Chicago Semester

Student Teacher Visit Day

Posted by Lisa Hensey in Around Town in Internships in Special Tracks in Staff Stories | Apr 13, 2011

On April 8, Carole Kolconay and I hosted five of the fall 2011 student teachers who attended our semiannual Student Teacher Visit Day.  The drizzly weather could not dampen the future student teachers’ excitement about visiting Chicago Semester student teachers in the schools where they are teaching.

After a continental breakfast and tour of the Chicago Semester offices, we traveled to King College Prep High School on the south side of the city.  King is one of the newest selective enrollment high schools and enrolls about 900 students in grades 9-12.  Ninety-one percent of the students are African American and all of them are academically talented.  After Mr. Wright (the principal) greeted us, we visited the classrooms of two current student teachers and continued touring the school.  Amy (Carroll University) teaches 9^th & 10^th grade mathematics and Jen (University of Mount Union) teaches Biology, along with Anatomy & Physiology.

Following our visit to King, we went to have the students fingerprinted, since this is a requirement to student teach in the Chicago Public Schools (C.P.S.).  Afterwards, we had lunch in Pilsen, a predominantly Mexican neighborhood on the near south side. Nuevo Leon is considered by many (including us!) to be the best Mexican food in Chicago. Yum!  Alyssa, a current student teacher from Spring Arbor University, joined us for lunch and was able to answer many of the future student teachers’ questions.

After lunch, we visited Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School which is just a few blocks from Nuevo Leon. This is a high poverty school of about 500 students PreK – 8^th grade.  Ninety-nine percent of the students are Hispanic, and the school offers many adult education courses for their families and neighbors.  Alyssa showed us around the school and we had the chance to observe briefly in two primary classes.  We were glad to have the opportunity to also talk with Ms. Kleros, the principal.  Now that the future student teachers have seen actual student teachers in real Chicago Public School classrooms, they reported that they are excited to begin their student teaching semester! 

Upon returning to the Chicago Semester offices, we reviewed all the requirements for their acceptance by C.P.S. and answered any questions our future students had been pondering including questions regarding housing and where their placements might be. All-in-all, it was turned out to be a rainy day with a lot of bright promise for the upcoming semester!