Alma Avalos and Jennifer Coronado, both education paraprofessionals
interested in becoming teachers, attended one of the once-quarterly Saturday
workshops on teacher diversity at Cal State San Bernardino. Both have
been participants in the paraprofessional program for the past two years.
Coronado discovered in her sophomore year of college that she wanted to
become a teacher, and Avalos had already been working as a translator
and computer trainer in the Fontana Unified School District. They were
recruited as paraprofessionals to study for the teaching profession.
The Paraprofessionals Project identifies and works with
paraprofessionals and classified school district employees, such as aides,
clerical staff, bus drivers, custodians and others who want to become
multiple subject teachers, and recruits them for Cal State San Bernardino’s
credential program.
The Paraprofessionals Project, now in its third year of
a five-year federal grant for $200,000, was developed through CSUSB’s
Center for Equity in Education. The center was founded in 1989 by CSUSB
professors Esteban Diaz, Juan Gutierrez and Barbara Flores to focus on
equal opportunities in education for everyone: disadvantaged, low socio-economic
status, special education, minorities and English-as-a-second-language
students.
Diaz believes that about 200 paraprofessionals and classified
school district employees will participate in the project over the five-year
period. This current school year has 75 students who are being supported
with a $2,000 annual stipend that pays for their tuition, books and CBEST
examinations. If a student receives an internship or other paid position,
he or she no longer receives funds.
Participants are pre-credentialed juniors, seniors and/or
credential students in liberal studies/single subject teacher education
at CSUSB. The project creates a “pipeline with multiple entry points
at the community college and university level,” said Diaz.
Gutierrez also is committed to the project because he
believes it “just opens doors for people who never thought they
could become teachers because they didn’t have the opportunity to
do so.”
Diaz hopes more federal and state funding will become
available to enable continued support of nontraditional students. “My
concern is that the emphasis on standards and testing without needed resources
to implement them may cut some districts and students out of the pie of
money necessary to address needs of those in poverty and those with special
education and ESL needs,” he said.
“This program,” Coronado said, “helped
me socially in meeting other teachers who share their experiences and
solutions to classroom problems, such as discipline.”
Avalos agreed, adding, “I will finish my student
teaching in February, but would have had many more problems understanding
the state requirements and the standards if I hadn’t had the guidance
from this program.”
Joy of Reading
In math and social studies, 9-year-old Adam Lyons had it
down. Reading? That was another story. When his school tutoring in phonetics
failed and private tutoring proved too pricey, Adam's mother, Jane, brought
her son to Cal State. They met Mary Jo Skillings, a CSUSB literacy, language
and culture professor, who decided to work with Adam personally. Week
after week and for months, Adam's mother drove him to the university for
the 40-minute sessions. Skillings taught him how to break up words and
gave him reading tips, and “Adam loved it,” his mother said.
About the time Adam was working on his reading, Seal Beach
developer Jim Watson was thinking about houses. His company, Watson &
Associates, was set to open construction on a project directly across
the street from Cal State San Bernardino. With a history of funding programs
in the communities where his company embarked on projects, Watson asked
the university about the local possibilities. In time, discussions led
to talk of a literacy center, which appealed to Jim Watson instantly.
The stage was set. It was in the fourth grade, about the
age that Adam is now, that Watson also had problems reading. Between Watson's
initial gift of $100,000 and Adam's personal story, a Literacy Center
at CSUSB has been launched. At an event in September, Watson and his business
partners announced still another $100,000 contribution, and Adam, standing
by his mother as she spoke, offered a bouquet of flowers to Mary Jo Skillings.
Quick Takes
In March, California voters approved Proposition 55, the
$12.3 billion statewide school repair and construction bond. It has paved
the way for future construction of a $50 million building to house CSUSB's
College of Education. The college consistently ranks among the leading
teacher-preparation programs for the entire 23-campus CSU system and the
nation. The new building will cover 152,000 square feet with lecture and
lab space and faculty offices. Construction is scheduled to begin in January
2006. A tentative completion date is set for August 2007. Along with the
building, the project will include a new perimeter road around the campus,
connecting it with Northpark Avenue and Coyote Drive.
