Science pros turn to teaching
Temple program leads to second careers.
Despite a 20-year career in biochemistry, Trevor Selwood recently found his appreciation for science overshadowed by the constant uncertainty of research funding, so he began seeking another career.
He found one through Temple University, where the Transition to Teaching program helped him combine his science smarts and real-world experience with the educational skills needed to teach middle school.
Selwood, among the program's first class of graduates in July, is to start teaching science in the fall in Philadelphia, where he did his student teaching.
"Most of the kids were really nice, and they really want to learn," Selwood said.
Funded through a $3 million, five-year federal grant, the Temple program is designed to let people like Selwood keep their day jobs - in his case, at Fox Chase Cancer Center - while they pursue a teaching certificate at an accelerated pace.
The hope is that by attracting people with real-world experience to the classroom, students will see how the subjects apply to daily life, said Temple assistant professor Diane Jass Ketelhut, who helped design the program.
"The authenticity of their knowledge is blatantly clear to kids, and they really respond to that authenticity," she said.
Nicknamed "E=mc2" - Educating Middle-Grades Teachers for Challenging Contexts - the program is part of a national effort to address a shortage of math and science instructors, program director Heidi Ramirez said.
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