On Wednesday, students in Dr. Lamarr Shields‘ (back row, right) Teacher Exchange program met with Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises (back row, third from right) to talk about the progress of their work and what they’ve learned. Dr Shields, and educator and 2016 OSI Community Fellow founded the Teacher Exchange with the idea that young people in Baltimore City Public Schools could mentor new teachers.
The students from ConneXions, a Community Based Arts School, have spent the past year coaching new teachers on the best way to engage their students. “We never ask students what it takes to engage them,” Dr. Shields says. “They may or may not always understand the lesson, but they do understand relationships.”
During the meetins, Dr. Santelises asked the students to speak at the new teacher institute over the summer and talked about potentially replicating the program in other schools.
