11 South Bend schools employees will become teachers through new apprenticeship
SOUTH BEND — Ramie George remembers the teachers who hung around after class to help her when she was a young student struggling with her grades.
"I couldn't keep up with the work. I couldn't concentrate. I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I was 35," said George, who's now 38. "So I didn't know what was wrong. I just thought I was not a smart kid like everybody else."
She had always wanted to lead a classroom and emulate those patient teachers. But George, now a special education secretary for the South Bend Community School Corp., faced common barriers to earning her bachelor's degree in education. During seven years as a paraprofessional in Michigan City schools, she wondered how to take the required courses at odd hours while she worked full-time and raised her daughter alone and tried to avoid overwhelming debt.
On Wednesday night, George got her answer. Through a new South Bend schools program, George and 10 other corporation employees earned fully paid scholarships to pursue education degrees.
In partnership with BloomBoard, a professional development program that helps K-12 school districts to advance their workforce, South Bend schools will pay tuition for 11 employees to complete a teaching apprenticeship. The program blends online coursework with on-the-job experience during the course of a normal workday. In exchange, the aspiring teachers agree to serve at a high-needs elementary school in the district for at least three years once they're licensed.
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The program aims to train new educators from within school districts as Indiana consistently faces a shortage of more than 1,500 teachers. South Bend schools started the academic year with 71 vacancies, according to Sarita Stevens, assistant superintendent of operations. With the addition of degree-holding substitutes doing long-term assignments, Stevens added, that number is down to 29.
"We knew we needed to tackle the teacher shortage ... and this lets folks who are already working with our students, who are committed to being in South Bend, earn their teaching degree, earn more money and stay with the district," South Bend schools Superintendent Todd Cummings said.
BloomBoard partners with higher-education institutions to ease the burden on school employees who dream of teaching but get bogged down by costs and the exhaustion of full-time work, said Amanda Holsclaw, a senior sales executive with the company. The program allows aspiring educators to learn in classrooms among students they already know well.
The apprenticeship costs roughly $23,000 per person, Stevens said. The program is paid for by $71 million of ESSER federal relief money that the South Bend district has put toward closing disparities in academic achievement, supporting educators, advancing virtual learning and updating technology and infrastructure.
Linda Lucy, president of the National Education Association-South Bend, a teachers' union, said it's encouraging that the district is taking steps to certify new teachers and leaning on licensed professionals to mentor them.
"The only way to learn is when you're surrounded by other people who are professionally trained, who can help guide you along the way, mentor you and help problem-solve and collaborate together," Lucy said.
Coretta Mattai-Crockett, another program participant, worked her way up from a paraprofessional to a 3rd grade teacher at Madison STEAM Academy in the six years she's spent with South Bend schools.
The 40-year-old wanted to go a step farther and earn her master's degree. But as a mom putting her son through college, she was ready to drop the idea if she couldn't find a scholarship. Right about then, she learned about the BloomBoard program.
On Wednesday night, Matti-Crockett earned her way in and will pursue graduate studies in education.
Once George earns her bachelor's degree and becomes a teacher, she hopes to quit her second job. She wants to focus more energy on raising her daughter, who stood by with a proud grin Wednesday after her mom got the scholarship.
George said she's a long way from her college years, when she scraped by in class to earn her associate's degree. She envisions herself teaching English or history someday, but whatever the subject, she'll bear in mind that everyone learns differently.
She'll think of the bored girl who longed to stay focused but couldn't quite manage to, and she'll wait around after class.
Here are the 11 aspiring teachers who will earn degrees
Ramie George
Coretta Mattai-Crockett
John White
Elizabeth Campanello
Jacquitta Lee
Michelle Dorsey
Lauren Ellis
Jarod Cooper
Annechele Davis
Vastenia White
Yvonna Bruce
Email city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend schools takes steps to train teachers and address shortage
