This past spring, Norwich education majors spent a week teaching at PS/MS 188, a.k.a. the Island School, an elementary and middle school serving 400 predominantly poor and transient students in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A full-service community school model, PS/MS 188 showcases effective strategies to help socioeconomically disadvantaged students and their parents close the achievement gap.
During their time at the school, Norwich education majors gained valuable teaching experience. In return, they provided Island School teachers and students with a most welcome resource—extra hands and minds.
Diane Byrne, an associate professor of education and director of teacher education at Norwich, catalyzed the partnership and plans to expand it over time. A former elementary teacher herself, Byrne was only the second person in her family to graduate from high school. Who better to share the transformative power of education?
Excerpted from the Spring 2016 issue of the Norwich Record.
