Teacher Prep helps students move to front of the class

On the Princeton University campus, Raven DeRamus is a senior English major.

On the nearby campus of Princeton High School, she is Ms. DeRamus, a student teacher.

DeRamus is one of 11 participants in Princeton's Program in Teacher Preparation who spent the fall as student teachers at schools across central New Jersey. In this video, DeRamus, fellow student teacher Kanoa Mulling, a member of the Class of 2015, and Teacher Prep alumna Barbara Fortunato share their experiences in the program.  

"Now that I'm doing student teaching, I realize it's really, really for me," DeRamus said. "It took me some experimenting and reflecting to get here. And I appreciate that about the Teacher Prep program. They really make you think about why you're doing what you're doing at the very beginning. So I really came to terms with the kind of person that I am and the kinds of things I want out of life and people I want to interact and what I imagine my days being like."

For nearly half a century, Teacher Prep has trained undergraduates, graduate students and alumni to serve as teachers. The program includes classroom observation, courses on educational psychology, teaching and educational issues, and a semester of practice teaching in a middle or secondary school.

Teacher Prep participants doing their student teaching in the fall of 2015 included one member of the Class of 2016, seven members of the Class of 2015, one member of the Class of 1992 and a member of the Class of 1988.

Teacher Prep alumni have gone on to become classroom teachers and school administrators, as well as to careers in education policy.

"Every day, Teacher Prep graduates are changing the world — one student, one class, one school, at a time," said Christopher Campisano, director of Teacher Prep. "By using their talent and their imagination, they are creating alternative narratives and introducing their students to new realities and possibilities. One of the highlights I experienced in the recent past was to work with a student who decided to become a teacher as a result of being taught by a Teacher Prep graduate."

In this video, student teachers Raven DeRamus and Kanoa Mulling and Teacher Prep alumna Barbara Fortunato share their experiences in the program. (Video by Danielle Alio, Office of Communications)