Bristol educator honored by the school he founded
A. William Josephs has educated Bristol Warren students for decades; founded East Bay Career Academy
A long-time teacher from Bristol has been honored for his work to improve education for at-risk students who don’t always do well in traditional high school settings.
On Friday, dozens of Bristol and state officials met at the East Bay Career Academy in Warren to honor A. William “Bill” Josephs, the academy’s founder and current director, and to re-name the non-traditional school in his honor.
A 1961 graduate of Colt Memorial High School in Bristol, Mr. Josephs has had a long history of service to the East Bay. He taught for 34 years in the Bristol and later, Bristol Warren Regional school districts. A high-school level teacher, he also coached baseball and soccer and was a class advisor. Away from education, he has long been active in Bristol politics, the town’s zoning board, Elks and the town’s Fourth of July Committee, among others.
In 1997, Mr. Josephs founded the East Bay Career Academy, which serves at-risk high school students from across the East Bay, North Providence, Woonsocket and Pawtucket, who might otherwise have difficulty in traditional classroom settings.
Sitting at his desk before Friday’s ceremony, he said he is proud of the fact that since he founded the institution 20 years ago, the academy has graduated 308 students who otherwise might not have gotten their diplomas.
One of the academy’s keys in reaching students, he said, is its small class sizes, which allow students to have an almost one-on-one relationship with their instructors.
“We’ve been very successful” training students who would otherwise be at risk for not receiving their diplomas, he said.
Friday, many of Mr. Josephs’ peers came out to honor him, speaking about his commitment to education and the strides he has made over the years to make sure that everyone, not just traditional students, are prepared for life after school.
“Mr. Josephs’ philosophy is that every student should be afforded the opportunity to be successful in their lives no matter what the endeavor may be,” said East Bay Career Academy principal Arthur Corsini. “Bill is an inspiration to his students.”
The decision to rename the career academy in Mr. Josephs’ name was made by the board of directors of the East Bay Educational Collaborative. In addition to his duties at the Career Academy, Mr. Josephs currently serves as the collaborative’s director of continuing education.
