Working For Kids
A dedicated staff keeps the Audubon School running strong.
On a late fall morning, 1,000 elementary school students pour out of Public School 128M, also known as the Audubon School, onto the streets of New York City. A fire alarm buzzes in the air as students walk quickly and calmly out onto the sidewalks to their appointed meeting spots for the fire drill., In a busy intersection, a dozen teachers stand in formation to stop traffic so that students can cross the streets safely. The drill is over in less than four minutes.
Such organization among staff and students is a testimony to how well everyone works together to keep the Audubon School strong. The school provides a safe, pleasant environment in which students are engaged in learning. Everyone works toward the common goal of encouraging children to become lifelong learners.
Walking through the bright halls' of the school, the Audubon team's success is evident. The building is filled with enthusiastic children who are engaged in their work.
THE FIFTH-GRADE CLASSROOM
The fifth-grade students are busy editing their memoirs. "We're working on verb tenses," one student explains as teacher Suzanne Friedman circulates through the room, guiding students in their work.
The classroom is a bright environment for learning. The walls are covered with tips: "How to Select the Right Book" and "What Good Readers Do." Neatly' written essays are displayed with Friedman's notes of praise attached.
Teaching may be the first career that springs to mind when one thinks about jobs in education. But Friedman didn't consider teaching as a career until she was in college. Her main interest was writing. She was an English and linguistics major at the University of Pennsylvania when she began working with middle school kids in a creative writing program. "When I was a child, I was in a creative writing program. It inspired me to do a lot of writing on my own," Friedman says. "I wanted to give that back." That experience inspired her to join Teach for America, a program that trains college graduates to teach (www.teachforamerica.org). Graduates agree to work in urban and rural public schools for two years.
Friedman worked in a school in the Bronx before coming to Audubon School. In the meantime, she earned her master's degree in education. Teachers need a bachelor's degree and teaching certification. Most public schools require teachers to have master's degrees within five years of starting work.
As a teacher, Friedman gets students excited about learning and helps them master the skills required of fifth-grade students in New York. She works with other teachers to plan lessons and to share ideas and resources. "It's a pretty collaborative school," Friedman says, citing an example of a recent unit she planned with other teachers about the 50 states. "We get together on the weekend and make things together."
Weekends? Yes, teachers work on weekends and even over the summer. Friedman's team spends weekends creating the projects they'll assign in class, and brainstorming ways of making the lesson more compelling.
"Teachers go home and think a lot about the students. [The workday] doesn't end at 3:30. School takes over your thoughts, and you think about your kids," she says. For example, if a student is not performing well, that issue will be on her mind even after work hours. Grading students' work, planning lessons, updating bulletin boards, and taking professional development courses also happen outside of classroom hours.
"After the students leave, teachers have a lot of responsibilities," Friedman says. "I'm often here until 7 or 8 at night." She's quick to add, "I want to be-here. [My students'] education is the most important thing to me."
ACTIVE LEARNING IN PHYS ED
Lifelong lessons in health and wellness are taught inside the school gym, where Ruben Betancourt oversees five periods of physical education and health each day. His curriculum promotes regular, fun physical activity for all students, no matter what their abilities or athletic talents. "Today we're doing an activity with scooters on the floor, which [is] fun. There's no standard to base it on except your own. Everyone wants to participate."
Betancourt connects students and staff alike to larger health initiatives, including a community wellness program that features after-school fitness activities, nutrition education, family events, and staff workshops on topics such as yoga and tai chi.
The results of Betancourt's work can be seen outside the gym too. "It is believed that a healthy body promotes a healthy mind," Betancourt says, adding that physical activity is a good stress reliever and makes students more productive.
Friedman agrees. Her fifth graders do well in class after they've had a period of physical education. "They come in very alert, having had the chance to be physically active," she says. "They're ready to learn."
A former reading specialist and fifth-grade teacher, Betancourt chose to become certified to teach physical education in part for his own health. "I found myself getting a little stiff, and I wanted the movement," he says. "So I opted for the gym."
LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY
Classroom lessons find a whole new dimension in the school library. Jennie Delaney, the librarian, shows students how to use library resources to help them with their projects. The fifth-grade students have been preparing for a social studies skills test. Delaney has helped them read maps, find books about history, and separate facts from opinions in their reading.
