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Program inspires Houston's teachers

Professors, local educators connect in teaching institute

By Dusti Rhodes
The Daily Cougar

Michea Carter was ready to quit her teaching job and give up on education. She spent her days searching for other jobs online because, as a teacher, she felt she had nothing left.

"As much as I love it, it's not the kids -- it's being undervalued and unappreciated," she said. "I felt like I didn't have anything else to give them. I felt uninspired."

Carter was in what she thought were her last months of teaching when she attended a seminar that "saved her life in education." 

"I am still a teacher because of this institute," Carter said.

HTI welcomed 130 teachers from more than 60 Houston Independent School District schools to the Athletic/Alumni Center on Tuesday for the sixth convocation of its program, which helps educators develop exciting curricula and innovative teaching methods.

Teachers were welcomed by Houston's first lady, Andrea White, a longtime supporter of education in Houston. She was president of Houston A Plus, an urban high school reform project, for five years.

"My husband and I both admire your determination to be the best teachers you can be," White said.

HTI is led by University professors who offer sessions covering subjects from geometry to American playwrights. The relationship between the professors and the teachers is designed to "cultivate collegial bonds," HTI Director Paul Cooke said. In fact, participants are called "fellows," not students.

Nestor Rodriguez, an associate professor of sociology, will lead a course called "The New Houston -- New Immigrants, New Ethnicities and New Inter-Group Relations."

Rodriguez said programs like HTI are important because of the direct connection they offer between public school teachers and college professors.

But Rodriguez said the institute has another benefit: "I myself find it very enriching," he said. "I learn a lot from the fellows in the program -- it's an equal exchange. We learn from each other."

Josephine Hamilton, the HTI program coordinator and a graduate of The Honors College at UH, praised HTI because it allows teachers to develop their own meaningful materials.

Many teachers, like Kathy Cushenberry of Sterling High School, came to the program in order to gain a better understanding of how to reach their students.

"I applied for 'Geometry and the World Around Us' so I could help my students see what they can't see, and some things I can't see," Cushenberry said.

The program fellows will meet weekly until the program ends in July. Lessons and curricula they develop based on their participation in HTI will be published so all teachers can benefit from them.

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