Teacher-Turned-Philanthropist Does Her Part
To Grow Minority Teachers
By Jamal Watson
NEW YORK
Dr. Annette Rickel has proven that you don’t have to be Bill Gates or George Soros to make a difference.
This past year, the psychotherapist, who also teaches at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, created a small foundation in New York City aimed at increasing the number of minority teachers in the city’s public school system.
So far, the Annette Urso Rickel Foundation has granted scholarships to 20 New York students. These Rickel Teaching Scholars, many of whom are the first in their family to go to college, plan to give back to the city by becoming public school math and science teachers.
“My particular interest has been to try to bring more students of color into the teaching profession,” says Rickel, who awards scholarships to first- or second-year students attending City University of New York institutions. “It is so important to get young minority men into the classroom teaching.”
Rickel has been interested in minority education issues for some time. Before coming to New York five years ago, she worked in Washington, D.C., and Detroit and piloted a program there to help teenage parents finish high school.
