” León said
The Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy is a dual enrollment program, with a student cohort at East Side and another at its magnet school partner, University High School. Montclair State University serves as its post-secondary education partner and the American Federation of Teachers as its industry partner. The two high schools have been working together since 2019 to ensure that Newark Public Schools has a pathway for students with a passion for teaching that inspires future educators, advocates for social justice and encourages students to return to the district one day as full-time employees.
On Feb. 14 at East Side High School, León, Weingarten and Koppell announced that stipends will be provided for participants of the program. Students who complete the program in the spring will receive a stipend of $1,200 and those students who complete the program in the summer will receive a stipend of $2,500, generosity of the AFT.
“We thought the most important thing we could do is to create the conditions that allow you to make a difference in the lives of others,” Weingarten said to students.
The dual enrollment courses will begin in spring 2022. Students who are juniors and enrolled in their third year of the academy will start taking dual enrollment courses. When complete, they will have earned 30 college credits. Each year will offer a different work-based learning experience in an elementary school within the district. This year, the academy students will be working with sixth-grade classes at Oliver Street Elementary School and eighth-grade classes at Ann Street Elementary School.
“At Montclair State University, we have a long history of training and preparing teachers. I am excited about the future of our program’s participants as they venture into becoming teachers because they are going to be in a position to do something that gives extra special meaning to their own lives,” Koppell said.
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