Help wanted: Tennessee boosts teacher apprenticeship program with $20M

Tennessee’s program to develop and train more teachers is expanding its reach. The state is investing $20 million in the Grow Your Own initiative, with the goal of increasing the number of teachers in the state.

The investment will allow the Tennessee Department of Education to make the program permanent throughout the state. It establishes a Grow Your Own Center, which will be managed by the University of Tennessee.

UT’s Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Success Linda Martin listed some ways it’ll help.

“This will support partnerships between educator prep programs, local school districts and provide innovative low-cost pathways to the teaching profession,” Martin said. “This will allow us to aggressively address the shortage of teachers across the state.”

Martin says the plan is to help 2,000 students become teachers and school personnel in the next three years.

Macy Meador is one of them. She is currently in the Grow Your Own program and spoke about the benefits of being able to shadow a current teacher.

“My mentor teacher has taught me so much about classroom management, presenting instruction and just overall developing good relationships with the students,” Meador said.

Tennessee’s teacher apprenticeship program is expected to become a model for other states.