DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997                TAG: 9703170048

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   64 lines

PROGRAM RECRUITS PROMISING TEACHERS CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS CONCENTRATE ON HIRING MINORITIES AND MALES.

Two years ago, Ernesto Lee had a good job as an engineer, but he gave it all up for a fish - Mr. Fish.

``I was so touched,'' Lee said of the gift from his students. ``That's when I realized I was in the right place. That's when I knew. They bought me a fish.''

The right place for Lee turned out to be Hickory High School, where he is in his first year of teaching physics, math and computer science.

Finding the right people for the right place is part of the mandate of the Career Commitment Program, which recruits promising teachers.

``You made a commitment to my career and, in turn, I make a commitment to your children,'' Lee said during a presentation at a recent School Board meeting. ``. . . I chose Chesapeake, in part, because Chesapeake chose me.''

Lee said he had toyed with the idea of teaching when he was an engineer. At his company, he often volunteered in the schools.

``I would be `Mr. Math,' or `Mr. Science.' It was becoming more than 50 percent of my job.''

Still, Lee said he was only ``50-50'' on going into teaching until he was invited by Chesapeake to take part in the program.

``My mind was made up after I met the building administrators. They were all human. They were all real people. They had a genuine concern for the students.''

Next year, Lee will be joined by at least 19 other teachers who took the same route into teaching. It's the same route that five Chesapeake ``Teachers of the Year'' have taken since the program was started in 1984.

That route starts with a call from the Chesapeake schools to nine colleges throughout Virginia and North Carolina, said William Myers, assistant superintendent for personnel and support services.

Myers said the emphasis is on minority teachers, teachers in hard-to-fill positions - such as special education and foreign languages - and male teachers in elementary and middle schools.

``Males can serve as good role models,'' Myers said. ``When I was an elementary school principal, there were times I was the only male in the building - me and the custodian.''

This year, the district interviewed 300 candidates before settling on roughly 25. Those 25 spent a couple of days in January touring schools and meeting city and school leaders. Of that group, 19 signed contracts with the district.

``We're looking for people who are community-minded, who are role models and volunteers in the communities in which they live. Italso helps if they bring a special talent, like coaching ability,'' Myers said.

That's where Lee came in. He not only teaches advanced physics and computer courses but coaches the chess and girls' varsity track teams.

``We have geniuses on that chess team,'' Lee said proudly. ``It's logic. It's reasoning. These kids are being rewarded for using their brains. I'm trying to transfer some of that enthusiasm to the classroom.''

Lee, in turn, said he's rewarded daily by his decision to go into teaching - from the kids who show up during their break time to play chess or maybe do some computer work to Mr. Fish, which his students gave to him when they noticed two other goldfish in his room had died.

``They said it would be hard to kill,'' Lee said, smiling. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Ernesto Lee, teacher at Hickory High School in Chesapeake KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE SCHOOLS

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