"[My] role is to support the classroom teacher," Delaney says. "I allow [students] to become familiar with what this library is like and what a public library would be like in terms of how the books are categorized and where they're located."
Delaney's library is a cozy room where small groups can work together on projects or where individuals can lose themselves in a book. "I've rebuilt this library," Delaney says with pride. "When I took it over 13 years ago, it had been neglected: and it was a mess. Slowly but surely … we've managed to turn around the collection completely." The library boasts a collection of well-kept and up-to-date books, bought with both a yearly stipend from the state and grant money for which Delaney applied.
Although Delaney is eligible for retirement, she's ,in no rush to leave the school. "It's like family," she says. "We get very attached to the new kids who come in, and they to us."
TEACHING TECHNOLOGY
Most students today probably can't imagine school without computers. Starting in the earliest grades, students use computers as tools to help build skills in areas such as reading and math. Later, more sophisticated software helps them create projects such as presentations and spreadsheets.
Virginia Liz-Ferreira trains the school community to use the latest computer hardware and software. "My role is to motivate children and staff to use technology to its fullest advantage in enhancing curriculum," she explains. When teachers gain confidence with the newest technology, they can then help students build confidence in using computers to learn.
Liz-Ferreira, who has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in bilingual education, is also the go-to person for computer maintenance. The school does not have a network administrator on staff, so the role "comes down to 'Miss Liz' and a couple of teachers who are really savvy," she says. The self-appointed technology team keeps the systems running smoothly.
Students see Liz-Ferreira every day in their classrooms and in the halls, but they don't see a big part of what she does. School budgets are limited; outside funding helps the school get the up-to-date technology it needs. "Technology becomes obsolete quite often. I seek grants or funding sources from many different areas," she says. Liz-Ferreira explains to funding sources why the money is needed and how it will be used. Teachers seeking a grant for a specific subject area will ask Liz-Ferreira to weigh in on how technology will be used within that curriculum. As she says, "Technology is not a subject on its own but enhances other curricular areas."
ADDRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES
When Rose Occhino was a child, she saw the movie Boys Town, which inspired her choice of career. "It showed children who were having behavior problems due to life circumstances. I was struck by the injustice of it," Occhino says. "We need to help the child who is going through these circumstances."
As a bilingual social worker, Occhino helps students who are struggling in a variety of circumstances. Each school year, she evaluates about 50 children with behavior or academic problems. She talks with the child's family and teachers to determine the cause of the problem. "Social workers look at how the community and family affect the child," she explains. Once her evaluation is done, she recommends a course of action or special service to help the child.
Audubon's student population is 90 percent Latino, and 95 percent of parents speak primarily Spanish. Occhino is fluent in Spanish, so she can communicate effectively with the people she's helping. "Counseling … is much more effective in someone's native language," she says. "If a child has to struggle to find a word in English for how he's feeling, he shuts down."
THE TEAM WORKS
Every morning, Betancourt helps the principal with the morning line up. He pitches in around the school wherever his help is needed. "No job too big, no job too small!" he says. This "we're all in it together" attitude helps make the school so successful--as does the staff's shared commitment to the children. "As large as we are, we're very nurturing, and [we know] all the kids," says Delaney. "Everybody in this building is focused on the children."
School Jobs
A professional is available in every school to meet any academic, physical, or emotional need a child has: curiosity about computers; a skinned knee; difficulty getting along with others; a broken desk; a healthy meal. Which job might be right for you?
HELPERS
Dietitian(a)(b)
Guidance counselor(b)
Librarian(a)(b)
School nurse(a)
School psychologist(b)
Social worker(a)(b)
Speech pathologist(a)(b)
EDUCATORS
Reading specialist(a)(b)
Teachers(a)(b)
Art/music/drama
Bilingual
Elementary
English as a second language
Physical education
Secondary
Special education
MANAGERS
Building manager/custodian
Principal/assistant principal(b)
Secretary
Technology coordinator(a)(b)
KEY
(a) Bachelor's degree required
(b) Master's degree required
By: Flounders, Anne, Career World
On a late fall morning, 1,000 elementary school students pour out of Public School 128M, also known as the Audubon School, onto the streets of New York City. A fire alarm buzzes in the air as students walk quickly and calmly out onto the sidewalks to their appointed meeting spots for the fire drill., In a busy intersection, a dozen teachers stand in formation to stop traffic so that students can cross the streets safely. The drill is over in less than four minutes.
