VOORHEESVILLE – For new teachers, the transition from years of studying and being the recipient of knowledge and new ideas, to becoming the teacher who must find a way to inspire a room full of students to learn, can be challenging.

Having a mentor can ease the burden.
Last week, Voorheesville’s school board approved a teacher-mentor program "to improve new teacher performance, increase retention of promising teachers, and to meet state requirements for certification," the document says.
Voorheesville is a "challenging district," Superintendent Linda Langevin told The Enterprise this week. "We understood these new teachers need support."
The district has had a mentor policy for about seven years, said Kathy Fiero, president of the Voorheesville Teachers’ Association. The new program is "a bit more formalized," she said.

Fiero, a remedial math teacher at the elementary school, has been teaching in the district for 16 years.
The mentor program is "valuable" to the district, said Fiero. "It helps the new teacher become a part of the culture very quickly," she said. Mentors help to orient the new teachers to all the "housekeeping things," she said, such as codes for copy machines.

They also guide new teachers through things such as report cards, open houses, and classroom management, said Fiero.
The mentor provides the new teacher with "someone they can go to for pretty much anything they would need," Fiero said.
Voorheesville prides itself on having teachers that are "very high caliber," said Langevin. New teachers, she said, "have a challenge ahead of them."
The program "gives them a chance to excel right from the beginning at a pace they can feel good about," said Langevin of new teachers.
"I think it’s very comprehensive," Langevin said of the program. It is beneficial to the district, she said, not only in the support it provides to the new teachers, but also, she said, "Teachers will feel more confident in their preparation."

The program applies to teachers who are new to the district at all grade levels, said Langevin.
At last Monday night’s meeting, board member Timothy Blow expressed his concern that the experienced teacher acting as the mentor might try to "squash" fresh ideas that the new teacher brings to the district.
The mentorship program is designed to facilitate a "teaching atmosphere," Langevin explained. "It’s not meant to box teachers in at all," she said.
A veteran teacher in the audience spoke up to say that she learned from the new teacher she mentored, as much as she taught. "I think it’s a two-way street," she said.
Elementary school Principal Kenneth Lein reinforced her comment by saying, "There is a nice sharing of ideas."

Mentor vs. mentee roles
The roles of the mentor, according to the policy, are to be an "instructional, professional and personal supporter; liaison with administration and other teachers; confidential colleague providing feedback; resource in the areas of school policy, procedures and routines," and, lastly, it says, a friend.
The new teacher’s role, the policy says, is to "be a team player and offer critical reflections on his or her own practice," and to be "a person who seeks feedback, who accepts criticism, who initiates questions and is candid in communicating classroom issues."

The mentors will be compensated for their time at the rate of $25 per hour, with a maximum of $2,000 or 80 hours per mentee in a year.
"Training and any professional development associated with the enhancement of mentoring skills will be loggable hours and will be compensated," the policy states.

Principal Lein and a group of teachers will be attending a New York State United Teachers mentor training program this fall, said Langevin.
All new teachers are assigned a mentor, Fiero explained. Mentors are assigned based upon a "mutual agreement" between the school’s principal and the prospective mentor, the policy states. The goal is to provide the new teacher with a mentor who has experience at the same grade level or in the same subject, Fiero explained.
It’s optional on the part of the mentor, she said. "Usually, people are willing to do it because we want new teachers to succeed."
A lot of districts have mentor programs, said Fiero. "I think it’s great."

Other business

In other business at last Monday’s meeting, the board:

– Approved a tax-warrant adjustment, bringing the tax levy increase down from 5.59 percent to 3.95 percent;

– Approved the appointment of Mariel Chu as the district’s first social worker, with a probationary term of three years, and a salary of $45,500;

– Approved Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) as the provider for website services for the district one day per week, at a cost that will not exceed $17,842 for the year. The board appointed Gregory Coffey as the district’s communications specialist one day a week;

– Approved substitute teacher appointments for the 2006-07 school year that were presented by the Capital Region BOCES substitute registry;

– Approved the attendance of six school-board members and Superintendent Langevin at the annual convention of the New York State School Boards Association in New York City from Oct. 25 through the 28. The registration fee is $385 per person, and lodging is $199 per night;

– Appointed board member Kevin Kroencke as the voting delegate at the annual business meeting of the New York State School Boards Association on Oct. 27 in New York City. Board member Thomas McKenna was selected as the alternate;
– Approved a number of out-of-town student field trips: The senior class, using class funds, will have a luncheon at Thacher Park on Sept 17; The Ninth-Grade Academy will also have lunch at Thacher Park on Sept. 14, at a cost to the district; Advanced Placement history and English 11 honors students will take a trip to Salem, Mass. on Oct. 5, at a cost of around $50 per student; eighth-grade students will travel to New York City on Oct. 12, at a cost of $45 per student; and students in the Model United Nations will travel to Brown University in Providence, R.I., at a cost of $150 to $200 per student;
– Declared a 1989 Chevrolet salt truck as "surplus/obsolete" and delegated a business official to dispose of it in "a manner consistent with current laws and regulations";

– Approved the 2007-08 BOCES classroom rental and ancillary services agreement;

– Approved the 2007-08 preliminary contracts between the district and Capital Region BOCES for services provided by BOCES during the 2007-08 school year. The board also approved an amended 2006-07 final contract;

– Renewed the agreement with Whiteman Osterman & Hanna for legal services through June 30, 2008, at a retainer cost of $24,000 and a non-retainer cost of $185 per hour;

– Approved membership in the Capital District School Boards Association for the 2007-08 school year at a cost of $100;

– Renewed the merger between the Voorheesville Central School District and the Guilderland Central School District boys’ and girls’ varsity swim teams for the 2007-08 school year;

– Appointed Dr. Cheryl Dozier as a volunteer consultant for the 2007-08 school year. Dozier will facilitate a study group investigation of student achievement needs; her focus for this coming year will be eighth- and ninth-grade programs;

– Announced that the middle-school locker night will be held on Sept. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.;

– Appointed Linda Hladun to assist in preparing 5,500 continuing-education brochures for mailing, at a cost of $10.50 per hour for 10 hours;

– Announced that the first day of school will be Monday, Sept. 10. In previous years, school has started on the Thursday following Labor Day, but the date was pushed back this year to ensure that construction work is complete;

– Approved the first reading of amendments to school-board policies on school-district records, public participation at board meetings, and capital assets;

– Heard from a parent requesting that the district install racks for safe storage of bicycles; she said her son had a $600 bicycle that was run over and destroyed by a lawnmower on school grounds;

– Approved the school lunch budget for the 2007-08 school year, and increased the price for type A lunches at the elementary school from $1.75 to $2.00, and at the middle and high schools from $2.00 to $2.25.

Type A lunches are meals that have three of five components required by the federal government, in order to generate some reimbursement.
The board also canceled the federal and state breakfast program at the elementary school, beginning in September. The school lunch manager will make provisions available for students who are eligible for free and reduced breakfast on an "as-need basis." Assistant Superintendent for Business Sarita Winchell said that last year, there were only about two or three students per day taking advantage of the program.
– Adjusted the hours of food-service helper, Tasha Deyo, for "reasons of economy": from five to four hours per day; and

– Following an executive session discussion, the board voted to increase Superintendent Langevin’s salary by 3.5 percent, or $4,528, for the 2007-08 school year, effective July 1, 2007, making her salary $133,903.

The board will consider a contract extension for Langevin at its Sept. 10 meeting.