Some background about Deborah Bambino
[Note: This background piece was written for Deb's 1998-99 diary. Also
see her more recent background sketch and her 1999-2000 diary.]
I teach five sections of seventh and eighth grade science at Central East
Middle School, located in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia, PA. Feltonville
is a culturally diverse, urban community, and the school reflects that population.
Our school was established seven years ago in response to community demands
for a middle school. Prior to our establishment, students were being bused
all over the city to desegregate other schools and relieve the overcrowding
of Feltonville's K-8 elementary schools.
Central East has been adopted by Johns Hopkins
University and is a pilot site for their "Talent Development Model"
of instruction. Our school was also the middle school link in the IBM "Reinventing
Education" grant in Philadelphia. I serve as the science leader for
our school and as such, I facilitate regular meetings of our science department.
I also serve as the "coach" of a Critical Friends Group (CFG)
of teachers drawn from our school and the elementary and high school involved
in the IBM grant. The CFG is linked to the National School Reform Faculty
(NSRF) of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. (See
the CFG's goals.)
Teaching is a second career for me. I worked at many other jobs in factories,
a hospital, and in quite a few restaurants, before returning to school to
pursue a teaching career. I became a teacher at my husband's urging because,
as he said, I spent all my spare time volunteering at my children's schools
anyway. My blended family of four children, who are now in college and grad
school were in fact keeping me very busy with home and school, soccer, baseball,
gymnastics and scouting activities.
I earned a BS in Early Childhood-Elementary Education at Temple University.
Since graduation I have taken many Science Education courses as well as
classes in Design Based Education, Children's Literature and Leadership
Training.
When I completed my teacher training, I was looking forward to working with
kindergarten children , but (as so often happens!) I became a teacher of
a 7th grade, self-contained class instead. Prepared by the often rocky adolescence
of my own children, when I entered my first assignment 11 years ago, I was
pleased to find that my seventh graders were bigger versions of the younger
kids I had enjoyed as a student teacher. I taught all basic subjects to
my self- contained classes for four years, before moving to Central East.
I am a native of Philadelphia and as a resident in a nearby community, I
became aware of the Feltonville parents' organizing efforts. I was excited
by the possibilities of being part of a new school from its inception and
I began attending the community planning sessions. My decisions, first to
become a teacher and later to transfer to Central East MiddleSchool, have
been very rewarding. Our staff is an exciting one, where you can always
find colleagues who are ready to look at the hard questions and develop
new initiatives. And the students, well, they make sure that it is never
boring. I enjoy learning about new things and feel that teaching adolescents
is a constant voyage of discovery.
I welcomed this opportunity to write about a year as part of the CEMS community.
I have promised myself that I'd keep a teaching diary every September and
after the first week or two I've broken that promise. Now that I've made
a public commitment to write, I know I shall do it. By sharing this account
with MiddleWeb's readers, I hope to learn about my own teaching, my students
and hopefully our school's culture.
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