"As a teacher, I embrace the rhythm of change but I do not change because it is popular," says Sharon Prosser, who teaches first- and second-graders in a multi-age self-contained classroom at Coastal Ridge Elementary School in York. At her school, Mrs. Prosser has helped establish Crossroads Cooperative, a program designed for first- and second-graders to work cooperatively on a variety of projects related to specific units of study. The program, which currently focuses on the theme of "Adaptation to Change" and involves 85 students and four teachers, as well as community volunteers and parents, has included such activities as the running of an agrarian-age general store, an old- fashioned barn dance and an industrial-age assembly line. The "Communities" program, co-developed by Mrs. Prosser, is another year-long collaborative program that seeks to introduce students to an awareness of global themes and to promote respect for diverse cultures.
1971 SUNY, Cortland (NY), B.A.
