Ronnie Fletcher, 16, didn’t take school that seriously before. That was until AP World History teacher Vince Long showed up.
Not only did Long encourage Fletcher to take school more seriously, he also inspired Fletcher’s passion for education. Currently, Fletcher plans to study biomedical engineering and become an AP biology teacher.
Fletcher is one of 50 students participating in Canyon Springs High School’s Homegrown Teacher Program. The program was initiated by the Silver State Educational Foundation and supported by a $258,000 grant from the City of North Las Vegas. The organization aims to address Nevada’s teacher shortage, a problem most acute in North Las Vegas, by supporting local students’ efforts to become educators.
“The teacher shortage is one of the most pressing challenges we face, not just here in North Las Vegas, but across the state of Nevada,” North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goins-Brown said in an official announcement of the program Wednesday morning. He spoke to the audience at the meeting. “The Homemade Teacher Program is more than just a solution to a problem. It’s an opportunity for our students to look to their future in education and give back to the community that raised them.”
Clark County School District started this year with more than 1,000 vacancies. The last time all positions were filled was in 1994, said Jeffrey Geis, CEO of the Silver State Education Foundation and executive director of the Nevada Association of School Administrators.
homemade
Speakers brought up the fact that school districts often hire new employees from other locations and countries, and that new employees often leave early. Supporters hope the unique program will encourage people to stay in Clark County.
“Students who grew up here, were born here, and grew up here have a way to give back by becoming educators in their own communities. They already have roots here. ,” Goins-Brown told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Quintoria Jemison, 16, wants to become a teacher because she loves helping her two younger brothers.
“I like teaching kids little things,” she says, adding that they get really excited when you teach them how to pronounce the words they hear in videos.
Jayla Knuckles, 17, said, “I get a lot of motivation and it’s nice to have people helping me on my journey.” She is especially grateful to be able to take classes at UNLV during her high school years. She plans to continue studying to become a teacher at UNLV after graduation.
As part of the program, Knuckles said she learned about the programs, strategies and communication skills teachers use.
Region 1 Assistant Superintendent Luis Markouzis, who also serves as president of the Silver State Education Foundation, praised the students who participated in the program.
“Being a teacher has been the best job I’ve ever had,” Markouzis said. “As a child of Greek immigrants, I didn’t even speak English until I went to kindergarten, but my teachers shaped my life.”
long term replacement
Geis said many positions are filled by long-term substitutes who don’t have the same subject matter knowledge as qualified educators. At one school, only one of the 18 science positions was a licensed science teacher, Geis said. The rest were long-term substitutes who were “just a chapter ahead of their kids,” Geiss said. At other locations, substitutes who don’t speak Spanish teach Spanish courses, Gase said.
North Las Vegas City Councilman Isaac Barron, who was appointed to the CCSD board, said some schools have professional magicians working as long-term substitutes. Mr Barron said the magician was an amazing person, but said the school needed a qualified teacher.
“This represents a really great synergy between a city that understands what its priorities are and an external organization that makes it all happen. So I’m really proud of this. ,” Barron said.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.
