JANUARY 2014

SPREES DEBUT EVENT: TEACHING NEEDS TO REMAIN A PROFESSION

[DISH DAILY - JANET RAE-DUPREE] Teaching is a profession that makes all other professions possible, defends Rachel Lotan. We need to step up both the way we train tomorrows teachers and the level of status we give them in society, agreed speakers at the debut event for the Stanford Pre-Education Society (SPREES) on Tuesday night. The discussion centered around attracting the most talented students into careers in education particularly teaching. SPREES Founder and President Julia Quintero moderated a group of four panelists at Cemex Auditorium. SPREES is a pre-education society for Stanford students pursuing a career in education the newly minted organization is gearing up for a strong year ahead, starting with yesterdays panel. John Hennessy, Claude Steele, Michael Kirst and Rachel Lotan talked about how to attract the best and the brightest college students into teaching. First and foremost, they agreed, teaching must be recognized as a profession and not just a job. Teaching is the profession that makes all professions possible, noted Lotan, director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, or STEP, which oversees clinical programs for the Graduate School of Education. Teaching is a profession. Im sad that I have to defend that. Stanford President John Hennessy referred to the need to re-professionalize teaching. He noted that most of todays American teachers come from the bottom one-third of their college classes, while teachers internationally largely come from the top one-third of college students.

CLAUDE STEELE

Low salaries are a big part of the problem, he said, particularly when it comes to the most disadvantaged school districts. Because the poorest districts pay the least, teachers with the least experience and preparation end up assigned to the districts with the greatest challenges. Michael Kirst, President of the California State Board of Education, said that California legislators should have stripped away the complex set of laws put in place before teachers were allowed to create unions in 1975. Claude Steele, Dean of the Graduate School of Education, said that there is a righteous urgency to improving both Americas public education system and the way it trains its teachers. The U.S. can become a world leader in educating its citizens, he said. To view this article, visit http://bit.ly/1aTuhCZ If you missed our debut event, you can still watch it here: http://bit.ly/19UcvDj Highlights: http://bit.ly/1lrpxKc

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JANUARY 2014

OUR FALL EVENTS AND UPCOMING WINTER EVENTS FALL EVENTS

STEP Shadow Week This program allowed undergrads to sit in on Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) classes such as Classroom Management & Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction in Science, History/Social Science, and Math, and Becoming Literate in School. Meet & Greet with SPREES The SPREES leadership team hosted a meet & greet on November 12. We had many interested undergraduate students come to learn about SPREES. They offered many excellent ideas and events that would help SPREES expand its audience.

WINTER OPPORTUNITIES
Mentorship Program Undergraduates will be matched with GSE students who will be available to mentor and answer questions. *Mentor Sign-up: http://bit.ly/SPREESgrad *Mentee Sign-up: http://bit.ly/SPREESug Weekly Lunches We will be hosting weekly lunches to provide an informal discussion space to talk about pressing issues in education. We will show weekly educational films including Waiting for Superman, Lean on Me, and Stand and Deliver. Internships (Applications Due) Three K-12 classroom teachers will host three undergraduate interns who will have the opportunity to gain insight into the daily life of the profession through reading material and hands-on experience in the classroom.
MICHAEL KIRST

DEBUT EVENT PANEL

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JANUARY 2014

If you missed the event, you can watch it in its entirety or in clips at http://bit.ly/1lrpxKc. This quarter, we also experimented with our first SPREES programming, beginning with a STEP Shadow Week, where undergraduates shadowed courses in the Stanford Teacher Education Program. Afterwards, students who filled out the feedback form indicated an increased interesting in teaching and/or STEP. We are even more excited for what is yet to come. This winter, we will launch a mentorship program that will pair undergraduates with graduate students in the Graduate School of Education. Also, we will begin to host weekly student-led discussions of issues in education, and biweekly showings of education films and documentaries. We are also in the midst of creating an education resource center and a database of opportunities in education. In the spring, we will pilot a new internship program that will allow exceptional and committed undergraduates to shadow a teacher in the Bay Area. We are looking forward to continuing to provide interesting events and unique opportunities, and we appreciate all of your support in furthering the SPREES mission: to inspire a new generation of talented students pursuing careers in education. Best, Julia Quintero 15

JULIA QUINTERO 15 (LEFT)

LETTER FROM THE SPREES PRESIDENT

Hello friends, The SPREES team and I are thrilled to welcome you to the first edition of the Stanford PreEducation Society Quarterly. During these past ten weeks, weve taken the exciting first steps to launching SPREES. The highlight of our quarter was the SPREES Debut Event, a panel that consisted of such inspirational leaders in the field of education as Stanford University President John Hennessy, Dean of the Graduate School of Education Claude Steele, President of the California State Board of Education Michael Kirst, and Director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program Rachel Lotan. These four offered an audience of over 200 people their insights in an engaging and lively conversation while answering the question How do we attract our best and brightest to careers in education, especially teaching?

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JANUARY 2014

STANFORD PRE-EDUCATION SOCIETY LEADERSHIP TEAM

Julia Quintero~President Alemar Brito~Vice President Vivian Chen~Secretary Alumni Relations Wants You! Professional Resources: Education professionals are vital to Sandy Huang~Chief Financial Officer SPREES mission because it is their Like us on Facebook: Ruth Bram~ Media Chair & Newsletter Editor knowledge and experience that Facebook.com/StanfordPreEducation drives the various programs we hope Alison Buschbaum~Outreach Chair to offer to our undergraduates. Stanford Undergrad Signup: Jackie Fielder~Social Events Co-Chair Please reach out if you are bit.ly/SPREESinterest interested in allowing an Wendy Vang~Social Events Co-Chair undergraduate intern into your For more info visit our website: Joseph Abbott~Web Developer workplace, would consider leading a SPREES.Stanford.edu professional development workshop, Kelleen Loo~Alumni Relations Co-Chair would like to participate in a panel, or Education Professional Sign-up: simply speak with a member of the Nicole Doumeng~Alumni Relations Co-Chair bit.ly/SPREESprofessionals leadership team to share your insights. We would love to speak Laura Swenson~Internship & Mentorship Co-Chair with you! -Kelleen Loo Anne Evered~Internship & Mentorship Co-Chair Jomayra Herrera~Grad School Prep Chair Natasha Patel~Professional Development Chair

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