STCC, Beal Elementary School partner in tutoring program

From right to left, retired principal Kathleen Sullivan, STCC Professor Linda Prystupa and Beal Elementary School Principal Kate Fancy stand with some of the STCC students who will tutor at the school this year.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Children at Alice B. Beal Elementary School will get help in class this year from students at Springfield Technical Community College.

STCC is partnering with the elementary school at 285 Tiffany St. in an initiative that gives experience to college students who are considering careers as teachers. The Beal students will get extra help with reading, math and any other subjects they may pose a struggle.

“It’s a win-win for STCC and Beal,” said STCC Professor Linda Prystupa, chair of the Education Department at STCC. “Beal is an excellent school that has a lot of kids who need help with subjects like reading or writing. For some of the Beal students, English is not their first language. We are excited that STCC students will get experience working with children in a real classroom setting.”

Beal Principal Kate Fancy called the new program “a great partnership.”

“It’s beneficial to both STCC and Beal,” Fancy said. “It gives STCC students experience in a real inner city classroom where they will be teaching hopefully, and it gives our students the opportunity to have intervention, if they need it, and one-on-one interaction, which is beneficial to everybody. We are very excited about the program.”

Fancy said she will ask STCC students to help where there are high needs within the elementary school. “It could be reading, math or science, and it could be in any of our classrooms in kindergarten through fifth grade,” she said.

We are excited that STCC students will get experience working with children in a real classroom setting. Linda Prystupa, Chair, Education Department at STCC

About 20 STCC students will be visiting classrooms throughout the school year.  STCC offers two-year degree teacher education transfer programs for students considering becoming either elementary or secondary education teachers.

Alondra Felpeto, of Springfield, who is studying elementary education at STCC, said tutoring the Beal children is “a good opportunity because we will have real-life experience we wouldn’t get from just studying textbooks.”

STCC student Theo Gibbs, of Springfield, is studying secondary education and said he looks forward to heading to Beal this fall and next spring.

“You want to get hands-on practice with kids,” Gibbs said. “I have come across so many different personalities, ranging from one kid who was quiet, giving one-word answers, to another kid who’s laughing and calling himself a genius. It’s great. I love being in this atmosphere, interacting with kids.”

To learn more about the STCC teaching programs, visit www.stcc.edu/explore/programs/edel.aa/ or www.stcc.edu/explore/programs/edse.aa/.

Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

About Springfield Technical Community College

Founded in 1967 and located on 35 acres of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, STCC is a major resource for the economic vitality of Western Massachusetts. As the only technical community college in Massachusetts, STCC, a designated Hispanic Serving Institution, offers a variety of career programs unequalled in the state. STCC’s highly regarded transfer programs in business, engineering, liberal arts, science and technology continue to provide the most economical options for students pursuing a four-year degree. With an annual enrollment of about 7,000 day, evening, weekend and online students, STCC is a vibrant campus rich in diversity.

For more information about STCC, visit www.stcc.edu. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@S_T_C_C) and Instagram (@stccpics).

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jim Danko, (413) 755-4812, jdanko@stcc.edu

• See All News