Such organization among staff and students is a testimony to how well everyone works together to keep the Audubon School strong. The school provides a safe, pleasant environment in which students are engaged in learning. Everyone works toward the common goal of encouraging children to become lifelong learners.
Walking through the bright halls' of the school, the Audubon team's success is evident. The building is filled with enthusiastic children who are engaged in their work.
THE FIFTH-GRADE CLASSROOM
The fifth-grade students are busy editing their memoirs. "We're working on verb tenses," one student explains as teacher Suzanne Friedman circulates through the room, guiding students in their work.
The classroom is a bright environment for learning. The walls are covered with tips: "How to Select the Right Book" and "What Good Readers Do." Neatly' written essays are displayed with Friedman's notes of praise attached.
Teaching may be the first career that springs to mind when one thinks about jobs in education. But Friedman didn't consider teaching as a career until she was in college. Her main interest was writing. She was an English and linguistics major at the University of Pennsylvania when she began working with middle school kids in a creative writing program. "When I was a child, I was in a creative writing program. It inspired me to do a lot of writing on my own," Friedman says. "I wanted to give that back." That experience inspired her to join Teach for America, a program that trains college graduates to teach (www.teachforamerica.org). Graduates agree to work in urban and rural public schools for two years.
Friedman worked in a school in the Bronx before coming to Audubon School. In the meantime, she earned her master's degree in education. Teachers need a bachelor's degree and teaching certification. Most public schools require teachers to have master's degrees within five years of starting work.
As a teacher, Friedman gets students excited about learning and helps them master the skills required of fifth-grade students in New York. She works with other teachers to plan lessons and to share ideas and resources. "It's a pretty collaborative school," Friedman says, citing an example of a recent unit she planned with other teachers about the 50 states. "We get together on the weekend and make things together."
Weekends? Yes, teachers work on weekends and even over the summer. Friedman's team spends weekends creating the projects they'll assign in class, and brainstorming ways of making the lesson more compelling.
"Teachers go home and think a lot about the students. [The workday] doesn't end at 3:30. School takes over your thoughts, and you think about your kids," she says. For example, if a student is not performing well, that issue will be on her mind even after work hours. Grading students' work, planning lessons, updating bulletin boards, and taking professional development courses also happen outside of classroom hours.
"After the students leave, teachers have a lot of responsibilities," Friedman says. "I'm often here until 7 or 8 at night." She's quick to add, "I want to be-here. [My students'] education is the most important thing to me."
ACTIVE LEARNING IN PHYS ED
Lifelong lessons in health and wellness are taught inside the school gym, where Ruben Betancourt oversees five periods of physical education and health each day. His curriculum promotes regular, fun physical activity for all students, no matter what their abilities or athletic talents. "Today we're doing an activity with scooters on the floor, which [is] fun. There's no standard to base it on except your own. Everyone wants to participate."
Betancourt connects students and staff alike to larger health initiatives, including a community wellness program that features after-school fitness activities, nutrition education, family events, and staff workshops on topics such as yoga and tai chi.
The results of Betancourt's work can be seen outside the gym too. "It is believed that a healthy body promotes a healthy mind," Betancourt says, adding that physical activity is a good stress reliever and makes students more productive.
Friedman agrees. Her fifth graders do well in class after they've had a period of physical education. "They come in very alert, having had the chance to be physically active," she says. "They're ready to learn."
A former reading specialist and fifth-grade teacher, Betancourt chose to become certified to teach physical education in part for his own health. "I found myself getting a little stiff, and I wanted the movement," he says. "So I opted for the gym."
LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY
Classroom lessons find a whole new dimension in the school library. Jennie Delaney, the librarian, shows students how to use library resources to help them with their projects. The fifth-grade students have been preparing for a social studies skills test. Delaney has helped them read maps, find books about history, and separate facts from opinions in their reading.
