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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Birmingham-Southern graduate Catherine
Godbey of Decatur has been selected as a 2003 New York City Teaching
Fellow for participation in a national two-year program that trains
recent college graduates and those already in careers who want
to teach in that city’s lowest-performing schools.
Under the fellows program, the NYC Department
of Education subsidizes the majority of tuition for participants
to get a master’s degree while they teach
in troubled schools in the nation’s largest public school system. Upon
completion of three years of teaching, including the period of the fellowship,
fellows may apply for professional teaching certification.
Godbey, who graduated from BSC in May
with a bachelor’s degree in English,
is among 3,000 graduating seniors, postgraduates, and career changers nationwide
who were chosen after written and personal interviews.
Having already started intensive pre-service
training in June, she will begin teaching at a school in New
York City’s Bronx area Sept. 8 while working
on her master’s degree in education at Mercy College. Each fellow receives
a living allowance for pre-service training and a stipend once teaching has
begun.
The NYC Teaching Fellows program, designed to be an alternative
teacher certification, is a partnership between the New York City
Department of Education, City University
of New York, and AmeriCorps.
NYC Teaching Fellow coordinators believe that Godbey is the first
Birmingham-Southern student or alumnus to be awarded the fellowship
since it was established in
1999. She is the daughter of Rev. Sandra and John Godbey.
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