Franklin County Tech in Turners Falls hosted this year’s “Bridges to the Future” teacher recruitment day. Students who participate in the year-long program learn first hand how to teach a class.
UMass students are given the opportunity to interview with 12 to 14 area schools for a teaching internship.
The year-long master’s program pairs student candidates from all subject backgrounds like math, history, science, and English with classroom teachers in rural, under-served school districts to learn about the profession.
Jeremy Mailloux, 2008 graduate of the program, told 22News that by the end of the year he felt that he left with a first-year teacher experience. Today, he’s an English teacher at Franklin County Tech.
“As a candidate, spending a whole year with an experienced teacher and having somebody who you could go [to] as you have hard moments in the classroom that you have someone you could troubleshoot and learn from on, that is what got me my start in teaching,” Mailloux said.
Current intern Holly Cullinan said that “Having the responsibility of grading and interacting every day with the students is just an incredibly unique experience.”
Many of the student interns remain teaching at the school district they were recruited to.
Only 20 students will be selected for the teaching internship which starts next fall.
