Author Archives: Amy Potthast

05.01.09
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Boston Teacher Residency

picture-41The Boston Teacher Residency, an AmeriCorps program, offers education and support for new teachers willing to commit to three years of teaching in Boston Public Schools.

Modeled after the medical residency, the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) aims to meet Boston Public Schools’s goals of recruiting, educating, and retaining teachers of color and teachers of math, science, and special education. Though the residency is less than a decade old, already ten percent of math and science teachers in Boston Public Schools are graduates of BTR.

Placement and education

Aspiring teachers in BTR co-teach with a mentor teacher four days a week for one year in Boston Public Schools, and take part in intensive, tailored pre-service and post-service training.

Wednesday evenings and Fridays during the residency year, the 75 participants take cohort-based education courses taught by professors from University of Massachusetts Boston. The coursework leads to a Master’s degree by the end of Continue reading →

05.01.09
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U.S. Public Service Academy Bill Re-Introduced in the House

U.S. Public Service Academy logoThis week, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) re-introduced legislation that would establish the U.S. Public Service Academy, a civilian counterpart to the military academies.

The Academy would offer four years of tuition-free civilian education to train new generations of public service leaders, in exchange for five years of service in public institutions, meeting critical needs.

The Academy’s mission is “to educate, develop, and inspire civilian leaders who have the character, intellect, and experience necessary to serve the nation honorably and effectively, and who are committed to devoting their lives to public service.”

The curriculum as drafted emphasizes civics, history, economics, constitutional law, ethics, leadership, foreign language, and service, and includes an internship component.

Similar to the military academies like West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy, applicants would be nominated by their member of Congress and then compete for admission with other nominees from their own state (each state to have its own allocation of students). (Read more…)

The legislation has 37 co-sponsors, according to the U.S. Public Service Academy website. Read (and comment!) on the full bill, H.R. 2102.

This Huffington Post article by Grayce Cheng offers insight and analysis.

Check out my 2007 podcast interview with one of the founders of the U.S. Public Service Academy — Echoing Green Fellow and TFA Alum Chris Myers Asch, and other news about the Academy.

You can also follow news on the Academy’s blog and Twitter feed.

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04.29.09
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Abortion Services and Referral Added to List of AmeriCorps Prohibited Activities

A little talked-about change in the Serve America Act that recently passed into law includes a new “prohibited activity” for AmeriCorps members.

A new category has been added to the list of prohibited activities in the new law that will take affect October 1: AmeriCorps staff and members will be barred from “providing abortion services or referrals for receipt of such services.” The category seems to be included in order to quell the concerns of conservative groups that Federal funding will go to support abortions since, for example, Planned Parenthood chapters often host AmeriCorps members to work on public health education topics.

Check out the full text of the legislation.

And a word on prohibited activities which seem to confuse people unfamiliar with national service to no end.

While charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or the Corporation for National and Community Service, staff and all Continue reading →

04.29.09
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RPCVs: Find a Mentor, Be a Mentor

Recently-returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) can find focused readjustment support, networking help, and even career guidance through a mentoring program established by the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA).

Almost 30 NPCA affiliate groups have signed on to help facilitate the RPCV Mentoring Program which matches pairs of individuals, calling on RPCVs who’ve been back longer to actively engage one-on-one with recent returnees who are currently facing the many challenges of readjustment. NPCA member groups all around the world have been a source of support and assistance for returning Volunteers since the organization’s founding.

RPCVs who would like to mentor, or to become mentees, each fill out a compatibility questionnaire to determine common interests. Once matched, the mentorship lasts at least four months, where the pair is encouraged to meet up or chat over the phone three times or more.

Mentors receive an electronic toolkit, including a Career Resource Manual, list of Peace Corps’ medical, psychological, financial and administrative resources, relevant story-telling material from Country of Service Trainer’s Kit and much more.

Mentees receive tailored guidance about readjustment, career, education, and networking issues.

Learn more about the National Peace Corps Association, the RPCV Mentoring Program, and Peace Corps’s services for Former Volunteers. Connect with the larger Peace Corps community through the NPCA’s social networking site Connected Peace Corps.

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04.29.09
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HealthCorps Holds Annual Gala, April 30 in NYC

Green Garden GalaHealthCorps — the national service corps founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz that brings health mentoring and education into public schools across the United States — is holding its Green Garden Gala, an annual black (and green) tie fundraiser, tomorrow night at the World Financial Center in Manhattan.

The Gala aims to raise funds to establish HealthCorps’s curriculum in more schools and to honor actor and dancer Ben Vereen — an advocate of diabetes awareness, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and New York Philanthropist and CEO of the Red Apple Group John Catsimatidis for their  considerable contributions to the health and well-being of American youth. Check out this video about the event.

HealthCorps will also grant its first Music for a Better Life award to music legend Quincy Jones. The night will also feature performances from Wyclef Jean, Stepp Stewart, and Eturnity Band. Hip-hop mogul and vegan Russell Simmons will attend, among 500 other supporters.

In addition to the entertainment, the Gala will also incorporate elements of HealthCorps’s Mental Resilience curriculum into the evening’s activities, with booths set up to offer tastings of healthy foods, and to teach guests about reading food labels, for example.

The fundraiser (individual tickets to attend cost $1000) goes to support the activities of HealthCorps which currently places health coordinators in 44 public schools across the country to educate teens about healthy diet and lifestyle through tailored peer-mentoring and activism. The two-year term of service offers a stipend and benefits to coordinators, who are often recent college grads heading for a career in medicine or public health. (Note that HealthCorps isn’t currently affiliated with AmeriCorps, so the benefits structure is different from AmeriCorps service.)

HealthCorps is currently recruiting — check out the elegibility requirements and consider applying.

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