The partnership, now in its fourth year, has been a big hit. The present and future teachers have talked about the national education trends and issues and about teachers as leaders. They have talked about how much the profession expands beyond regular school hours and the schools and into the community. They have talked about the need to act professionally in order to gain community support and respect. Becoming leaders in the community.
Teachers lead community groups and organizations.
Teachers who become involved in the community also come to understand it better, which helps them address the needs of their students more effectively. I teach in the third largest school district in the state, and there are only 25,000 people in the town. In fact, we got on David Letterman for having two students in the graduating class in the town that's 30 miles away from us. So we have very, very small schools. So we have to take leadership roles in the community.