Teach For America (TFA) Buffalo has announced its new Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), a year-long professional development series to support Buffalo educators in advancing their skill set in one of three specialized tracks.

The PLCs are open to all teachers and educators in the Buffalo community. The three tracks were determined based on need and interest expressed by educators given the impact of the pandemic on student experiences. They are:

• Best Teaching Practices, focusing on strengthening pedagogical practice with opportunities for peer mentoring and self reflection
• Social-Emotional Learning, offering knowledge and skill-building on how to manage as an emotional caretaker to students, interact with students facing trauma, and other similar barriers
• Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy, supporting exploration into self-identity and how it impacts professional practice as well as student identities and relationships

“We are thrilled to offer these professional opportunities based on what we heard from teachers and school-based staff in our Buffalo community,” said Kali Dickinson, executive director of TFA Buffalo. “As a leadership development organization, we are invested in supporting educators to have the resources and collaboration they need to address unfinished learning and ensure all students in Buffalo can reach key educational milestones on time, especially as we navigate another year impacted by the pandemic.”

Each track includes three full-day professional development sessions during the 2021-22 school year led by a facilitator. This year’s facilitators are Jennifer Babcock, Professor at Medaille College for the MSED Adolescent and Elementary Education Department; Jasmine Mungo, Director of Special Education and Scholar Support at Persistence Preparatory Charter School; and Katti Theriault, Special Education Teacher at St. John’s Parkside.

Theriault, who is leading the Best Teaching Practices track, said, “I am excited to facilitate this series because I’ll be able to work with my colleagues to help foster community and collaboration through peer mentoring and self reflection that will take their teaching from good to great.”

The first sessions kick off this Saturday, October 16; interested educators may still sign up to attend a session by registering at https://www.tfabuffalo.com/plc.

To learn more about TFA Buffalo, visit https://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work/buffalo or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with 350 urban and rural communities across the country to expand educational opportunity for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Today, Teach For America is a force of over 64,000 alumni and corps members working in over 9,000 schools nationwide in pursuit of profound systemic change. From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they are reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, lead, thrive, and co-create a future filled with possibility. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

News Contact

Cece Zhou

248-854-0630

cece.zhou@teachforamerica.org