February 7, 2005: Headlines: COS - Kyrgyzstan: Secondary Education: Philadelphia Inquirer: Kyrgyzstan RPCV Emilia Rastrick is ready to fill mid-term vacancies
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February 7, 2005: Headlines: COS - Kyrgyzstan: Secondary Education: Philadelphia Inquirer: Kyrgyzstan RPCV Emilia Rastrick is ready to fill mid-term vacancies
Kyrgyzstan RPCV Emilia Rastrick is ready to fill mid-term vacancies
Kyrgyzstan RPCV Emilia Rastrick is ready to fill mid-term vacancies
'Boot camp' teachers ready to fill mid-term vacancies
By Susan Snyder
Inquirer Staff Writer
Fresh out of a grueling, one-month teacher boot camp of sorts, 61 newly trained educators will step into classrooms across Philadelphia tomorrow.
Filling vacancies left by teachers who retired, quit, or took midyear leaves of absence, they face a daunting situation.
Most are switching to teaching as second, or even third, careers. None has gone through a traditional four-year education-degree program. Some have had no teaching experience, save "boot camp." Half will be assigned to some of the city's most challenging classrooms, those serving special education students. And they arrive well into the school year.
But what they lack, they make up for in a major way: They are motivated. That is important in a district that has struggled for years with teacher shortages.
They all have bachelor's degrees in other fields, and they are also enrolled in an ongoing teacher-certification program offered through Temple University.
They represent the first group here trained by the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit New York company that specializes in readying nontraditional teachers for hard-to-staff classrooms.
Here is a look at three who are taking part in the program:
[Excerpt]
Emilia Rastrick. Rastrick, 32, was born in England and moved to this country when she was 14. She spent six years in the Army, which allowed her to travel around the world. She obtained a bachelor's degree in history, and she later got a master's in public administration from Rutgers University.
Rastrick served in the Peace Corps, where she taught English as a second language part time.
Most recently, she worked for Women's Opportunities Resource Center, providing online financial-management training to low-income people.
She has wanted to teach for years.
"Teaching is one of the best ways to get into a neighborhood and really know it," she said.
A resident of Germantown, she lives within blocks of Fitler Academics Plus School, where she will teach.
She already has volunteered to be a liaison between the school and groups that could provide reading coaches.
"I know these contacts. I can do that," Rastrick offered during staff training on Friday.
She's replacing a retired teacher at Fitler, which is for first through eighth graders.
Rastrick will teach health and physical education. Principal Willette Jones praised Rastrick for already having created a system of rewards and consequences for student behavior, a plan to communicate with parents, and lesson plans. "That's all critical," Jones said.
"Now," Rastrick said, "it's just a matter of hitting the ground running."
When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
 | RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey. |
 | Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." |
 | Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
 | The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
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Story Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kyrgyzstan; Secondary Education
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