AUBURN - Kelly Sue Savage is not only a new teacher in the Auburn Enlarged City School District, but she's also new to the area.
After beginning her teaching career a year ago in Vermont, Savage decided to try something new and come to Auburn's West Middle School as a seventh grade English teacher. As a newcomer, she didn't know what resources were offered to teachers.
That is until Wednesday.
Savage attended the Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center's second annual open house for teachers and their mentors as a way to introduce new teachers - teachers new to teaching as well as teachers new to the area - with the myriad resources the teacher center offers.
“It's to get them familiar with the teacher center and what we are all about,” said Victoria Shepardson, director of the center.
What the center is all about, she said, is providing professional development, literature on education and related topics, courses on topics relevant to education, computer and technology training, arts and crafts machines to create posters and classroom visual aids, among other resources.
The Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center provides these resources for teachers in the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services' nine component schools. There are more than 120 centers statewide.
“They are going to come to see what we offer,” Shepardson said, “and we hope they return to use the resources we have here or take the courses we offer.”
After one visit, the center has Savage's full attention.
“I'll probably come back for the laminating machine and the poster maker and maybe take some computer classes,” she said.
In addition to familiarizing the new teachers to the center, the reception also provided time for recipients of the center's mini grants to present their work and findings.
Lori Thurston and Joann Fuller, teachers at Cato-Meridian Elementary School, were awarded a $600 grant last year for Family + Fluency = Fun, an initiative that promoted child fluency reinforced at home through the active participation of parents. Parents would work on fluency daily with their child by reading poems and logging what they did, how long they did it, and noting their child's progress.
One thing Fuller wanted new teachers to get out of the presentation is that collaboration can lead to positive initiatives.
For Michele Gardner, a special education teacher new to Jordan-Elbridge Middle School, the center and its resources are valuable tools.
“It's all here so you don't have to hunt all over or track anything down,” she said, holding a handful of Kids Discover Magazines that will provide for her a wealth of information. “It's all right here. It's so cool.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.
That is until Wednesday.
Savage attended the Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center's second annual open house for teachers and their mentors as a way to introduce new teachers - teachers new to teaching as well as teachers new to the area - with the myriad resources the teacher center offers.
“It's to get them familiar with the teacher center and what we are all about,” said Victoria Shepardson, director of the center.
What the center is all about, she said, is providing professional development, literature on education and related topics, courses on topics relevant to education, computer and technology training, arts and crafts machines to create posters and classroom visual aids, among other resources.
The Cayuga-Onondaga Teacher Center provides these resources for teachers in the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services' nine component schools. There are more than 120 centers statewide.
“They are going to come to see what we offer,” Shepardson said, “and we hope they return to use the resources we have here or take the courses we offer.”
After one visit, the center has Savage's full attention.
“I'll probably come back for the laminating machine and the poster maker and maybe take some computer classes,” she said.
In addition to familiarizing the new teachers to the center, the reception also provided time for recipients of the center's mini grants to present their work and findings.
Lori Thurston and Joann Fuller, teachers at Cato-Meridian Elementary School, were awarded a $600 grant last year for Family + Fluency = Fun, an initiative that promoted child fluency reinforced at home through the active participation of parents. Parents would work on fluency daily with their child by reading poems and logging what they did, how long they did it, and noting their child's progress.
One thing Fuller wanted new teachers to get out of the presentation is that collaboration can lead to positive initiatives.
For Michele Gardner, a special education teacher new to Jordan-Elbridge Middle School, the center and its resources are valuable tools.
“It's all here so you don't have to hunt all over or track anything down,” she said, holding a handful of Kids Discover Magazines that will provide for her a wealth of information. “It's all right here. It's so cool.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.
