JET Program News
JET Goes to the State House
Who says JET Participants don’t know how to have fun and learn at the same time? Well, on Wednesday, April 18, five of us had a chance to have a ‘private’ walking tour of the state house, meet with State Representative Chynah Tyler of the 7th Suffolk district, and have a late lunch at Sterling’s restaurant on State Street.
Cohort Learning: Why It Works
Learning cohorts are defined as groups of students that learn, collaborate, and support one another as they journey through an educational experience. JET has designed its program around the cohort model, understanding that students who learn together naturally form support networks (Mattson-Gearhart), which can be especially beneficial for non-traditional, older, and part-time students who may not be as connected to a university as their younger, full-time peers (Reynolds & Hebert). As an intern for JET, I was eager to see the model in action.
Why Paraprofessionals Make Great Teachers
I served as an Elementary School Principal in the Acton Public School for 16 years. Prior that that I was a coordinator of Language Arts & Reading in the Haverhill Public Schools for 8 years. And for 6 years I served as an instructor/administrator at Northern Essex Community College, as the Coordinator of the Educational Assistant Program, preparing paraprofessionals to work in elementary classrooms in the Merrimack Valley. I understand the tremendous value of paraprofessionals and why they make great teachers.
JET Information Session
Learn detailed information about the JET Program and how it works to help you advance your goals of becoming a licensed teacher.
Welcome to the JET website!
We are excited to share our work with you in this new electronic space. We hope this site will increase the awareness of the opportunities JET offers. Our intention is to help as many paraprofessionals as possible become licensed teachers in their home communities. We concentrate on urban schools. Right now we are working with Boston Public School paraprofessionals.
Connecting a JET Paraprofessional to her very Specialized Teaching Goal
Jenn Kelley has worked as a paraprofessional for over 10 years at Charlestown High School, which also happens to be her alma mater. She is a special education paraprofessional and loves working one-on-one with severely disabled special needs students to help them access the classroom curriculum.
JET Boston’s First Licensed Teacher!
Tatiana is the first JET Boston participant to receive her bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) and earn teacher licensure. Tatiana joined JET in 2017 as a paraprofessional and was part of JET Boston Cohort 1. She already was well along in her undergraduate program at the time, but JET helped her access the Massachusetts Paraprofessional Teacher Preparation (PTP) Grant, which would pay for most of her course expenses in 2017-2018.