Teaching Pathways Program

Berry College is an outstanding liberal arts college that offers innovative education programs in an intimate student-centered environment designed to help students become thoughtful, well-rounded citizens of the world.  The College is renowned for its high-quality teacher preparation programs.  As a community working toward preparing teachers who will be developers of human potential, the college strives to provide students with knowledge, skills and values that will enable them to teach successfully in a diverse society.

The Teaching Pathways Program was initiated to address the growing need for minorities in the teaching profession. Through ongoing academic, professional and financial support, the program enables minority student to achieve their goals of becoming qualified teachers.

Admission

Freshman
A student applying to Berry College should have earned a diploma from an accredited high school. Admission is based upon probable success as determined from high-school grades and results of either the American College Test (ACT) or Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT I). These credentials are combined to derive a predicted grade-point average for the freshman year.

Transfer

Students with the equivalent of 28 or more semester hours are considered for transfer admission. Transfer acceptance is based upon the student’s cumulative grade-point average, and the earned grade-point average at the last college or university attended.

Teacher Education Program Admission
Students are eligible to be considered for admission to the Teacher Education Program after they have accomplished the following:

• Completed two semesters of college work and have at least a 2.50 grade-point average; and

• Passed GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) or attained sufficient scores on the SAT or ACT as defined by the state to waive requirements.

Teacher Education Program Honored with National Award

Pathway Students who are studying to become teachers have made the following statements about their learning experience at Berry College:

• “My professor believes that developing collaborative, productive working relationships is critical to the success of a teacher. His primary focus is to establish a foundation of confidence and trust. He builds this foundation of trust through advisement and with students in activities around the campus when students invite him to attend.”
• “The experience at Berry is not limited to the four walls of a classroom building. Many lessons are taught outside the classroom to provide real-life relevant experiences that students can use throughout their lives and educational careers. We get those experiences in cultural activities as well as in community service and work opportunities.”
•  “My professor refuses to accept mediocre work or irrational thinking. He understands that teachers must know the ‘whole student’ to successfully address the needs and accommodations that ensure quality instruction…Beyond his dispensation of scientific facts and concepts, it is his belief that students and teachers must develop sincere relationships to collaboratively and collectively face the global challenges of education.”
• ”My professor views teaching as a noble profession, focused on our future. She personalizes learning for students by recognizing their individual needs and responding to them.”
•  “I confidently believed that I made a positive difference in the life of my students during my teaching practicum…I believe that we pattern our lives after those we respect most, and I am extremely privileged to have been in education classes at Berry College because of such great role models.”
• “Among the greatest gifts my professor shares is that she gives us cool tools to succeed in whatever academic environment we may encounter in the field. My professor wants us to realize we must be lifelong learners, and we should not be content to think that we have “learned it all.”
•  “She believes that being a part Berry students’ lives each day is an opportunity to effect the world, one teacher at a time.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHING PATHWAYS

Telephone:  706-368-6986

E-mail:    basmith@berry.edu

Berry College Web Site:  www.berry.edu