"[My] role is to support the classroom teacher," Delaney says. "I allow [students] to become familiar with what this library is like and what a public library would be like in terms of how the books are categorized and where they're located."
Delaney's library is a cozy room where small groups can work together on projects or where individuals can lose themselves in a book. "I've rebuilt this library," Delaney says with pride. "When I took it over 13 years ago, it had been neglected: and it was a mess. Slowly but surely … we've managed to turn around the collection completely." The library boasts a collection of well-kept and up-to-date books, bought with both a yearly stipend from the state and grant money for which Delaney applied.
Although Delaney is eligible for retirement, she's ,in no rush to leave the school. "It's like family," she says. "We get very attached to the new kids who come in, and they to us."
TEACHING TECHNOLOGY
Most students today probably can't imagine school without computers. Starting in the earliest grades, students use computers as tools to help build skills in areas such as reading and math. Later, more sophisticated software helps them create projects such as presentations and spreadsheets.
Virginia Liz-Ferreira trains the school community to use the latest computer hardware and software. "My role is to motivate children and staff to use technology to its fullest advantage in enhancing curriculum," she explains. When teachers gain confidence with the newest technology, they can then help students build confidence in using computers to learn.
Liz-Ferreira, who has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in bilingual education, is also the go-to person for computer maintenance. The school does not have a network administrator on staff, so the role "comes down to 'Miss Liz' and a couple of teachers who are really savvy," she says. The self-appointed technology team keeps the systems running smoothly.
Students see Liz-Ferreira every day in their classrooms and in the halls, but they don't see a big part of what she does. School budgets are limited; outside funding helps the school get the up-to-date technology it needs. "Technology becomes obsolete quite often. I seek grants or funding sources from many different areas," she says. Liz-Ferreira explains to funding sources why the money is needed and how it will be used. Teachers seeking a grant for a specific subject area will ask Liz-Ferreira to weigh in on how technology will be used within that curriculum. As she says, "Technology is not a subject on its own but enhances other curricular areas."
ADDRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES
When Rose Occhino was a child, she saw the movie Boys Town, which inspired her choice of career. "It showed children who were having behavior problems due to life circumstances. I was struck by the injustice of it," Occhino says. "We need to help the child who is going through these circumstances."
As a bilingual social worker, Occhino helps students who are struggling in a variety of circumstances. Each school year, she evaluates about 50 children with behavior or academic problems. She talks with the child's family and teachers to determine the cause of the problem. "Social workers look at how the community and family affect the child," she explains. Once her evaluation is done, she recommends a course of action or special service to help the child.
Audubon's student population is 90 percent Latino, and 95 percent of parents speak primarily Spanish. Occhino is fluent in Spanish, so she can communicate effectively with the people she's helping. "Counseling … is much more effective in someone's native language," she says. "If a child has to struggle to find a word in English for how he's feeling, he shuts down."
THE TEAM WORKS
Every morning, Betancourt helps the principal with the morning line up. He pitches in around the school wherever his help is needed. "No job too big, no job too small!" he says. This "we're all in it together" attitude helps make the school so successful--as does the staff's shared commitment to the children. "As large as we are, we're very nurturing, and [we know] all the kids," says Delaney. "Everybody in this building is focused on the children."
School Jobs
A professional is available in every school to meet any academic, physical, or emotional need a child has: curiosity about computers; a skinned knee; difficulty getting along with others; a broken desk; a healthy meal. Which job might be right for you?
HELPERS
Dietitian(a)(b)
Guidance counselor(b)
Librarian(a)(b)
School nurse(a)
School psychologist(b)
Social worker(a)(b)
Speech pathologist(a)(b)
EDUCATORS
Reading specialist(a)(b)
Teachers(a)(b)
Art/music/drama
Bilingual
Elementary
English as a second language
Physical education
Secondary
Special education
MANAGERS
Building manager/custodian
Principal/assistant principal(b)
Secretary
Technology coordinator(a)(b)
KEY
(a) Bachelor's degree required
(b) Master's degree required
By: Flounders, Anne, Career World
posted by James at 3:30 PM
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