Addressing a critical shortage of teachers of color, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has selected West Chester University as one of its seven high-profile partners in an initiative designed to diversify the Commonwealth’s pool of educators by identifying and recruiting promising high school students of color from the School District of Philadelphia.

Last week, as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s pilot program “Aspire to Educate,” WCU’s College of Education and Social Work hosted 45 high school juniors, who are students of color from Parkway West High School in Philadelphia, in a full day of immersion designed to answer the question “Why Teach?”

From sessions on how to apply to college to how to complete financial aid forms to student teaching in Philadelphia, the high school students were encouraged to explore the career of teaching in a city that needs their leadership. Highlighting the day was a panel featuring African-American male educators who had a candid discussion about why they selected the field of teaching as a career and why the high school students need to follow their example.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has awarded $490,000 to WCU and six other partner universities and organizations as part of a new initiative with the School District of Philadelphia to cultivate and diversify the city’s educator pool. Under the program, the school district will identify at least 20 current juniors or seniors who excel academically and have expressed an interest in becoming teachers. From the time they join the program, students will be mentored through the Center for Black Educator Development, an organization founded by former Philadelphia teacher and principal Sharif El-Mekki to recruit more students of color into the teaching field.

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