GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — To help find new teachers, Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) and Michigan State University (MSU) have started a new initiative that will turn GRPS scholars into teachers, tuition free.
One classroom at Innovation Central High School has seniors who are not your usual students. They are all learning to be teachers.
GRPS scholar Kamora Price said, “My school currently, it's a good school, and I like the students there. I like the teachers there and ... I just want to give that energy back to other students in the future.”
Kamora and 14 other GRPS scholars are taking teaching classes at MSU while in high school as part of the first community-teacher cohort.
GRPS Superintendent Dr. Leadriane Roby said, “The community Teachers Program serves as a foundation nurturing aspiring teachers from our schools and shaping them to have a future in education at GRPS.”
After high school graduation, the students will attend either MSU or GRCC tuition-free as part of Michigan State’s Teacher Preparation Program.
Dean Jerlando F.L. Jackson PhD at the MSU College of Education said, “Initiatives like this allow us to work in communities, be strong partners with communities, as we both work together to try to solve key challenges in K–12 schools.”
The program will help with a big challenge: teacher shortages. When the students graduate from the program, they will return to the district as teachers.
“Because they're from our community, our scholars ... will eventually work with, will be able to say, 'Oh, you went to this school.' There's a natural connection. I just think it's a phenomenal experience, and it's kind of completing that full circle,” said Dr. Roby.
The program is giving Kamora the chance to become a teacher, something that might not have happened without it.
“I'm going to be a teacher; I'm going to actually be teaching kids, but I think it's going to be fun for me because it's something I like to do. It's not just me just going to work. I'm going to actually like doing what I love,” said Kamora.
The first students are due to graduate from the program in 2029 and then return to GRPS as teachers.
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