Special Report: Why so few male elementary teachers?

Why are there so few male elementary teachers locally and across the nation?

"I think it has a lot to do with perceptions of what teachers do during the day, especially elementary school teachers," said Dr. Curby Alexander, UIS assistant professor of education.

Alexander is a former elementary teacher and says many men stay out of the classroom because they think being a teacher means being a babysitter.

Demetrius Davis wanted to go into criminal psychology, but spent a summer teaching kids how to read. Now he is one of only a handful of male UIS students studying to become an elementary school teacher.

The special report aired on News Channel at Nine on Fox Illinois (WRSP-TV) on November 18, 2009.

Watch the report online:
http://www.myfoxillinois.com/dpp/springfield/11192009_why_so_few_male_teachers

College Notes: UIS men's basketball made progress in loss

The University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars’ exhibition men’s basketball game against Illinois-Chicago finished better than it started.

The end result was a 72-59 loss Saturday to UIC, but UIS made progress. After trailing 33-19 at the half, the Stars bounced back and outscored the Flames 40-39 in the second half.

“UIC played a zone the whole night and we didn’t get to see much in our man-to-man offense, which we really worked on,” UIS coach Kevin Gamble said. “We didn’t play bad. We just didn’t make shots."

The team was featured in an November 20, 2009 article in the State Journal-Register.

Download a PDF of the article:
20091120-SJR-College-Notes-UIS-men.pdf

Dedication Day: 146th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

On Thursday, the 146th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address will be honored with numerous events in Gettysburg.

Dr. Michael Burlingame will deliver the 48th Annual Fortenbaugh Memorial Lecture at 8 p.m. Burlingame is currently the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Burlingame's lecture was featured in an November 18, 2009 article in The Gettysburg, PA Times.

Download a PDF of the article:
20091118-Getty-Dedication-Day.pdf