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june
techvalley.org
Teacher Externship program earns high marks
Citizens Bank gives $500,000 in support
James Gaspo
Executive Vice President
Citizens Bank
School’s out for the summer, but not for more than
20 middle- and high-school teachers who will gain
hands-on work experience in technology focused
companies throughout the region through the
Tech Valley Teacher Externship Program.
Now in its fourth year, the program exposes
teachers to advancements in their field of study,
provides tangible examples to bring back to the
classroom and grants valuable insight into the
demands of the modern workplace and the skills
necessary for present and future tech innovators.
The program was developed by the Albany-
Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce three
years ago, and was expanded throughout Tech
Valley last summer with the help of the New York
State Senate and the Tech Valley Chamber
Coalition.
Citizens Bank considers education such an
essential component of the Tech Valley initiative
and the Capital Region economy that it has contributed
$500,000 to the Advancing Tech Valley
campaign, to support education initiatives like the
Teacher Externship Program.
“Clearly, in this area, Tech Valley is at the forefront,
so we wanted to find a way to not only promote
Tech Valley, but help develop a ready and
able workforce that could drive the Tech Valley initiative
for decades to come,” said James Gaspo,
executive vice president of Citizens Bank. “We
want communities to be vibrant, and we want residents
to assume leadership roles in the community.
In some small way, through our dollars, time and
talent, we feel we’re making a difference in the
quality of life in the community.”
Steady growth
The Teacher Externship Program has grown significantly
since its inception in 2005, when nine teachers
participated.
Each teacher spends six to eight weeks with a business
in Tech Valley, earns a competitive salary of $20
per hour, for a full-time working schedule, and
receives professional credit.
Ruth Russell, a Questar III New Visions scientific
research and world health teacher, highly recommends
the program after having participated last
summer.
“It provides teachers with the opportunity to
work in state-of-the-art scientific laboratories, using
emerging technologies and real-world research
efforts,” she said. “These types of programs are
absolutely critical to science education because while
science educators are taught how to teach, they are
not usually trained as scientists.”
Russell worked in the molecular biology laboratory,
one of four core labs of the Center for Functional
Genomics, located in the Gen*NY*Sis Center for
Excellence in Cancer Genomics in Rensselaer. She
assisted the lab with its DNA sequencing projects and
is now better able to explain and teach multiple technological
skills that college-level biology students and
future scientific researchers need.
“Opportunities such as those provided by the
Teacher Externship Program reinforce the concept ‘we
learn science by doing science.’ Teachers will be better
able to offer classroom experiences that will bridge
the gap between lecture and scientific discovery,
while helping students appreciate the extraordinarily
fast pace of scientific and technological change,” she
said.
Praise all around
Gaspo has heard similar feedback from educators he
has met through the Teacher Externship Program.
“It’s much easier for them to teach children about
the importance of algebra, geometry, trigonometry,
chemistry, biology and physics, and how these theories
actually get applied in the outside world,” he said.
“These are skills that students will be able to leverage
for the rest of their professional careers. It bridges the
gap between academic theory and the real-life, forprofit
world.”
There’s also an intangible benefit for teachers
who complete externships.
“It helps stimulate and motivate our educators
who help mold our future leaders, and hopefully that
flows down to the students,” Gaspo said. “We view
that as a long-term investment in Tech Valley and a
way for us to give back to the communities we do
business in.”
The Teacher Externship Program should be emulated
throughout the state for its lasting benefits in
classrooms and communities, Gaspo pointed out.
“We feel like we’re contributing not only to the
long-term viability of the community, but also the
transformation of the community, and rarely do you
get the opportunity to do that. We need not only new
teaching concepts, but we need to grow the businesses
we already have and help attract new ones,” he
said.
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