Rose Yesu, Seminar Participant

Rose Yesu’s 30+ years in education include a variety of classroom and administrative experiences in grades 7-14. Her teaching career began with her practice teaching assignment at a ghetto junior high school in western Massachusetts. After this baptism by fire, Rose took a full-time position at Holyoke High School (MA) where she taught honors and college prep English courses. Next, she held positions in two junior high schools on the North Shore, teaching developmental reading courses. Also, she earned a master’s in reading from Salem State College. From this point on, Rose’s teaching, research, and writing focused on adult literacy. With her master’s completed, Rose began publishing articles, presenting papers, and taking courses in adult literacy at Boston University. She also served as Masconomet Regional Junior/Senior High School’s Right to Read Coordinator and received Title I funding for an alternative language arts program for underperforming, learning disabled and emotionally disturbed adolescents. As director for this program, she trained and supervised teachers’ aides, developed materials and curricula, and administered a budget. She also became acutely aware of the ways in which discrimination and exclusion of one social class -- poor whites –- is handed down from generation to generation. Rose left the junior high school classroom for the college classroom and for doctoral work. Her dissertation focused on improving the critical thinking and reading skills of underachieving college freshmen. During an internship at Boston University, she pursued an interest in the learning styles and needs of mature women returning to or attending college for the first time. She drew on this expertise as the director of Emmanuel College’s Learning Center. Seeking a more diverse population, Rose left Emmanuel for her current position at Massasoit. At Massasoit, she has taught composition, literature, and developmental reading and writing classes. In the 1990’s, she served as Title III faculty development coordinator. She’s also tutored in the Writing Center and developed specialized materials for her developmental reading and writing classes. In May, the English Department elected Rose Reading Coordinator. In her off-hours, Rose enjoys watching movies, knitting, reading, hiking, writing articles for Boston-area magazines and newspapers, and visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, the Science Museum and the New England Aquarium.

Reflections: Spring 2006

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