our participants

OUR ASPIRING TEACHERS ...

... ARE STUDENTS
All of Breakthrough Saint Paul’s teachers are talented high school and college students, recruited from local schools like the University of Minnesota and Macalester College. A number of them are the first in their family to attend.

school Category number percent
total teachers 17 100%
high school
Saint paul public schools 5 30%
mounds park academy 2 12%
Other in Twin Cities area 6 34%
other outside minnesota 4 24%
current college
University of Minnesota 6 35%
Macalester College 3 17%
Other Minnesota Private Colleges 4 24%
Other outside Minnesota 4 24%

... ARE COMPLETELY DEDICATED
Our teachers apply for the intense, 9-week summer internship in March. After a ten day training conducted by experienced educators, our teachers spend six weeks teaching Breakthrough students all day. At night, they correct student homework (“BooYah”), prepare materials for the next day’s lesson, and do committee work. Throughout the summer, mentor teachers continually observe classes and guide our young teachers in their responsibilities.

... REPRESENT DIVERSITY
Breakthrough recognizes that there are many dimensions of human diversity. One of Breakthrough’s missions is to attract under-represented groups, specifically men and people of color, to the teaching profession. In summer 2007, we had a faculty of 17 aspiring teachers. Seven were men, and seven were of color.

Category number percent
totals 17 100%
gender
male 7 41%
female 10 59%
primary race
African American 3 17%
Asian American 2 12%
Latino or Hispanic - -
Caucasian 10 59%
Multi-racial 2 12%
academic level
High School 2 12%
College 15 88%
read jeron's Breakthrough Moment
read DeDe's Breakthrough Moment
read James's Breakthrough Moment
read jennydina's Breakthrough Moment
read Tho's Breakthrough Moment
read about Jeff and the Breakthrough Staff
visit the Mounds Park Academy website
visit Saint Paul Public Schools website