TeachHere sends first graduates into Chattanooga classrooms

 

After a rigorous selection process and a year of highly-focused training, 15 residents of Chattanooga's first TeachHere "cohort" graduated in a ceremony held at Lindsay Street Hall on Monday night. 

Simultaneously, a group of 22 new residents began their year-long effort to learn the ins and outs of classroom management in urban settings.

TeachHere, a new program held in partnership with Hamilton County Schools, the Public Education Foundation, The University of Tennessee, and Tennessee Technological University, is designed to give aspiring teachers all the tools and experience they need before stepping into the classroom for the first time. 

After a year of training, mentoring, and earning their master's degrees, participants are sent into high needs positions in schools in Hamilton and Knox counties, where they're required to serve for at least four years. 

By the end of their year of training, graduates will have served more than 1,700 hours in the classroom alongside their mentors. 

John Cotton, a graduate of the program's first cohort, will teach science at East Ridge High School in August. 

"The model of the teacher residency program is a great idea," Cotton said. "It gives you a lot of experience, and that's a wonderful thing. I'm excited about what's to come."

The program, modeled after similar teacher residency programs in Boston and Denver, is designed to give the recruited teachers a solid foundation for future education through support and encouragement. 

The mentoring component is designed to help the recruits become comfortable with intense teaching environments and to retain them as long as they're needed. 

Anthony Goad, a 7th grade science teacher at Tyner Middle School, is preparing to begin his second year as a TeachHere mentor. Goad said he believes that teachers deserved the same professional development opportunities as lawyers and doctors. 

"We want to teach the participants everything we can, because that's the way you train professionals," he said. "You wouldn't have anybody doing anything if it wasn't for teachers."

Funding for the program comes from a grant from the National Science Foundation, allotting $500,000 a year over a four-year period. Participants are offered stipends during and after their training, as well as AmeriCorps education awards should they complete the program. 

Jamael Lett, a member of the next TeachHere cohort, said that he thought the residency program was the best option available to aspiring teachers with STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering, and math). Lett, who recently graduated with a chemistry degree from Samford, has yet to set foot in a classroom but is confident that the program will equip him with the tools he needs. 

"I think this model is better than programs like Teach for America, because they give you a mentor, somebody who actually teaches you how to teach," he said. "I'm hoping to get kids on a winning streak, and invest in them before a losing streak kicks in."