See the video here.
Sarena Johnson, who completed the NU-TEACH alternative certification program through SESP, was awarded Teacher of the Month by WGN-TV. An interview was featured on the 9 p.m. news on September 23.
For the last two years Johnson has taught at Passages Charter School in Chicago, last year as a kindergarten teacher and this year as a first-grade teacher with the same class. Passages, which is located at 1643 W. Bryn Mawr in Chicago, focuses specifically on the needs of immigrant and refugee students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.
Johnson received her teacher training through NU-TEACH, a SESP program that offers a fast track to teaching certification for career changers. The program iis offered in collaboration with the Inner-City Teaching Corps, the Chicago Teaching Fellows and Chicago Public Schools.
The Teacher of the Month program at WGN-TV recognizes outstanding teachers. A video about Johnson that ran on WGN-TV appears on the station's web site at http://www.wgntv.com/news/teacherofthemonth/.
Lisa Vogt, director of the UNITE program at the Inner-City Teaching Corps, says of Johnson, "We here at ICTC have always known that Sarena is an amazing educator, and are thrilled that soon all of Chicagoland will know it as well."