From Investment Banking to the Classroom:
Career Changers
Jump into Teaching
by Josh Rogers
George Hoisl was an investment officer at Wachovia Bank when
his boss asked for volunteers for a junior achievement program
the company was sponsoring. Through the program, Hoisl spent
some of his free time teaching public school children from
second to eighth grade. It wasn't long before he knew-this
long-time professional banker wanted to become a schoolteacher.
"I loved how exciting it was and all the beautiful things
that can come out of teaching," said Hoisl. "I had
a couple kids that wrote me letters at the end like: 'You know
what, Mr. H., you were the best teacher we ever had,' and that
warmed my heart. I keep all their pictures in my briefcase."
This May, Hoisl enrolled in Jumpstart, a teaching program
at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. Jumpstart
is a fast-track teaching program geared specifically toward
career-changers. By placing people who are pursuing a master's
degree in education in full-time teaching situations after
only four months of preparatory classes, the program is designed
to help fill the many vacant teaching posts in New York City
during the next few years.
Jumpstart, and programs like it,
may have the added bonus of helping change the demographics
of the teaching community. Of three million public school
teachers in the United States, only 21 percent are male,
according to a 2002 survey released by the National Education
Association. According to the NEA, "many
men don't see the teaching profession as a lucrative way to
provide for their families." Because men are so under-represented,
NEA members recently approved an initiative to "identify,
recognize, recruit and retain" more male teachers. In
last year's Jumpstart class, 12 of 37 students were male, which
was much higher than the national average. In this fall's cohort,
27 of 60 students are male.
Since Jumpstart is specifically
geared toward "career-changers," there
are more students in the program who have already completed
a successful career track, and for a variety of reasons, decide
to become teachers. This may account for the dramatic influx
of men into the program. A Jumpstart cohort is typically made
up of insurance adjusters, architects, commodities traders,
and others who have realized they want to pursue a more fulfilling
career. Besides his newfound passion for teaching, Hoisl was
also ready to leave the banking profession. "It's a shrinking
industry. It just gets smaller and it gets harder," he
said.
Manhattanville is hoping to attract other under-represented
groups to become educators. To that end, the school is now
giving need-based grants of $5,00 to $15,000. The money comes
from a $500,000 federal grant that U.S. Congresswoman Nita
Lowey helped secure for the School of Education's Jumpstart
program 16 months ago. After developing the program's faculty
and outreach, the program still has almost half of the grant
money left, which is earmarked for the student grants.#
Josh Rogers is a Staff Writer, Manhattanville College.
For more information on the program, please contact program
director James Finger at 914-323-5368.
