The Science Department chairperson at Garden City High School has been notified by Editor Kenneth P. Licata of The Science Teachers' Bulletin that her article, "A New Mentoring Opportunity," has been published in the Fall 1999 issue. Her article describes the recent need to hire four new science teachers in the high school in the last two years and the difficulty the Garden City Union Free School District had in finding applicants with significant teaching experience. Hussey discusses methods implemented by the district and staff at the high school to address the problem of a limited pool of science teachers with experience.

The situation described by Hussey was one that many school districts have faced and are currently facing across the country. There is now a surplus of elementary school teachers applying to suburban schools, but few qualified teachers specializing in fields needed in the classrooms of middle and high schools. Many science and math majors in college are going into various industries and overlooking the possibilities the field of education offers. Even English majors and humanities students are seeking employment after graduation in PR, editing, consulting, and various business opportunities as the cost of living continues to rise and salaries fail to rise equally. Searches for teachers are becoming more open to new methods of recruiting and innovative ways to train perspective candidates.

The high school's science department already had student-teachers and the GCHS selection committee for new science teachers called invited these student-teachers were invited to a special after school reception to get to know the science teachers, familiarize themselves with the science facilities and program and get tips on the job interview and application process. The student-teachers, according to Hussey in her article, learned about the process and the selection committee had a unique opportunity to get to know the applicants beyond a resume and a formal interview. Hussey explains that while experienced applicants filled two of the three available positions during the last round of hiring, the third was filled with a student- teacher who made a significant impression on the panel.

Hussey's thesis in her article is the idea that the reception held for the student-teachers was an informal setting that created the opportunity for a mentoring situation. Teachers currently working in the Garden City School District were able to communicate with the young hopefuls and share experience with them. The future science teachers were able to ask questions, share a deeper insight into themselves with possible employers, and learn to be more comfortable with prospective interviewers. Most college students are never really afforded an opportunity to gain a solid understanding of the many details of job hunting and this kind of get-together allowed students to have a quick crash course, so to speak.

The innovative job search device implemented by Garden City High School clearly interested the editors and publishers of Science Teacher Bulletin and certainly Eileen Hussey's telling of the story impressed them. Her concise recounting of the events that led to the informal reception and her explanation of the hidden opportunity for the encouragement of aspiring educators the event provided have made her article the page five feature on mentoring. Carole Dean, publicity director of GCUFSD has informed Garden City Life that all of the members of the faculty and administration of the high school and the entire Garden City Public Schools community wishes to express their appreciation for Eileen Hussey's work to share the innovations in Garden City with the science teachers of America and to bring positive attention to the district. By sharing ideas in the forum of this bulletin, teachers and districts can gain new ideas on how to continue to improve their schools.