CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In 2019, the “Grow Your Own” program was created to help fill the gap and meet the needs for hiring more teachers in Clarksville Montgomery County Schools. The success of this program has growth of its own over the last few years.
CMCSS, Austin Peay State University, Nashville State Community College and Lipscomb University are part of the GYO partnership, a teacher pipeline that generates new teachers each year through educational opportunities and hands-on apprenticeships. Currently, 160 candidates are in residency at one time, and 80 new candidates each year are cultivated to replace the ones who graduate.
The goal is to address teacher shortages, increase diversity, invest in the community to improve retention, and strive for an excellent educator in every classroom.
States have reached out to CMCSS Chief Academic Officer Sean Impeartrice and his team to gather research to start their own programs in their school districts. CMCSS is becoming a pioneer in the work with GYO and has received a lot of national recognition. Last year, CBS Mornings did a segment documenting the success of the program.
“We are asked, all the time, to give phone calls, Zoom meetings, and presentations on a regular basis,” said CMCSS Director of Federal Programs Lisa Baker. “I couldn’t tell you how many, but there’s not a day that goes by that we don’t get a request for information or a call or a meeting. It’s ongoing interest.”
During a recent School Board meeting, Traci Koon, CMCSS Educator Pipeline Facilitator, said last week alone they had to answer calls from Chattanooga and Texas to explain their program’s success and help other districts implement this program.
How it works
The partnerships with APSU and Lipscomb offer opportunities for CMCSS employees, high school graduates, non-degreed individuals, and those with bachelor degrees who are interested in becoming a teacher.
Currently, the pipeline demographics are 10% male, 36% ethnically diverse, 43% classified employees, and 37% members of the community.
The teacher residencies are divided into three pathways. NSCC and APSU offer programs for Elementary Level Teacher residency (ELTR), Elementary Teacher Residency (ETR) and Elementary Middle Teacher Residency (EMTR). Lipscomb offers Lipscomb Teacher Residency (LTR) and Lipscomb Middle Teacher Residency (LMTR) for its programs.
Past statistics and research show that many fresh high school graduates have developed not only an interest in becoming teachers but have decided to utilize GYO to pursue their degrees to become teachers.
They will earn a free bachelor’s degree in only three years, will become dual certified in a critical shortage area plus special education, and will participate in a three-year residency experience while still being a full-time employed paraprofessional, earning a salary, health insurance and retirement contributions.
The application process for the new school year has closed, and interviews for new candidates have already begun. Over 151 applicants have already been interviewed.
If you are interested in submitting an application at the next available application window, you can view the following schools for any additional or upcoming information:
Most information sessions are provided in late November/early December.