By STACEY PLAISANCE / L’Observateur / January 27, 1999

LUTCHER – Improving education is the focus of language arts teachers in St. James Parish, as the parish was recently granted $300,000 for staffdevelopment initiatives.

The National Faculty Delta Teachers Academy and the Louisiana Alliance for Education Reform teamed up with language arts teachers in St. James,Franklin and Rapides parishes to build a team of teacher-leaders committed to professional development.

Mary Beth Ross, associate director for communications of the Delta Teachers Academy, said the National Faculty is committed to the belief that teachers need and deserve continual professional development in order to remain vitally interested in their subjects. Therefore, theNational Faculty helps teachers craft a program of study that will not only enrich their teaching but encourage their own intellectual growth.

In consultation with the professional staff of The National Faculty, each team makes its own goals and chooses the direction of its studies. Thisprocess is endorsed by the Louisiana Alliance for Education Reform whereby teachers are empowered to assist in the improvement of teaching and learning.

Because professional development is an ongoing process, one that requires study, reflection and rethinking, each program lasts three years, Ross said.

St. James Parish will receive $100,000 for the next three years forcontinued participation in the development program, said Rhonda Lee, parish technology facilitator and program coordinator.

“During the three-year period of the program, as we work on developing the teachers, we hope to improve test scores, especially among the at- risk students,” Ross explained.

The team focus in St. James Parish is language arts development, and eachteam will participate in an intensive two-week summer institute as well as numerous academic sessions per year.

“The summer study program will be held at Dillard University, and everything will be paid for, including meals and lodging,” Ross said.

“Participants will have nothing to worry about except learning and enhancing their teaching abilities.”At the institute, teams of teachers from across the Delta meet under the guidance of the DTA staff and from two to four faculty members. Togetherthey explore concepts in more depth than is possible in two-day sessions.

Teachers have the opportunity to share ideas with colleagues from other countries and states in the Delta, as well as scholars who are experts in their disciplines, Ross explained.

St. James Parish was introduced to the program last summer when threeteachers from the parish participated in the Language Arts Media and Technology Summer Institute at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

The teachers were Miriam Bourgeois, Paulina Elementary; Linda Farlow, Paulina Elementary and Imelda Aucoin, Gramercy Elementary. The summerinstitute provided teachers with ideas on how to utilize media in teaching critical thinking and writing skills in the classroom. It also includedshooting and editing videotape, as well as providing hands-on practice in desktop publishing and computer graphics.

This opportunity was provided to St. James Parish Schools through the St.James Parish Alliance for Education Reform.

Ross said the summer program develops the teaching of language arts skills and understanding through the media. She said language artscurriculums should be more rigorous and media-based.

“There isn’t a thing you see on television that’s not riding on dozens of writers, and the kids have to see this connection,” Ross said. “If you canwrite, you’ve got a job with the media.”Utilizing the media in teaching language arts skills been beneficial, even at the elementary school level, Bourgeois said.

“It’s amazing to see how even the young children can identify with what we’re teaching,” she said. “It’s important to learn how to let the childrenexpress themselves, and we have to learn how to encourage that.”Bourgeois said she is looking forward to the summer institute at Dillard, especially after her experiences with the program last summer.

“The seminars are hard, and it’s two weeks of work, but it’s well worth it,” Bourgeois said. “You gain so much information from interacting withthe scholars, and they get you excited about teaching again.”The Summer Institute will be held mid-June of 1999 at Dillard University.

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