This newsletter is
published by:
University of Bridgeport

Division of Institutional Advancement,
George H. Mihalakos, vice president,
219 Park Ave.,
Bridgeport CT 06601

Editor: John J. Daley, (Director of public relations)

Design: Takafumi Kojima
(Multimedia Specialist)

Articles may be submitted
by email to:
bpt.univ@snet.net
Fax: (203) 576.4512
Phone: (203) 576.4510

 Internship program draws students of all ages into teaching careers

Dr. Alfred G. Tufano talks with teaching interns.

ed Merwin was a salesman for Comp USA. Tina Pedrolini was a union organizer. Jeff Collins was a bartender and waiter. Leslie Borker was a research chemist. Jessica Ginsberg worked in the corporate world. Barbara Secor was active at her children's school. Stevenson Bruno is a recent communications grad. Celeste Materi taught languages in New York.
  They and 176 others come to class bright-faced and anxious. All of them share one goal. They want to be teachers.

Antonietta Tamburro of Stamford has a degree in psychology. She'll intern in Stamford.

Jeff Collins of Terryville, Conn., is taking the program to win state certification.

Tina Pedrolini from Meriden, a former union organizer, is interning at the Lincoln Middle School in Meriden.

   Dana Hall was filled with these students two weeks before Labor Day. They are this year's class of teaching interns. They're on campus to prepare for the day they'll enter their schools and go before a class.
   They're getting tips on teaching: be on time, be prepared, act confident, smile; listen, know the rules, find a confidant; observe everything.
   By the end of the first week in September, they got their baptism in schools throughout Connecticut and the region. As interns they could be substitutes, teacher's aides or tutors.
   The interns do this for nine months while going to class at UB at night. They go tuition-free because the $52.50 they earn each day as interns goes to the university to pay for their education. After the nine months, they have another 12 weeks as practice teachers. When it's over, they get their master's degree in education and they have the credentials to be certified as teachers.
    The interns take their courses on the UB campus or in satellite facilities in Stamford or in Waterbury.
   Some do catch-up work before they get into the program. There are big teaching shortages in science, math, languages and music. If you are interested in teaching those subjects and you need more courses to be qualified to teach, you can take those courses before the internship, at UB or elsewhere.
   This year, as in the past, the 184 slots in the teaching intern program are full. With other students still doing some classwork, there are 265 in internships in education.

Celeste Materi of Rye, N.Y., taught Spanish and French in New York and will intern at the Dolan Middle School in Stamford.

Barbara Secor wants to be a language teacher. She's at St. Margaret's-McTernan School in Waterbury.