The idea of teaching those who will be teaching others is just one of many things that excites Loren Moseley about her recent honor.
Moseley, a secondary education graduate student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. She will spend eight months working at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. She will leave in March and teach English to student teachers at the university. In addition, she will work at a local underprivileged youth center in Argentina.
“I hope to bring to them a greater understanding about life in the U.S., teach them more about the English language, especially in terms of grammar and syntax,” said Moseley, of St. Louis. “I hope throughout this opportunity, my students and I are able to bridge a gap between our cultures, discuss similarities and differences in our educational system and address the challenges that second language learners encounter.”
Moseley, who moved to St. Louis six years ago from Columbia, Mo., teaches Spanish at Gateway STEM High School in the St. Louis Public School District and is tutoring liaison at the Youth Learning Center in St. Louis.
She said she’s traveled outside of the United States before but this will be a completely different experience and one she’s very excited about.
“I hope to better understand how it feels to be a second-language learner because that’s what I will be when I get to Argentina,” she said. “I have a minor in Spanish and I’m conversational, but I would like to be fluent. This opportunity gives me a chance to gain useful strategies that can be used in my classroom to make Spanish language acquisition for my students more authentic.”
In addition to teaching the language, Moseley hopes that she can share the culture of the United States with her students in Argentina throughout her Fulbright experience.
“I will be bringing artifacts such as magazines, music, postcards, clothing and other things from the U.S. to share with my students and to help them gain a better understand of American culture,” she said. “I believe it’s easier to understand a language when you understand the culture.”
Pattonville adds pharmacy tech certificate
Students at Pattonville High School can now graduate with a certificate that qualifies them to work as a pharmacy technician. The Pattonville Board of Education on Jan. 14 approved curriculum recommendations for the pharmacy technology course, which began the second semester of 2013-2014 school year.
Pharmacy technicians are entry-level personnel who work in many pharmacy settings (hospital, retail, urgent care centers, drug companies, law offices) within the healthcare industry. They assist the pharmacist by entering patient data into the computer system to process prescriptions.
Students will be trained to pass the certification exam in this two-class period program at Pattonville High School. Students who earn a 75 percent or higher in the class will also have the opportunity to complete a 60-hour internship in the community. Pattonville is working with MK Education, an education consulting firm that offers allied health training, and area pharmacy chains to train Pattonville students. Classes are taught by practicing pharma cists in the community.
“I can’t tell you how excited some of these kids are about this opportunity,” said Julie Kampschroeder, Pattonville’s col lege and career counselor. “Some of them have faced severe obstacles in their lives. Having the chance to earn this certificate before the end of their senior year can be a real game changer in their lives.”
Pattonville High School Associate Principal Tiffany Besse said 50 students originally expressed interest in the course. The first class has been filled with 28 students and several are on a wait list. Those who earn the certificate and are licensed in Missouri typically earn an average starting salary of $15 an hour, she said. The class is for seniors only, as students must be 18 when they begin working in a health-related field, Kampschroeder said.
The addition of the new course does not require additional staffing. Any staffing or instructional materials needed to offer the course is funded through the school’s federal Innovation High School Grant, since the course supports the grant’s health occupations pathway. Pattonville High School was designated an Innovation High School last spring and received a grant to enable Pattonville students to connect to high-demand jobs through college credit, apprenticeships and internships while attending high school. The grant focuses on three professional areas of learning: information technology, advanced manufac turing and health/medical professions.
McDonald’s offers scholarships
McDonald’s Owners and Operators of St. Louis and Metro East continue to help make higher education a reality for St. Louis-area high school students. Each year, local McDonald’s Restaurants provide college scholarships through the McDonald’s Academic Excellence Award Scholarship Program. In 2014, over $70,000 will be awarded to recipients.
The McDonald’s Academic Excellence Award Scholarship Program is designated for high-achieving, African-American students, and will award a one-time $3,000 college scholarship, along with several gifts and recognitions for the selected recipients.
McDonald’s has executed this program through partnerships with the UNCF, Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.
The recipients of the scholarships are required to have high academic achievements with extracurricular involvements, and successfully participate in a face-to-face interview with our Interview Committee. Each recipient is required to provide community service hours through one of our partner organizations.
High school seniors may apply for the 2014 program through March 1 to be considered. More information, along with photos from the 2013 program, can be found at McDonaldsSTL.com.
