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Contact: Jennifer Anderson (andersonj@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
4/10/2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES- Encouraging university students to become quality classroom teachers is a high priority of Dr. Sally Clausen, president of the University of Louisiana System. She shared her philosophy with Northwestern State University faculty and staff members and toured a partner of NSU, North Natchitoches Elementary, during a recent visit to Natchitoches.
According to Clausen, the University of Louisiana System (ULS) is being asked to do more than any other system in the state. During her presentation, Clausen demonstrated that ULS trains most of the teachers in Louisiana and stressed the importance of recruiting, training and retaining teachers throughout the state.
Clausen said she spends much of her time educating citizens of the state on how producing quality educators effects the economy as a whole. Her goals are to raise public awareneess, prioritize teacher education m support university efforts to recruit, prepare and retain teachers and advocate for additional resources.
" I just want to make people aware of the importance of quality teachers," Clausen said. "Every child deserves to have a qualified teacher. Right now, Louisiana is facing a major teacher shortage. The teaching profession is the most essential because teachers make other professions possible."
Clausen toured North Natchitoches Elementary School, a Blue Ribbon Professional Development School through a partnership with Northwestern State University's College of Education. While walking through the school, she stopped by to observe NSU methods students and student teachers, as well as Northwestern alumni in the classroom setting.
Clausen stopped to watch methods student Kristen Holley as she led her class in a discussion about weather.
"The Blue Ribbon Professional School has taught me many things," said Holley, a senior elementary education major from Waskom, Texas. "I have noticed such a strong emphasis on parental support. It emulates an educational establishment that believes in the premise that students can succeed academically through support at home. The students at North Natchitoches are treated as individuals and I have seen many teaching strategies that have been implemented to reach every learner."
Another stop was in the class of Tamekia Means, a 2000 graduate of NSU, while her students worked on poetry in the computer lab.
"Having the partnership with NSU has helped with my transition to the classroom because they are always available," Means said.
"Northwestern has outstanding, attentive faculty and administration who are vitally concerned about teacher quality and are doing something about it," Clausen said. "I am not surprised that NSU is leading the state in teacher education. I am impressed with their progressive use of technology and the quality methods students I have seen at North Natchitoches today."