I attended a conference held by the New York City Department of Education. It was held to inform new members of the SVA (Substitute Vocational Assistant) program on their policies and procedures. The SVA program allows select High School graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in teaching a vocational subject; the opportunity to gain hands on experience and a nice salary. They place the members in a high school with a mentor to teach the vocational career they are knowledgeable in while earning 90% percent of a starting teacher's salary and studying to become a full fledged license teacher. The conference was held in the New York City College of Technology (NYCT) and consisted of many different workshops. The one in which I will write about was said to be the most important of them all, because it covered all the necessary information on the program itself, what to expect and how to go about teaching a class. .
This workshop was entitled "The New SVA" and was held in the conference room of NYCT. The room was a nice carpeted one with a huge rectangle table with rolling chairs around it. The table seated about 25-30 people, and to my surprise when the meeting was about to begin every seat was occupied. At the head of the table sat the chairpersons of the meeting; two dignitaries from the Dept. of Ed: Ms. Harris and Mr. Houser. The workshop started with the two introducing themselves and then asking us to all rise from our seats and say a few words about ourselves. Next, Mr. Houser began telling us about some of the requirements for this program, and about some of the monthly expectations they have for its participants. Ms. Harris then proceeded to distribute handbooks which contained all the materials we needed for the program and the rules and regulations. After the hand books were distributed we were then asked to read aloud different sections. Following the reading, the two would then further explain or add to what was read.