聚焦系列:博士. 女朋友负责

今年春天, 帕洛阿尔托学院's partnership with Junior Achievement (JA), a non-profit organization that helps facilitate a mentorship program at local public schools, is being recognized with the President's Volunteer Service Award (Bronze Level), which recognizes organizations that have contributed substantial volunteer service hours. Dr. 女朋友负责, faculty lead for the Teacher Education program and JA partnership organizer, is headed to the Junior Achievement USA Annual Volunteer Summit held at the New York Stock Exchange in March to receive the award.

"When we hit the 5,000-hour mark, I was super excited,德莱昂说。. 帕洛阿尔托学院 is the only public college in Texas to receive the recognition at any level.

的伙伴关系, 现在被称为JA一天, entails students taking over entire elementary schools for a full school day and allowing students to complete their state-mandated student teaching hours. 教授不同年级的JA课程, the 帕洛阿尔托学院 students teach elementary students about work readiness, 创业, 金融知识. The 5,000 service hours have been accumulated over the 12-year partnership with JA.

As more students have enrolled in 帕洛阿尔托学院's Teacher Education program, 一天JA已经扩展到更多的小学, so students are completing more and more service hours. 今年春天, 学生将完成另外3门课程,JA每天服务600小时, 让这个项目顺利实现,000 service hours and the silver level presidential recognition.

DeLeon says it's important that the Teacher Education students are serving in the South Side of 圣安东尼奥, where she has built JA in a Day partnerships with Edgewood, Harlandale, 圣安东尼奥, 南圣安东尼奥, 和西南ISDs. This benefits the elementary students and 帕洛阿尔托学院 students alike; as the program returns to elementary schools each semester, 孩子们正在记忆JA的课程, and the college students are investing in their local community.

"Now that we have gone a couple of cycles of this JA in a Day, 小学生们正在回忆,德莱昂说。. "What's more impactful to me personally is when I go to the schools and [I see] that the teachers were once my students. 这种情况越来越常见了."

Giving back to the community that raised you is important, 负责说, who was born and raised in the Pleasanton area and began her college education at 帕洛阿尔托学院. 她的家人支持她上大学的决定, but it was her teachers and school peers in different stages of life who pushed her to go to college and earn advanced degrees.

“我内心有某种东西, but it was also that there have been people who have come into my life along the way that have impacted me,德莱昂说。. “有个老师告诉我，我要上大学了. She continued to push me, and I finally said to myself 'I think I can do this.'"

现在是博士学位, DeLeon seeks to empower her students to not only continue their own education, but also be the difference makers in the children and young adults they teach one day.

我告诉我的学生, “我教你的所有东西, 我想看你教书时的样子. I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to guide you and coach you,'德莱昂说。. “有时候你必须在实践中学习."

Students graduating from 帕洛阿尔托学院's Teacher Education program are well-prepared for their next steps, which DeLeon credits to 帕洛阿尔托学院 faculty's mentorship and the hands-on opportunity with JA in a Day. DeLeon serves on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Field of Study Advisory Committee for Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.), where she and her colleagues are tasked with determining requirements of lower-division courses that lead to teacher certification. 帕洛阿尔托学院的A.A.T. graduates have advanced knowledge and skills that set them ahead for their educational and career journeys.

"It's gratifying to hear back from the universities stating that our students are coming to them well prepared,德莱昂解释道. “我们的学生, 显然, are getting a really good foundational concept of how to be a good teacher, 这就是我们想要的."