Thomas E. Weightman Middle School (TEWMS), Pasco County

In 1991, Thomas E. Weightman Middle School became USF’s first Professional Development School.  From its inception, the school set apart special USF office space for our faculty use.  Weightman staff members see themselves as active partners with the College of Education

Goals for the partnership include:

• Ongoing partnership to mentor teachers so our students experience positive early field experiences in all secondary program areas.

• Helping to coordinate early field experiences for students in secondary program areas.

• Matching up student interns with cooperative teachers who are positive role models and eager for us to have input from USF program faculty.

• Helping to coordinate with the USF Internship Office to screen and invite students to do their final internship at Weightman.       

• Holding meetings with cooperating teachers in all content areas outside the classroom and with our Weightman interns after school in the USF office space.

• Helping to facilitate the relationship and connect USF faculty who wish to conduct research at the school with the correct administrators and faculty to meet the research need.

• Representing the entire spectrum of graduate (both masters and doctorate) opportunities to Weightman school faculty and other Pasco County staff.

• Inform Weightman faculty of USF research /grant opportunities like Intel Teach to the Future.

Eileen J. Austin Ph.D. U.S.F. Liaison @ T.S. Weightman Middle School

Instructor & Intern Supervisor

Department of Secondary Education

College of Education

University of South Florida

Dr. Eileen Austin has mentored and worked with hundreds of university interns since 1991.  Dr Austin currently serves as a liaison for T.S. Weightman Middle School a PDS school of USF and has taught or currently teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in Secondary Social Studies Methods and Secondary Classroom Management.  She also works as a consultant for the Department of Education Institute for Instructional Research and Practice helping to develop and validate current Florida Certification Exams, as a consultant for staff development in Hillsborough and Pasco County mentoring and training teachers, as a consultant for Charterservice for Exceptional Student Education and in the past has served on the President’s Academy of Advisors. Dr Austin is the author of My Favorite American Stories a Social Studies textbook.

Recently Dr. Austin had the privilege of meeting with Noble Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu prior to traveling to South Africa where she was involved in the dedication of a new Home of Hope which cares for abandoned and HIV positive babies and children.  For Dr. Austin, teaching and working with interns is not a profession but a passionate commitment to caring for children through the education of the next generation of teachers.

See attached photo:

The picture was taken fall semester 2006 by Mr. Adam Zondar  at Weightman  Middle School, in Pasco County, our Professional Development School.  Top Row, L to R: Karen Ward, Assistant Principal, Teachers, Nicole Sciarrata, Adam Kennedy, Katie Altshuler; Bottom Row, L to R: Dr Eileen Austin, USF Liaison, Interns, Dawn-Patrice Joseph, Michelle Beauregard-Jacobs, and Steven Petraglia.