We welcome the perspectives of Dezi Lynn, Educator Initiative Manager for the National Indian Education Association - NIEA, Dr. Donna Brown, Vice President of Sponsored Programs for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium - AIHEC, and Dr. Danny Luecke, Secondary Math Education Faculty at Turtle Mountain College, on the nuances of Indigenous Teacher Preparation. Each of our guests share their journeys to becoming teachers and to their current positions.

Listen in as we learn how native cultures and languages are honored in teacher preparation programs. Numerous books and resources are mentioned throughout this episode and can be found on the NACCTEP Book List. Additionally, the NIEA offered a series of webinars over the late spring to early summer of 2025 that can be found on their website at https://www.niea.org/webinars

For the Borough of Manhattan Community College episode in NACCTEP Now's CUNY series we talk with President Dr. Anthony E. Munroe. As the largest undergraduate school in the CUNY system as well as one of the largest Hispanic Serving Institutions in the Northeast, BMCC is situated in lower Manhattan near Wall Street, the United Nations, and where the World Trade Center once stood. The location is "a prime position to develop educators with a global perspective."

Partnerships with local performing arts centers help future educators to learn how to incorporate art into the classrooms and lessons, the A in STEAM. On the STEM side, BMCC started a Women in STEM program to encourage and mentor women entering the field, as well as being a part of the New York HSI STEM Hub and the Pipeline Opportunity for Intercollegiate STEM Education with NYU. In BMCC's teacher education programs, integrated technology is emphasized so that future teachers can seamlessly incorporate new and future technologies into their classrooms. Some practicum and student teaching placements include co-teaching and designing lessons for both hybrid and fully online settings.

Additionally, Dr. Munroe shares that BMCC is "an environment where every student feels seen, valued, and supported, regardless of [their] background." Part of this includes programs specifically for first generation students as well as programs such as the New York State Opportunity Promise Program which provides free tuition for students over the age of 25 attempting their first college degree and the CUNY Reconnect Program which waives tuition and fees for students over 25 who are returning to complete a degree they had previously started and stepped away from.

This special CUNY series episode features Dr. Cocco De Filippis, President of Hostos Community College in the South Bronx sharing how Hostos' Associate of Arts, AA, and Associate of Applied Science, AAS, degrees help local students enter and advance in the teaching field. While AAS degrees allow students to directly enter the workforce or advance in their field, AA degrees lead to transferring to a bachelors program and 85% of the students from Hostos who transfer do so to another CUNY school.

One particular highlight of Hostos' education programs is a Bilingual AAS degree that is beneficial for their local community where over 50 languages are spoken. From their first courses, students in the education programs complete field experience hours. Some of these hours are completed by reading to children in the on-campus Child Care Center, others may include attending a local PTA meeting.

Dr. Cocco De Filippis is particularly proud of how Hostos' programs respect and honor the cultural differences of their students, especially with non-traditional students who may be parents or grandparents entering the teaching profession. Her passion for the profession and encouragement of those pursuing teaching is evident throughout this episode.