04 Fall2.indd - CSUSB Magazine - California State University, San ...

C O L L E G E N E W SPatricia Arlin, dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EducationGOING PROFESSIONALAlma Avalos and Jennifer Coronado, both educationparaprofessionals interested in becoming teachers,attended one of the once-quarterly Saturday workshopson teacher diversity at Cal State San Bernardino.Both have been participants in the paraprofessionalprogram for the past two years. Coronado discoveredin her sophomore year of college that she wanted tobecome a teacher, and Avalos had already been workingas a translator and computer trainer in the FontanaUnified School District. They were recruited as paraprofessionalsto study for the teaching profession.The Paraprofessionals Project identifies and workswith paraprofessionals and classified school districtemployees, such as aides, clerical staff, bus drivers,custodians and others who want to become multiplesubject teachers, and recruits them for Cal State SanBernardino’s credential program.The Paraprofessionals Project, now in its thirdyear of a five-year federal grant for $200,000, wasdeveloped through CSUSB’s Center for Equity inEducation. The center was founded in 1989 byCSUSB professors Esteban Diaz, Juan Gutierrez andBarbara Flores to focus on equal opportunities in educationfor everyone: disadvantaged, low socio-economicstatus, special education, minorities and English-asa-second-languagestudents.Diaz believes that about 200 paraprofessionalsand classified school district employees will participatein the project over the five-year period. This currentschool year has 75 students who are being supportedwith a $2,000 annual stipend that pays for theirtuition, books and CBEST examinations. If a studentreceives an internship or other paid position, he or sheno longerreceives funds.Participantsare pre-credentialedjuniors,seniors and/or credentialstudents in liberalstudies/single subjectteacher education at CSUSB. The project creates a“pipeline with multiple entry points at the communitycollege and university level,” said Diaz.Gutierrez also is committed to the project becausehe believes it “just opens doors for people who neverthought they could become teachers because theydidn’t have the opportunity to do so.”Diaz hopes more federal and state funding willbecome available to enable continued support of nontraditionalstudents. “My concern is that the emphasison standards and testing without needed resources toimplement them may cut some districts and studentsout of the pie of money necessary to address needs ofthose in poverty and those with special education andESL needs,” he said.“This program,” Coronado said, “helped mesocially in meeting other teachers who share theirexperiences and solutions to classroom problems,such as discipline.”Avalos agreed, adding, “I will finish my studentteaching in February, but would have had manymore problems understanding the state requirementsand the standards if I hadn’t had the guidance fromthis program.”QUICK TAKESIn March, California votersapproved Proposition 55, the$12.3 billion statewide schoolrepair and construction bond.It has paved the way for futureconstruction of a $50 millionbuilding to house CSUSB'sCollege of Education. The collegeconsistently ranks amongthe leading teacher-preparationprograms for the entire23-campus CSU system andthe nation. The new buildingwill cover 152,000 square feetwith lecture and lab space andfaculty offices. Construction isscheduled to begin in January2006. A tentative completiondate is set for August 2007.Along with the building, theproject will include a newperimeter road around thecampus, connecting it withNorthpark Avenue and CoyoteDrive.Joy ofReadingIn math and social studies, 9-year-old Adam Lyons had itdown. Reading? That was another story. When his school tutoringin phonetics failed and private tutoring proved too pricey,Adam's mother, Jane, brought her son to Cal State. They metMary Jo Skillings, a CSUSB literacy, language and culture professor,who decided to work with Adam personally. Week afterweek and for months, Adam's mother drove him to the universityfor the 40-minute sessions. Skillings taught him how tobreak up words and gave him reading tips, and “Adam loved it,”his mother said.About the time Adam was working on his reading, SealBeach developer Jim Watson was thinking about houses. Hiscompany, Watson & Associates, was set to open constructionon a project directly across the street from Cal State SanBernardino. With a history of funding programs in the communitieswhere his company embarked on projects, Watson asked theuniversity about the local possibilities. In time, discussions led totalk of a literacy center, which appealed to Jim Watson instantly.The stage was set. It was in the fourth grade, about the age thatAdam is now, that Watson also had problems reading. BetweenWatson's initial gift of $100,000 and Adam's personal story, aLiteracy Center at CSUSB has been launched. At an event inSeptember, Watson and his business partners announced stillanother $100,000 contribution, and Adam, standing by his motheras she spoke, offered a bouquet of flowers to Mary Jo Skillings.Fall/Winter 20049CSUSB