Maureen Beckwith, right, a paraprofessional at Western High School, works on math problems with students Thursday. Beckwith is part of the first cohort of paraprofessionals going back to school to become teachers through Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo. Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune
While she’s cheering her kids on at a tennis match, Maureen Beckwith is also going back to school.
She tunes into her Ivy Tech classes from her car, via Zoom. She keeps one eye on her kids, another on the day’s lesson.
“It is very convenient and works out great with my family,” she said.
Beckwith is part of the first paraprofessional apprenticeship cohort at Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo. The group consists of 14 paraprofessionals from area schools who are going back to school to become teachers.
The apprenticeship program, a first of its kind in the state, launched last fall and aims to address the teacher shortage by helping people already working at a school obtain their teaching license.
People like Beckwith, a paraprofessional at Western School Corporation. This is her 11th year as a paraprofessional at Western. A paraprofessional is a support staff who is in the classroom with a teacher.
Beckwith’s duties vary but include helping students in anyway needed. She’s also spent time as a long-term substitute teacher.
When she was a student at the University of Southern Indiana, Beckwith studied to be a teacher but left school.
“I was young, and I thought I knew better,” she said.
Now, she’s getting another chance, thanks to the structure of Ivy Tech’s program.
TAILOR-MADE FOR THE WORKING ADULT
Classes are 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. daily during the school year. It’s late enough for school to let out, early enough to ensure the adult students can get home to their families for dinner time. They can come to campus or attend via
Zoom, whatever works.
They’ll attend Ivy Tech one day a week during the summer for a few hours.
“It’s very easy to do when I need to be with my kids,” Beckwith said.
That convenience is on purpose, a deliberate choice Ivy Tech officials made when creating the program.
“We’re doing everything we can to build the program around their lives,” said Tara Kaser, program chair for elementary and secondary education at Ivy Tech Kokomo. “We’ve built the program to be accessible.”
Beckwith is currently taking American history and biology. Over two years, she’ll knock out her general education requirements and earn an associate’s degree before transferring to Western Governors University for her four-year degree, and most importantly, her teaching license.
Students complete the same work as traditional college education students, according to Ivy Tech officials.
“Our main struggle is finding the time to do the homework,” Beckwith said.
AN ALL-AROUND INVESTMENT
The apprenticeship program is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor. The apprenticeship piece is essentially a contract between student, their employer — in this case a school district — and Ivy Tech.
It gives each entity a stake in the student seeing the program through to the end.
For the student, they dedicate their time in going back to school. Ivy Tech’s investment is creating a program that works specifically for school employees (scheduling, etc.).
The school district’s stake is providing on-the-job training. Paraprofessionals will do their student teaching where they work.
There’s also a financial incentive provided by the schools.
“Every time they earn a credential, they get a raise,” said Ivy Tech Chancellor Ethan Heicher.
Raises come when students get their associate’s degree, teacher’s certificate and bachelor’s degree. “We all said we want to solve an issue, and we agreed that to do that we had to invest in each other,” said Nick Capozzoli, executive director of operations, apprenticeships and special projects at Ivy Tech Kokomo. “This is an innovative project we think is going to stem the teacher shortage.”
There were more than 1,100 open teaching positions when this school year began. More than 6,000 emergency teaching licenses were granted last year.
Capozzoli said discussions are ongoing about how to apply the apprenticeship model to other professions.
GROW YOUR OWN
The first couple years of teaching are notoriously the most challenging. The responsibility level increases, compared to student teaching.
“It’s a challenge,” said Mike Sargent, superintendent of Kokomo School Corporation. “It’s hard. You’re the person. You’re not co-teaching.”
A paraprofessional is in the classroom every day. They know people at their school; the support system is already there.
Sargent sees the program as a way to ease the transition into teaching.
“They’ve already experienced the things you don’t think about,” added Teni Helmberger, director of secondary education and special program at Kokomo schools.
It was a conversation between Heicher and Sargent that spurred the paraprofessional- to-teacher pipeline.
“Getting that first partner on board unlocked a lot of doors,” Heicher said.
Kokomo, Western, Maconaquah and Rochester schools all have students in this year’s cohort.
There are plans to create cohorts of recent high school graduates in the future. Sargent said it could be another option for high school students interested in teaching.
“Our long-term hope of this is a grow-your-own model,” he said.
STATE INTEREST
The Indiana Department of Education and the Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship contributed $30,000 to the Ivy Tech program. Those funds, plus Ivy Tech scholarships, have covered the cost for students.
Another cohort will begin next fall. Expect versions of this program to pop up at other Ivy Tech campuses across the state, too.
“We’ve heard from a number of other schools,” Kaser said. “The DOE would really like to expand this statewide.”
Teaching had been on Beckwith’s mind for years. How to afford college and make it work being a parent with a job was a frequent conversation with her husband. Then came Ivy Tech.
“A lot of paras told me college didn’t feel accessible,” Kaser said.
“You had 14 people who were waiting on this opportunity,” Heicher added. “I think versions of those paraprofessionals exist in every school in Indiana.”
Paraprofessionals are encouraged to reach out to Ivy Tech if they’re interested, especially if their school doesn’t have a partnership already. That’s how at least one school joined.
“All it took was someone raising their hand and saying, ‘I think this is for me,’” Heicher said.
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