By BILL MICHELMORE
 Buffalo News
 News Niagara Bureau
 2/15/2004

CHARLES LEWIS/Buffalo News

First-graders at Prince of Peace School
hang on every word from Kristina Cahoon,
one of many Niagara University education
students using the school to train for
careers in teaching.  

NIAGARA FALLS - For pupils at Prince of Peace Elementary School, Room 215 is the coolest place to be. Every Tuesday, two pupils ranging in age from 7 to 11 are picked to rap with 31 graduate students from Niagara University's College of Education.

The NU students, whose average age is 25, take four courses on the university campus and the fifth course in Room 215 - their satellite campus.

Prince of Peace second- to fifth-graders take part in a free range of subjects and contemporary issues in the Multicultural Education Class.

"They think Niagara University is very cool," said Elizabeth
O'Brien of Niagara Falls, who has been a teacher at Prince of Peace School for 26 years. "And interacting with the student teachers from NU is the coolest."

Pupils are selected based on their classroom behavior, grades and motivation, said Prince of Peace Principal Christopher L. Hope. It was Hope's idea to become "education partners" with Niagara University.

"The (pupils) at Prince of Peace give us answers and input that are very advanced," said R. Michael Smith, assistant professor of education at Niagara University. "They learn from the student teachers, and our students learn from them. It's an excellent situation."

Room 215 is just part of the partnership program between the university and the elementary school.

The best and brightest get to go to Room 215, but all pupils, from prekindergarten to the fifth grade, get to learn from NU's student teachers - and the teachers from them. Each classroom is assigned a student or graduate teacher several days a week.

The rapport between the youngsters and the college students is "amazing," Smith said.

"Instead of my students being on campus, they're in a real-world setting getting hands-on experience," said Smith.

"The program gives me a sense of technique in working with children," said Shannon Rossitter, 24, a Niagara University graduate teacher from Newmarket, Ont., who currently lives in Youngstown.

"At the end of the semester, some of these college students have tears in their eyes," said Hope. "They don't want to leave. They say they'll miss the kids too much."

Rossitter helps teach first-graders in the morning at Prince of Peace School and third-graders in the afternoon.

"There is only two years' difference in the children's ages, but the difference between the two classes is unbelievable," she said. "In Grade 1, they're so eager, but in Grade 3 they have more work to learn and they take it very seriously."

Rossitter has a bachelor of arts degree in politics and sociology from Trent University in Ontario and is studying for a master's degree in education at Niagara University. She is one several graduate students from Ontario who are doing postgraduate work at NU and taking part in the hands-on training program at Prince of Peace School.

"With all the negative vibes out there about schools and the violence and the shootings, this is a very positive atmosphere," said Hope.

Kristina Cahoon, a Batavia resident and a senior in NU's College of Education, was introduced to O'Brien's first-graders in this manner: "This is Kristina Cahoon. She's going to be a teacher like Mrs. O'Brien and we're going to help make her the best teacher there is."

Cahoon said she was just an observer for the first few days, and then she "took over the class."

The student teachers are perfect role models for the pupils, said Hope. And being picked to spend some time in Room 215 is a badge of honor for them.

Second-graders Anthony Tirabassi and Lauren Smith, both 8, were chosen to take the enviable walk to Room 215 last Tuesday.

"I asked them what subjects are hard and which ones are fun so that I could make up my mind what I want to do," said Anthony, who already knows he wants to be teacher.

Lauren said she has her future profession narrowed down to three choices: computer teacher, physical therapist or veterinarian.

"I was very proud to be picked to go to the room," she said. "It taught me how I'm supposed to be when I go to college."

Several schools have similar "Learn and Serve" programs where student and graduate teachers gain hands-on classroom experience, Hope noted.

"But no school that I know of has an actual classroom in the school where students and future educators can learn from each other," he said. "This is what makes the Prince of Peace program unique."

Each pupil picked to spend part of Tuesday in Room 215 is rewarded with a certificate declaring that he or she has successfully served as "Niagara University Adjunct Professor of the Day." About 60 pupils have so far received certificates.

The concept reminds an older generation of the Emmy-winning television show of the early 1970s, "Room 222," acclaimed by community and educational groups for its positive portrayal of important social issues.

The North Military Road school, with 247 pupils from prekindergarten to the fifth grade, is the largest nonpublic elementary school in Niagara Falls. Based on test scores in 2003, it ranked 28th out of 100 private elementary schools in Western New York.