In June, Richard Levy M.Ed. ’20, Ed.D. ’24, was appointed director of clinical experiences and partnerships. The Hawk sat down with Levy to learn more about his new role.
The Hawk: How do you feel about your position as director of clinical experiences and partnerships?
Levy: It has definitely changed my life for the better. I was previously a fourth grade teacher with the School District of Philadelphia, so I looked at this as a new opportunity. I was looking to get out of the classroom and move into a leadership role. It’s been a really fun, rewarding experience, I think, in terms of being able to work with college students.
The Hawk: What are the responsibilities of your new position?
Levy: One of the major things is I oversee and coordinate all the field placements. From your first year, as you come into St. Joe’s and their education department, everyone receives a field placement. Currently, we’re working with around 47 different partners, so I coordinate with them to arrange for our students to get to and from field placements.
Additionally, I provide transportation. I work with a van company to get our students from St. Joe’s to their schools. My role also includes doing all the student teaching placements, so I organize and meet with all my partners in the schools and I go over what the needs are in the school, and then I place [the students] according to what we have available.
The Hawk: What led you to apply for this position?
Levy: I did my master’s through St. Joe’s, and I’m currently in the Interdisciplinary Doctor of Education Program for Educational Leaders (IDEPEL). I’m in my fourth year, so I’m doing my dissertation writing right now. And, actually, Aimee Terosky — who is my chair and who is also now my coworker — I was in her office, meeting with her. She and I were discussing the future …what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.
Dr. Terosky and I were talking, and she said, ‘Hey, listen, I think that I have a job that might be a good opportunity for you. There’s an opening if you wanted to apply…’ Especially because I had done a lot of work in the school district with helping to mentor new teachers.
I wanted to get into more of a leadership [role], but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go into [being] a principal or assistant principal. This opportunity presented itself and I applied for the position and a couple of weeks later I ended up here.
The Hawk: What are your current and future plans now that you’re director?
Levy: As I continue, [my] future plans are to continue to work on what we’re doing. We’ve done a lot of great work over the summer within our department of the School of Education and Human Development, to really build relationships in terms of our partners. One of the things that I have done is built these partnerships up, and now it’s just maintaining and continuing to build relationships.
The Hawk: What’s your favorite part of the job so far?
Levy: First of all, I enjoy my coworkers a lot. I also really enjoy the interactions with students. It’s really nice, I think it’s very refreshing to have students come in and just chat and talk sometimes. I enjoy being able to help and be able to fix problems. I think sometimes, especially when you’re becoming a teacher or you’re going into education, it can be extremely overwhelming. So I like the fact that I can share my own experience with new teachers or people who are apprehensive about becoming teachers.