Rockland Community College (RCC) has recently joined forces with White Plains-based Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT) to help expand the pipeline of students of color to pursue teaching professions. RCC is the first community college to partner with TSTT and all RCC TSTT graduates may be eligible to continue their journey in education and attend one of 23 national and regional college or university partners. TSTT will provide RCC students with academic support, career guidance, workshops, networking opportunities, and teacher placement assistance.
“We are honored to partner with Rockland Community College which has a rich history of furthering the educational goals of students of color,” says Dr. Bettye H. Perkins, founder, President and CEO of TSTT. “Together, we will provide TSTT’s economically challenged students with the opportunity to expand their horizons and enrich their life’s experiences by joining the RCC community and its culturally stimulating and challenging educational environment. Students will also be provided with financial support so that they can graduate debt-free from college and pursue their dreams of teaching the next generation.”
“We are delighted to welcome TSTT students to our campus,” says Dr. Michael A. Baston, President of Rockland Community College. “We offer three Associate of Science teaching degrees for our students and are committed to encouraging more students from diverse backgrounds to enter the teaching profession. Today, only 13 percent of our nation’s teachers are people of color while the student body is almost half. Until the nation’s teaching population can better reflect the backgrounds of today’s students, economic and societal inequality will continue.”
With the addition of RCC, Dr. Perkins expects TSTT’s pipeline of more than 800 qualified high school and college students will continue to expand. And so too will the number of TSTT alumni, now more than 250, who are changing the lives of students in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
