Article Courtesy
of Town & Village
OCTOBER 6TH 2005 VOL 57, NO 37
ST
teacher selected as MetLife fellow
By Sabina
Mollot
Rebecca Rufo,
a teacher at East Side Middle School has been chosen as a
MetLife Fellow in the Teachers Network Leadership Institute
(TNLI), an honor given to teachers who show extraordinary
leadership skills. This select group of elementary, middle,
and high school teachers represents eleven TNLI affiliates
nationwide.
As a
MetLife fellow, an educator becomes part of the Teachers Network
Leadership Institute for the 2005 2006 school year and has
an opportunity to influence education policy at local, state
and national levels by meeting with policy makers, including
City Council members. MetLife fellows receive a stipend of
$1,000, participate in online dialogues with other fellows,
and conduct action research studies in their classrooms.
This
year, over 100 teachers applied for the fellowship and 2.3
were accepted after submitting applications
and being interviewed by the TNLI Rufo, also a part time PhD
student at the CUNY Graduate Center, applied after finding
out about the program from one of her professors, another
MetLife Fellow.
Part of the responsibilities of a Fellow include spreading
the word to parents about what is being done regarding education
funding and encouraging them to be more active in the political
process themselves.
"The
idea is to get teachers active," said Rufo, "A lot
of educational policy is made without contact with actual
teachers. This way they can hear directly from the source
what schools need."
Rufo, who has already been to one of the first monthly meetings,
one focused on the campaign for fiscal equity, said she hopes
more teachers get involved with the fellowship program.
"It's
great to talk with other teachers who are motivated and focused
on teaching," she said.
"Very
often, because we're so busy at our own schools, there's very
little contact with really good teachers in the system. I'm
fortunate that I work with a lot of good teachers, but it's
great to see what's going on at other schools."
TNLI works in partnership with New York University Steinhardt
School of Education. Major funding for TNLI is provided by
MetLife Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. |
STUY
TOWN RESIDENT
REBECCA RUFO |
|