PEORIA, Ill. – A new program at Peoria Public Schools gives the district’s staffers and paraprofessionals a pathway to becoming teachers.
The first class of the Teacher Apprenticeship Program was celebrated Thursday afternoon at the district’s main office on Wisconsin Avenue. The initial group features ten apprentices seeking their teaching certificate through a three year plan.
The program is a partnership with BloomBoard, and provides mentorship and hands-on experiences for the first two years of the program. The experiences include developing classroom plans, leading classroom instruction, and one-on-one teaching with students.
Coordinator Linda Wilson says the district provides around 63% of the funding for the program, with the rest of the cost provided through grants. She says once the program is completed, the apprentices have a guaranteed teaching job in the district.
Wilson says it’s a win-win for everyone involved.
“That gives them (the apprentices) the opportunity to feel like that they have a job, and the district is going to get highly qualified teachers out of this, and our schools are going to be stable, and successful with highly qualified teachers,” Wilson said.
Wilson says in the first year of the program, the district will focus on filling positions in the primary schools, and the secondary schools in year two.
One of this year’s apprentices is J’Air Archibald. He currently works at Trewyn as a substitute teacher, teacher’s aide, and a girls’ basketball coach.
Archibald has an associate degree from Illinois Central College, and studied at Illinois State University for a year prior to that. But he says there were always obstacles to getting his certification.
“Whether it be COVID or me having a son, life obstacles happen,” Archibald said. “Once I saw there was an opportunity to complete your teacher’s certification, as well as get the bachelor’s program with help from the district, and I’ve always wanted to give back to the community. So I wanted to teach her when I’m down, and it popped out to me.”
Archibald says he is looking to become a primary school special education teacher once he completes the apprenticeship program.
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