PEORIA, Ill. — 22 new teachers who moved to Central Illinois from overseas are learning the ins and outs of the American school system, with the help of Peoria District 150.
Peoria Public Schools works with ‘We Dare to Teach,’ a program to help recruit teachers from other countries so they can teach grades K-thru-12 for three to five years. Instructors are recruited from countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. Those hired by PPS started teaching this spring semester.
Saturday, the new hires got the chance to attend sessions teaching about classroom management strategies, while they learned how to identify different mental health challenges their students may face on Sunday. Those include factors like depression and signs of bullying.
“Be able to know who to go to, who to take their students to to get the proper help because if not, mental illness can be way worse,” Melissa Henville, a licensed mental health expert and director with We Dare to Teach told 25 News. “The sooner the student can get the proper help, the sooner they can have a more function in life and definitely make it easier in the classrooms for the teachers.”
Saturday, one of the volunteers from the organization, who is also a chef, made a dish from each of the teachers’ native homelands for them to share with each other during their first day of training.
