YOUNGSTOWN School district wins national award for program to mentor new teachers

The program won one of eight national awards.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Seventeen years ago, Mary Clark was a member of the "South High Rookies."
As a new teacher at South High School, she appreciated the support the monthly teacher meetings brought.
"It wasn't a formal program, but it was a big help," said Carter, as she discussed the district's current teacher mentor program.
"You were lucky," responded fellow teacher Lori Yanacos-Clark.
Years ago, that kind of support was uncommon. Now it is becoming standard.
Carter serves as a teacher on special assignment who coordinates the New Educators' Support Team, or NEST, through the district's Local Professional Development Committee.
Yanacos-Clark, an eighth-grade Hayes Middle School teacher, who also is qualified to teach special education pupils, is one of the program's lead mentors.
This year, she partnered with Debi Bunch, who teaches pupils at Kirkmere Elementary School with multiple disabilities.
"If there wasn't a mentor, I would have been lost," Bunch said. "She was there for me not only during school but after school."
Honored at conference
NEST will be recognized this month at a National Education Association teachers union conference in New Orleans. The Youngstown program is one of seven in the nation to receive a National Education Association-Saturn/United Auto Workers award for having one of the best Labor/Management Partnerships to Mentor New Teachers.
"We have a lot of circumstances we have to understand. ... We're trying to get new teachers to understand some of the things they have to do for student achievement," Clark said. "We do have obstacles but this is one area we're trying to address."
A teacher's first year, the women said, is filled with details that new teachers don't know, such as various procedures, who to go to with various issues, and who is responsible for what.
"I remember how I felt when I first started," Yanacos-Clark said. "I don't think you realize how much you help."
Veteran teachers are so busy during the day that it's hard to find time to meet new teachers, let alone help them out, Yanacos-Clark said. The NEST program gives time and a format for mentoring.
Funded by grant
NEST has been in Youngstown since 1998, when it was one of the first districts to receive a grant. Dr. Susan Stevens, who now works in a different district department, applied for the grant using scientific research.
Now, the state gives districts $2,000 per entry-level teacher who is required to apply for a license. (Licensure laws apply to teachers who began their education after September 1998.) Mentors receive $750 per year; lead mentors receive $1,500. Other costs are for meetings, books and other materials.
In 2002-03, there were three lead mentors and 20 others. Only two new teachers were bound by the licensure law, but the district offered mentors to all entry-level teachers, absorbing the additional funding required for the group of 15 to 20, Carter said.
Other winners of the national award are school districts in Arizona, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and two in Ohio.
Carter said Ohio schools came out on top in part because they are required by the state to have mentoring programs in place.
Transition from college
Mentors can offer a transition for teachers who find that things learned in college are not always easy to implement in a classroom setting, Carter said.
"With a lot of things, it's second nature for me," Yanacos-Clark said. "But for a first-year teacher, they are kind of put in a classroom and told, 'Go.'"
Bunch said she is facing her second year of teaching with new tricks of the trade. She said Yanacos-Clark was not just a mentor, but an advocate too. They discussed her basic rights, the union contract and teacher evaluations.
"I've learned so much this year. I learned a lot by doing," she said. "I'm definitely more prepared."