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Last week the New York State Legislature voted to add $6 million to the amount they grant to Teacher Centers this year.  $121,250 was set aside to fund a new Lansing/Groton Teacher Center.  The money was approved only a few days after State Senator Michael Nozzolio presented $50,000 to the facility to help pay for start-up costs.  That was good news for Lansing Director of Curriculum Deb Pichette, who worked tirelessly to create the center for more than a year.  "The funds made available by both the New York State legislature and Senator Michael Nozzolio will ensure the existence of the Lansing-Groton Teacher Center," says Lansing School Superintendent Mark Lewis. The Center, in turn, will contribute to the continuation and enhancement of the quality educational program available to our children."

Under the direction of Shannon Maxson the facility will provide resources and training to Lansing and Groton teachers.  It opened in February in two classrooms in Lansing Elementary School.  A satellite facility will also open in Groton.  These facilities will be open weekdays during the day as a drop-in resource center, with training and programs offered after school hours.  Maxson says professional development opportunities will focus on seven goals including K-12 literacy, technology integration, mathematics, student-centered teaching strategies, serving at-risk students, and connecting with parents as partners in education.

The money covers Maxson's and an administrative assistant's salaries, plus equipment and supplies for professional development sessions and resources.  While it was only approved last week, teacher centers must spend the money between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007 or return it to the State.  Pichette says that less time to run programs will mean money can be used to outfit the facility in its first year.

Teachers will register for courses and track their professional development using a Web resource called My Learning Plan.  Professional development opportunities will be posted so teachers in both districts have equal access to the programs.  The facilities will also be used for teacher resources.  "Eventually the day-to-day accessibility will revolve around the equipment we are going to have," says Maxson.  "Computers, poster makers, our professional library, book binders, Ellison machine, all the types of things.  If you know you are doing a unit on sea life, you could come up and punch out 18 whales for your lesson with the Ellison machine."

The courses offered are driven by teachers' needs in the two districts.  "I have been running programs based on what's been identified on our needs assessment," Maxson says.  "I have had requests for programs and then sought out people who could teach them.  We just had a course on Movie Maker software that several teachers asked for.  I found someone who agreed to teach the session."

When Pichette began working in Lansing just over a year ago she was surprised to find that Lansing was one of only 37 school districts in New York State that did not have access to a teacher center.  She asked Nozzolio for assistance in securing funding for a facility here.  He told her he would help if she got the school board to support the project.  The board voted to support it in February and Pichette followed up on the application process and the steps necessary to start a teacher center.

While other areas of the State have multiple teacher centers, the only one in Tompkins County was in Dryden.  Pichette felt that a new center would have a better chance of being funded if two districts went in on it together, so she approached Groton Superintendent Brenda Meyers.  "I spoke with Dr. Myers who had come from the Southern Tier where we were both used to Teacher Centers," says Pichette.  "She said she would love to see a teacher center in Groton."

Lewis agrees.  "We live in times where the need to ensure student academic success through effective instruction has never been higher," he says.  "In this age of accountability, districts must make sure that each of their educators is equipped with the skills to make a difference in the classroom.  Creating and implementing a comprehensive plan for staff development is a crucial component of that task, and Teacher Centers must be a major force in that process."

The newly formed Policy Board met for the first time on May 3rd to approve the grant, a full time director, and to approve writing the grant once the Deputy Commissioner's Office of the State Education Department released it.  "It was nice to see the state budget happen on time," Pichette says.  "That meant to us that the funding would happen right away, the grant process would happen right away."

But it didn't.  While she was confident the funding would come through, the State Education Department got bogged down deciding whether the money would be in the form of a contract or a grant.  They finally put out a Request for Proposals in late October.  Pichette got the official good news a week ago Tuesday.

Maxson has taught English at Lansing High School since 2001, and says administering the Teacher Center is a new kind of challenge.  A graduate of SUNY at Cortland she has a Bachelor's degree in English and a Masters in Education.  Pichette explains that Maxson was able to start this year before the State funding was officially approved because of strong support from Lansing's school board and Superintendent.  In addition to planning programs she interacts with other teacher center directors largely through on-line resources.  Additionally, she and Policy Board members will attend training three times per year.

Until an administrative assistant is hired, Maxson is the only employee.  She is working with Pichette ordering furniture and equipment while setting the direction the center will take.  "Right now, a lot of time is spent ordering stuff," she says.  "We have the seven priorities, so right now a lot of my work is revolving around prioritizing the priorities.  I am about to send a survey out to teachers because we cannot possibly implement everything right away.  So I need help in determining what should we start with first, what is the greatest need."

Pichette says that part of the requirements for the funding is collecting data and accountability for programs offered at the Teacher Center.  She says that studies have shown that teachers tend to attend conferences on topics they already know about, but that teacher center programs will encourage them to broaden their knowledge and stretch their abilities.  The Teacher Center will attempt to make a correlation between courses teachers take and benefits to students.  "We are very committed to see this become very successful and make a difference for students and teachers," she says.

Maxson says the Policy Board has 23 members from the two districts, with more than 51% made up of teachers.  The combination of the two districts has been a good match so far.  "The tone of our meetings is just wonderful," she says.  "There is a real spirit of collaboration between the two districts.  People are really interested in doing what's best for teachers because obviously, that's what's best for students."


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