Cerritos College celebrates Teacher TRAC success

NORWALK - Cerritos College celebrated 20 years of its award-winning Teacher TRAC program Tuesday with a special luncheon for faculty, staff, and current Teacher TRAC students to highlight the program’s impact on students. 

Roy Juarez, Jr. activist/author, delivered a powerful and passionate speech during the event focusing on the critical role educators play in changing the lives of students.

For two decades, Cerritos College’s Teacher TRAC program has prepared students to become highly qualified K-12 teachers. The program provides students with a seamless transition to earning a bachelor's degree and teaching credential at local universities. To date, Teacher TRAC has trained more than 800 teachers who work across Southern California and nationally.

“We are enormously proud that the Teacher TRAC program has served as a groundbreaking model program for our campus and the state, providing guided pathways for students interested in teaching long before the concept of “Guided Pathways” was a system-wide initiative. Cerritos College is one of very few colleges that has an institutionalized teacher preparation program. I look forward to many more years with Teacher TRAC changing the lives of students,” said Dr. Jose Fierro, president/superintendent.

Since its inception, Teacher TRAC has grown to become one of the College’s most successful learning communities serving more than 2,000 students, and includes over 115 faculty members who have participated. Teacher TRAC graduates have transferred to four-year colleges and universities and launched careers as teachers, counselors, administrators, college professors, and school board members. The program has been awarded more than 25 grants that total nearly $5 million, and has given students $6,000 in scholarships annually. Teacher TRAC has regional partnerships with five districts and 44 schools.

“Everyone should have a quality education and quality teachers. I’m so proud of the work our students have done to impact the lives of young people. Getting to be part of that [Teacher TRAC] is pretty humbling. When I think about the over 800 graduates that we have in the program, if they teach an average of 25 years and have a classroom of 25 students, that’s over half a million student lives that they will touch. It’s pretty amazing,” said Sue Parsons, founding director of the Teacher TRAC program and retired Cerritos College professor.

“The Teacher TRAC program created a phenomenal foundational experience that embedded collective collaboration between classmates and staff.  It incorporated classroom opportunities that allowed me to develop teaching methods early on in my educational journey and started my process of becoming a reflective practitioner,” said Tami Frances, vice principal, Lewis Elementary School and alumna of Teacher TRAC’s inaugural class.

For more information about Teacher TRAC, visit www.teachertrac.com, or call (562) 860-2451 ext. 2212.