State Superintendent Clayton Burch, Director of Educator Development and Support Dr. Carla Warren and WV Milken Educator Brian Allman spoke to Braxton County High School’s tenth graders about the TeachWV Grow Your Own Initiative. The Grow Your Own Pathway provides high school students with a pathway to pursue a career in education. The intent of the program is to address teacher shortages in West Virginia.
The Grow Your Own Pathway gives students a fast-track into the education field with dual enrollment/Advanced Placement courses and an accelerated pathway in high school. Then the first two years of college, students complete coursework in an education program. For year three, they participate in a yearlong residency as the teacher of record with high levels of support from both the university and the county. Simultaneously, students may complete any remaining university classes in the fall and spring semesters. The county system will provide a cohort supervisor to mentor, coach, and support resident teachers. Students can then graduate with a bachelor’s degree in just three years. Participating school districts will give hiring preference for teaching positions, when possible, to graduates of the West Virginia Grow Your Own Teaching Pathway Program.
Benefits of this program for students include: early start on college; reduced time to complete a bachelor’s degree; classroom observations and field experiences before college; ability to earn salary, benefits, and seniority in residency year and reduced costs with free dual credit courses.
Braxton County is one of 28 counties in the state that are part of the pilot program. Anyone interested in the program can visit https://teachwv.com/grow-your-own/ to find more information. (See additional photographic coverage on Page 9)
