After six weeks of filling in as a teacher, Amanda Morse looked at her students and thought, “I can do this.”
That confidence boost helped lead Morse, a teaching assistant, to check out Central Carolina Community College’s (CCCC) teacher preparation associate degree program.
Morse was among the attendees at a recent “TA to Teacher” information night held by the North Carolina college, East Carolina University (ECU) and Lee County Schools to share information about a program called Partnership Teach with teaching assistants and other school support professionals. Through the program, students can earn an associate degree in teacher preparation at CCCC and then a bachelor’s degree in education from East Carolina University.
Students complete the program locally, without needing to relocate. School employees can continue working while they learn.
“I have just fallen in love with the kids and the job,” said Morse, who has worked in a special needs classroom at SanLee Middle School for three years. “I just feel sometimes that they need someone that’s like me.”
Flexible opportunities
Partnership Teach is one of several paths that students can take, with help from CCCC, to gain the education and experience they need to become certified teachers.
“The best way to staff our schools is to grow our own,” Lee County Schools Executive Director of Human Resources Patricia Coldren told the event participants. “You know the kids, you know the families, you know the community, and you are already showing up for them every day.”
Ginger Harris Bartholomew, department chair for education programs at CCCC, said students can take CCCC courses in person, online or a combination of both, at a flexible pace. She also pointed out that many teaching assistants and other school employees have college credits they could apply toward the associate degree in teacher preparation.
ECU Partnership Teach Coordinator Lynn Mooring said that all the classes students take at ECU for Partnership Teach will be online. Groups of students start the program at ECU together and take classes together each semester.
“We want them to become study buddies,” she said. “We want them to develop that relationship.”
A seamless path
Chanel Simpson, a teacher at J. Glenn Edwards Elementary School and graduate of the Partnership Teach program, said her transition from CCCC to ECU was seamless, and she was able to complete both her teaching practice and internship in Lee County.
“When I graduated, I felt well-prepared and confident to enter the classroom as a teacher,” she said.
Following the information session, Morse said she appreciated the speakers’ genuineness and was excited to begin the next steps.
“It’s very heartwarming, just seeing how passionate everyone is around here, and there is a lot of support in Lee County,” she said. “It just feels like where I’m supposed to be.”
