Prepared for the Front of the Classroom: Students Get Closer to Being Future Teachers

Adelphi is bursting with opportunities. On Tuesday afternoon, October 16, the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education partnered with the Center for Career and Professional Development for the Ammon School’s first Annual Career Fair—essentially, a job fair for teachers. During that three-hour event, about 20 students, eager to become teachers, networked with 20 schools from New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties.

“I really enjoyed talking one-on-one with a representative who works in the hiring process,” said graduate student Brittany Willoughby ’18, one of the students hoping to join the millions of educators already teaching in schools across the country. She was 2017–2018 president of Adelphi’s Future Teachers Association.

In Room 201 of the Ruth S. Harley University Center, students with their résumés in hand communicated with potential employers from Clara Barton High School, The Hagedorn Little Village School, Fusion Academy and others. Many connections were made during what Michele Shipley, M.A. ’04, lead pre-K teacher and assistant director from Grace Methodist Nursery School, described as “a mini-interview.”

The networking didn’t end there. After the event, there was an informative 90-minute New York City Department of Education recruitment event about joining the 75,000 people now teaching in public schools in the Big Apple. Representatives from the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality discussed the application process, job search and benefits of teaching in New York. After that information session, held at the Center for Recreation and Sports, students asked questions and received helpful tips.

The Ammon School and the Career Center plan on collaborating again in the spring semester to have another career fair, where there will be another NYC DOE recruitment event.

“I truly felt welcomed,” said Shipley. “It was great to present our employment opportunities, full and part time, to future teachers.”