2006.11.01: November 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Honduras: Secondary Education: Awards: Language Training: Hartford Courant: Christopher Poulos work as a Peace Corps worker in Honduras convinced him that his future was in the classroom and that volunteer work could be a powerful teaching tool
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2006.11.01: November 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Honduras: Secondary Education: Awards: Language Training: Hartford Courant: Christopher Poulos work as a Peace Corps worker in Honduras convinced him that his future was in the classroom and that volunteer work could be a powerful teaching tool
Christopher Poulos work as a Peace Corps worker in Honduras convinced him that his future was in the classroom and that volunteer work could be a powerful teaching tool
"He wants you to go into the environment of Spanish-speaking culture," said 15-year-old junior Megan Procaccini, one of more than 50 students Poulos has taken on summer trips to work on community service projects in Costa Rica. "It goes way beyond the classroom." Poulos, for example, designed a Spanish course for seniors that requires them to volunteer in hospitals, churches or after-school programs where Spanish is spoken. "Some have joined Spanish-speaking churches and choirs," he said. "Traditional textbooks and exercises and final exams didn't seem to make sense to me."
Christopher Poulos work as a Peace Corps worker in Honduras convinced him that his future was in the classroom and that volunteer work could be a powerful teaching tool
Top Teacher Taps Culture
November 1, 2006
By ROBERT A. FRAHM, Courant Staff Writer
Caption: CHRISTOPHER POULOS, left, beams as he is applauded by his parents, Betty and Chris Poulos, after his selection as Connecticut Teacher of the Year. The ceremony was at Joel Barlow High School in Redding. Photo: Cloe Poisson
REDDING -- Christopher Poulos, named the state's Teacher of the Year Tuesday, didn't come to teaching in the usual way.
A law career, maybe, or politics was on his mind when he got his bachelor's degree less than a decade ago, said Poulos, who once worked as a legislative intern on Capitol Hill.
But a 27-month stint as a Peace Corps worker in Honduras convinced him that his future was in the classroom and that volunteer work could be a powerful teaching tool.
The popular, boyish-looking Spanish teacher and student council adviser at Joel Barlow High School became the first educator trained in a non-traditional, fast-track teacher licensing program to be named Connecticut's Teacher of the Year.
At 31, he is also the youngest teacher in recent memory to win the award. He was selected from among Connecticut's 48,000 public school teachers.
"It's been quite a ride," Poulos said of a teaching career that began only six years ago and that has helped students sharpen their language skills by doing volunteer work in Spanish-speaking communities and organizations.
"He wants you to go into the environment of Spanish-speaking culture," said 15-year-old junior Megan Procaccini, one of more than 50 students Poulos has taken on summer trips to work on community service projects in Costa Rica. "It goes way beyond the classroom."
Poulos, for example, designed a Spanish course for seniors that requires them to volunteer in hospitals, churches or after-school programs where Spanish is spoken. "Some have joined Spanish-speaking churches and choirs," he said. "Traditional textbooks and exercises and final exams didn't seem to make sense to me."
After graduating from the University of Richmond with a bachelor's degree in leadership studies, Poulos worked in a rural village in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer, helping children with science projects, teaching women's groups about gardening and training farmers in agricultural techniques.
"I love people and was moved by my experience in the Peace Corps," he said Tuesday. "I decided I'd like to share some of that with my students ... so that maybe they could have similar experiences."
After returning to the United States, Poulos signed up for an eight-week summer training session that leads to a teaching license under Connecticut's Alternate Route to Certification program. It has trained more than 3,200 lawyers, business leaders, scientists and others since 1988 to work in Connecticut's public schools.
"This reinforces that the alternate route can prepare excellent teachers," said LeRoy E. Hay, himself a former teacher of the year who now directs the alternate route program.
After taking the job in Redding, Poulos also studied at Columbia University, where he received a master's degree in Spanish teaching.
Poulos was the guest of honor at a school assembly Tuesday attended by students, teachers, staff members, top state education officials, local dignitaries and his parents, Chris and Betty Poulos of Southington.
Poulos, known for his trademark bow ties, spent much of his morning accepting congratulations from colleagues and students. Some carried paper masks with a likeness of his face. Assistant Principal Susan Haig said Poulos exemplifies the school's goals of developing characteristics such as personal integrity, intellectual curiosity and civic responsibility.
"If you see our mission statement," she said, "Chris is it."
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Headlines: November, 2006; COS - Honduras; Secondary Education; Awards; Language Training; Connecticut
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Story Source: Hartford Courant
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Honduras; Secondary Education; Awards; Language Training
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