GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — A new program is helping future teachers reach their career goals—at no cost.
It's a collaborative project between Michigan State University and Grand Rapids Public Schools. Monday, they announced their first-ever 'Community Teachers Cohort.'
The pilot cohort includes 15 high school seniors. They were elected by their teachers for the program, through their academic success and their interest in the education field.
The objective of the program is to land students full-time teaching job offers at GRPS's Kindergarten through 12th grade schools.
Students who participate are dual-enrolled, taking their high school classes and getting college-level credits at MSU to get a head start.
After graduating high school, the 15 students can attend MSU for four years or enroll in Grand Rapids Community College and then transfer to MSU.
GRPS superintendent Leadriane Roby says the idea started with their teachers.
"There's always been a shortage in the state of Michigan in the last 10 to 15, years, and we wanted to make sure that we had a pathway for young people who were interested in education to go forward," she said.
Financials can be a barrier for many young people considering secondary education. Roby hopes this program helps change that, all while bringing quality teachers back to GRPS.
"If we can move that barrier, we provide a program that gives them that experience before they leave GRPS and then hopefully they go on to continue their education in teaching, and then come back to the district to make it full circle," she said.
Evelinn Duncan, a GRPS senior who's considering a job in teaching, is one of those 15 students enrolled. She someday hopes to teach at the same elementary school she went to.
"This program has helped me with the like stress of, 'how am I going to pay for college? How many scholarships do I have?' All that kind of stuff, so it's just taking a big weight off my shoulders," she said.
Jerlando Jackson, Dean of the College of Education at MSU, was at the ceremony announcement Monday afternoon.
"Our goal is to assist the state with our teacher shortage, and programs like this could be specifically targeted in school districts. It's a model, I think a very innovative model, that allows communities to take ownership of who their teachers will be," he said.
Jackson says MSU hopes to take the program to school districts across the state in the future to fill an ever-important need—all while helping students find their passion.
"There's a joy in teaching, and what we're trying to do is instill that joy and let our newest aspiring teachers kind of bring that forward," said Roby.
For more information about the MSU Grand Rapids Community Teachers initiative, view this video and contact Mandy Robbins, head school counselor at Innovation Central High School, at 616-819-3340 or robbinsm@grps.org.