Hopeful NJ Teens Get Sneak Peek at Teaching in Urban Environments
By David Madden
GLASSBORO, N.J. (CBS) -- A group of South Jersey teenagers who hope to become teachers are getting a chance to practice, with the help of some Camden youngsters and a program based at Rowan University that is now in its fifth year.
They're wrapping up a two-week session of the Rowan Urban Teacher Academy ("RUTA"). Thirty high school students who aspire to be teachers have to keep up their grades, and show their commitment, according to program coordinator Lorraine Ricchezza.
"Not only do they want to teach in schools but they want to teach in urban areas" such as Camden, she explains.
Cassandra Russo, a senior at Clearview Regional High School (below left), is among those developing lesson plans for her "students" from the Cooper Learning Center. What attracted her to RUTA?
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"Just my overall excitement to becoming a teacher and an opportunity to have a program where I can learn how to be a teacher and interact with children," Russo said today.
And, she says, it has opened her eyes to the challenge of educating children in an urban setting.