The first few years inside a classroom are tough enough. Add the rigors of today's new standards and some new teachers simply find themselves struggling to meet the demands of the job.

Knowing how difficult those first years can be, members of the Guilderland Teachers Association in suburban Albany have banded together to provide new teachers with the guidance they need. GEMS — The Guilderland Educators Mentoring for Success program — has evolved from NYSUT's New Member partnering program.

Since September 2004, districts statewide have been required to provide a one-year mentored internship for new teachers with an initial certificate. What sets the Guilderland program apart is that it's union-driven. Thus, with GEMS mentors picked by the Guilderland Central Teachers Association, new members enjoy the benefit of having veteran teachers offering their professional experience in a structured environment.

Teacher Pat Del Negro, one of the founders, is the director. She said a key element to GEMS success is the "group concept" that the program centers itself around.

"We meet as a large group with a mix of grade levels," Del Negro said. "This large group meeting concept has proven to be extremely beneficial for all ... and sets up a forum for (mentor/protégé) partnerships to emerge."

The group concept helps the new teacher to quickly develop an understanding of the building and district culture while cultivating relationships with colleagues, Del Negro said.

The Guilderland local decided to develop its own program with the support of the administration. At its inception, eight teachers were interested in being mentors, and the program has grown substantially since. As a group, they sought and received approval from the association's executive board to create GEMS.

"As a union, we meet and greet the new hires in the summer," Del Negro said, adding that after a morning workshop with administrators, the new members then meet with association President Chris Claus, who introduces them to the district mentors. The new teachers and corresponding mentors lunch together, and group members spend the afternoon getting to know each other personally and professionally.

Building a bond

"The union mentors and the new teachers meet as a group, and the interaction and the confidentiality builds a bond that keeps new teachers involved," Claus said. "It's easy to get first-year teachers involved; they want to survive. But the group bonding keeps second- and third-year teachers involved in the mentoring process. They are anxious to share their experience."

To connect the union to the new teachers, Claus and Guilderland TA leadership established a new representative-at-large position on their rep council. The position is open to a two-year probationary teacher.

The idea is for the person to contribute the new-teacher perspective and take their council observations back to the mentor group.

"The new teachers are a tight group, a group that stays together," Claus said.

Del Negro said the union immediately sees the benefit as new members get involved with union activities such as the annual walk for benefit breast cancer research, the union's voluntary political action campaign (VOTE-COPE) and scholarship fund-raising. Some new teachers, Del Negro said, eventually decide to become mentors themselves.

"GEMS and other union-run mentor programs highlight the importance of the professional connection with new members," said NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue.