THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130287
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
In front of a blackboard cluttered with equations, Sarah Mentesana was in control.
``Marcus,'' she said. ``Read the answer to No. 25.'' Some murmurings percolated through the geometry class at Western Branch High. ``Please listen to Marcus.'' Quiet returned.
She quickly went through the formulas for calculating the areas of polygons from triangles to rhombuses - but always was on the lookout for confusion. ``Does anyone need to see 34 to 39 on the board?'' she asked. No answer. ``Do we all really understand?'' Not quite, so up went No. 39.
Mentesana, 22, graduated from the University of Richmond in May. She started teaching in September. Forget all the horror stories about small salaries and big discipline problems. She loves it even more than she expected.
``I have a job I enjoy,'' said Mentesana, a native of Franklin. ``I look forward to going to work every day.''
Many more college students want to follow her lead. After a downturn in the '80s, students are flocking to major in education.
A UCLA survey of the nation's freshmen, released this week, shows that the percentage of students interested in becoming teachers has nearly doubled in the past decade, from 4.9 percent in 1982 to 9.7 percent last year. Only one other field drew more students - business, at 14.6 percent.
Traditionally attractive careers such as law and engineering are attracting fewer students. The proportion interested in engineering fell from 12 percent in 1982 to 6.4 percent last year; interest in law fell from 4.3 percent to 3.4 percent.
Local colleges also report an upswing in education departments. The number of students getting education degrees at Old Dominion University rose from 623 in 1990 to 913 in 1994, the last year for which data are available.
At Norfolk State University, the number of students completing student-teaching requirements hit its low point, at 84, in 1987, said Elaine P. Witty, dean of the School of Education. But it has since shot up, and Witty expects the number this spring to exceed 380, an increase of more than 350 percent.
``People are more interested in doing things that bring them more satisfaction,'' Witty said. ``Students are thinking that it's OK now to be in one of the helping professions.
``It also might be a reaction to the great move we have towards technology. People really want to connect to individuals.''
Linda J. Sax, associate director of the study, which surveyed 240,000 freshmen, said, ``With the social and political structure, they feel disconnected and powerless. But these students are very close to education. They feel this is the one area they can have an impact.''
That's why Mentesana got into the field.
``It's a good way to make a difference in people's lives,'' she said. ``If they're not getting what they need at home, teaching is the next best thing.''
Mentesana moved to western New Jersey when she was a youngster. In high school, she found her role model, Ray Levandowski, a top-notch math teacher. She wanted to be like him.
Her family thought it was a good choice. But one friend told her, ``Oh, Sarah, you're so smart; why are you going to be just a teacher? Why don't you go for a job with more money?''
Mentesana shrugged her off. ``I love kids,'' she said. ``And if you're going to be working the rest of your life, you better enjoy it.''
Not everyone comes to teaching at an early age. Witty, the Norfolk State dean, said much of the growth is coming from adult students looking for a change in career. ``People are saying: ` I was a salesperson for a big company; I was making a big salary, but I wasn't really happy,' '' she said.
Others are like Melessia Norris who was majoring in business at Norfolk State and working as an administrative aide at a Norfolk architectural firm. She got the bug when she began coaching a bunch of youngsters in soccer and track.
``After I started working with children, my job became less satisfying,'' said Norris, a senior who lives in Norfolk. So she switched to early childhood education. ``Once I changed my major, my GPA, attitude, stress level - everything improved.''
Sax, the associate director of the survey, attributed the declining interest in law to the tarnished image of lawyers. In engineering, she said, ``they're witnessing layoffs in aerospace and other fields. They're perceiving that the field of engineering is shrinking.''
Ernest ``Jim'' Cross, dean of ODU's College of Engineering and Technology, said he thought the fear of ``decreased job possibilities'' has driven students from his field. At ODU, the number enrolled in engineering courses dropped from 2,136 in 1992-93 to 1,946 last year. Cross said, however, that enrollment was up in environmental engineering, a relatively new field.
He noted that dips and jumps in enrollment are often cyclical and that engineering is soon due for a boom. And that could mean education will face some declines.
Virginia Wesleyan College, contrary to the survey, has already seen a drop in the number of juniors in secondary education this year, after several years of growth, said Isabelle L. Shannon, director of secondary education.
Shannon blames the bleak financial condition of school systems, which has forced them to limit both the number of openings for teachers and the size of raises. ``When they see people graduating ahead of them and not getting jobs because of hiring freezes in the school systems, they chose other areas,'' she said.
Mentesana didn't have that problem. Now her major hurdle is to get kids to calculate the size of angles and, yes, even to like doing it. ``Math is considered such an ugly subject,'' she said. ``If I can make other people enjoy it, I feel like I'm making a difference.''
She seems to be instilling enthusiasm. Mentesana has divided the class into a handful of teams, which get points every session based on the number of correct answers - and their behavior. As she gave out points at the end of class the other day, the big winners whooped with delight.
``I like her,'' Megan Trefny, a 16-year-old junior, said afterward. ``If you don't understand something, she explains it to you. Even when you're in class for an hour and a half, she's not boring, like some other teachers.''
For Mentesana, the UCLA survey refutes that old saying ``Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.''
``Here's an example of good, competent college kids who can do anything, and they want to teach. That's what they want to do - be good teachers.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MARK MITCHELL, The Virginian-Pilot
Sarah Mentesana, 22, teaches math, a goal since high school, at
Western Branch High.
Chart
FIRST TRY: CAREER CHOICES OF FRESHMEN
Shown are the career choices of 240,000 freshmen surveryed by the
UCLA Higher Education Research Institute.
For complete information see microfilm
by CNB