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by Christina Foster '07
Virginia Wesleyan College is a school that is always willing to lend a helping hand, whether by donating microscopes to a primary school in Trinidad and Tobago or offering courses at half price to local teachers.
Virginia Wesleyan is currently involved in a program called the Take Five Initiative, which allows teachers from Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk and Chesapeake to take courses at the College at half the cost.
The Take Five Initiative was based on an idea that Virginia Wesleyan President Billy Greer came up with to help ease the burden of the teacher shortage.
"There is a teacher shortage and we want to do our part to help solve that," said Greer. "We are good citizens and we intend to be good citizens."
His idea became a reality when Batten Professor of Education Dr. Karen Bosch and Program Development Coordinator Mr. Tom Farley developed the program.
Bosch praised Greer for having the courage to be the only college president to initiate such a wonderful plan and community service.
"I think it's just a wonderful thing that our president at this small, little school wanted to help these schools out," said Bosch. "It's really special."
The purpose of the program is to fully license area teachers because many of them only hold provisional or conditional licenses.
"Teachers from elementary, middle and high school can take classes here in order to get the next license, the collegiate license," said Bosch. "The collegiate license is renewable." This license is the goal these teachers are working toward.
A provisional license qualifies someone to teach in a specified subject and a conditional license qualifies somebody to teach special education classes. However, teachers with these licenses only have three years until their licenses expire and in order to be awarded the collegiate license, which is the goal, they need to catch up on all the courses they haven't already taken.
"This program makes sure that these teachers are taking the right courses," said Farley.
This is where the Take Five Tuition Assistance program comes into play.
"We knew they'd be getting quality course work," said Bosch.
Wesleyan provides each school division with $20,000 to enable their teachers to take any course still needed to qualify for the collegiate license. The courses are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, which means that teachers must act in a timely manner for the opportunity to take courses at half price.
The program does have certain requirements, though. Teachers must have passing scores on the Praxis I or VCLA, as well as a passing grade on Praxis II. They must also demonstrate a strong commitment to continue teaching in their current school district and they must register and pay for half of the tuition at least two weeks before classes start.
"We have a very good program for education here," said Greer. "We are known for turning out good teachers."
The Take Five Initiative began during the fall of 2006. There are currently 12 students enrolled in the program.