The Teacher's Mentor
by Christopher Gearon
After 25 years of teaching kindergarten, retiree Minnie Holcomb still runs around most school days shepherding a younger crowd. The former District of Columbia schoolteacher fills her charges with confidence, listens to their struggles, and offers pointers that only a seasoned educator could. Holcomb says her charges, first-year Washington, D.C. public school teachers, keep her nearly as busy as her former kindergarteners did.
Holcomb is one of 35 retired teachers D.C. Public Schools system has recruited as part of its four-year-old "Retired Teacher Mentoring Program." Mentors take one to five teachers under their wings each school year, and advise the first-years on classroom management and instruction, and parental and administrative issues.
D.C. Public Schools traditionally paired the 250 or more new teachers coming into District classrooms annually with established teachers. But recruiting retired educators has given the mentoring program new energy. Retirees have more time to offer, and while they are familiar with the system, they're not entrenched in it.
The retirees are "extremely beneficial to the new teachers," says Carolyn Pinckney, director of the school system's teachers' affairs. Another sign of success, notes Holcomb: many tutored teachers stay in touch with mentors even years later.
