Ms. Gargallo receives the Teacher of the Year award from iCouldBe.org
BRONX, NY – An online student mentorship program has named Truman Business teacher Mrs. G. Gargallo as the 2016-17 iCouldBe Teacher of the Year. The award is part of a national contest.
“I really felt honored because I do work hard trying to get the kids to take the mentoring program seriously,” Ms. Gargallo said. “These people (mentors) are actually volunteering their time. They don’t get paid for this.”
iCouldBe is a program that provides online mentorship to middle and high school students in California, Illinois, North Carolina and New York. The mentors work to empower teens to stay in school, plan for future careers and achieve in life.
Mrs. Gargallo has been a part of the program for over 5 years, where she has helped over 500 students connect with mentors and monitor their participation in the program. She says freshman particularly benefit from the program, because they come into high school not thinking about what to do after graduation, but the program exposes them to new ideas – and makes them realize that four years of high school is not very long. Students do receive a grade assessment for their participation.
“What happens is – when kids really start doing it, they start to enjoy it,” Ms. Gargallo added. Elizabeth Lang is the Senior Program Coordinator for iCouldBe.
“It continues to be a pleasure partnering with Ms. Gargallo,” Lang said in a written statement. “We appreciate her overall enthusiasm and passion for teaching and for making a difference in the lives of the students she inspires every day.”
More information about the iCouldBe Program can be found at http://www.icouldbe.org