DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A new teacher pipeline program is working so well that the DeKalb County Board of Education approved a third university partner to continue it.
Clayton State University will help train elementary school teachers for the district starting in June 2024.
This will be the third cohort of the IGNITE Teacher Residency Program.
The first cohort of 49 teachers will graduate from Middle Georgia State University in December, ready to teach DeKalb County’s 6-12th graders. Kennesaw State University will educate the second cohort of 50 teachers for special education.
Meleah Boyd-Gouveia is training to be an English teacher as part of the program’s first cohort.
“We’re building the plane while we’re flying it,” Boyd-Gouveia said.
As a musical theater major, Boyd-Gouveia says standing in front of a classroom of Southwest DeKalb High School students isn’t all that different from being on a stage.
“It’s nerve-wracking, but I don’t have as much stage fright because I’ve been on the stage. It kind of feels the same: following the script, making sure I know my lines, just being prepared,” Boyd-Gouveia said.
All the student-teaching experience has prepared Boyd-Gouveia to lead their own classroom come January 2025.
For Cody Green, another first cohort member, the perks of the program made it impossible to say no.
It pays for his Master’s degree, offers a living stipend, provides hands-on training in the classroom four days a week and guarantees employment upon graduation.
The fifth day of the week is spent in the college classes for teacher training.
“Most of the time, student teachers just sit there and observe the entire semester. They don’t really participate, whereas we’re up in front. We’re teaching,” he said. “Every day, I pick up something new that I’m using in class.”
He admits it can be intimidating to stand in front of a classroom of middle schoolers, but he says the key is to get their respect.
And how might one get the respect of a middle schooler? According to Green, it's "a deep voice."
Once the teachers are trained, the program requires them to stay and teach at one of the county’s low-performing schools, known as Horizon Schools, for five years.
Through the IGNITE Teacher Residency Program alone, DeKalb County will have 150 teachers ready to enter the classroom by summer 2025.
“I’ll be here until at least 2030!” said Boyd-Gouveia. “We need people and pipelines to show us exactly what it is before we commit to it.”
“Coming into the program, I was very nervous,” Green said. “Now, after having my feet to the fire, I’m a lot more confident. Confidence is key.”
The district hopes to roll out a new cohort of future teachers every six months.
