W-MU welcomes new teachers with mentoring program

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? As exciting as the first day of school is, it can also be a bit scary, even for a new teacher.

Winfield-Mt. Union Community School District has created a new program to help ease new teachers, whether to the profession or just the district, into their new surroundings and make them successful.

This summer, W-MU began a new mentoring and induction program for new teachers. Elementary Principal Gabe Wylder said the state of Iowa previously had mandated new teachers to the profession have a mentor to help guide them during the first year of their career. However, that money is disappearing as it?s now being embedded into teacher leadership grants.

Wylder said this gives districts a chance to be creative and innovative with what their induction programs look like. And allows the district to expand the program to include veteran teachers that are just new to the district.

?The way ours is designed is hopefully to support a wider range of ability areas,? said Wylder.

Instead of having a one-to-one mentorship, the program has a mentor committee that will serve the new teachers.

?Due to a variety of personalities and varying levels of experiences, we believe the committee style is really going to benefit the new teachers to both the district and profession because you?re not limited to one career teacher experience,? said Wylder. ?You may have a high school perspective, a special education and a fine arts perspective that all provide something a new teacher needs in their own preparation.?

Wylder hopes the program will also improve teacher retention.

Katie Gavin, administrator of professional service at the Great Prairie Area Education Agency (AEA), says a five-year study has shown that having paid mentor support increases first year teacher retention from 87 percent to 92 percent.

?Just knowing that we have a collaborative, supportive structure for our new teachers in our system, they feel better about their job and are more likely to stay and that?s critical,? said Gavin.

Not only is the Mentoring and Induction Program new for W-MU, but it?s also a pilot program for the Great PrairieAEA.

Gavin said there are national programs that would allow the district to hire one mentor for 15 new staff teachers, but most of the districts in southeast Iowa aren?t hiring that many staff.

Instead, W-MU?s plan calls for a mentor committee that has five veteran W-MU teachers investing in however many new teachers W-MU hire.

?Being a new teacher to the district is different from being a new teacher to the profession,? said Wylder.

Wylder said teachers who have had experience in other districts might not need as much support as a teacher right out of college.

?We?ll have the ability to be adaptive to that need,? he added.

Wylder said mentor committee members had to formally apply for the position and would receive compensation for their efforts.

?Kudos to the district for thinking outside of the box and meeting teacher needs. That?s what can make a difference for students and I?m proud to be a part of that kind of work,? said Gavin.

Wylder said he is very excited to see how the program goes this year because it?s not just about welcoming new teachers to the district, it?s about building great teachers who will grow inquisitive learners.

?We hope that by teachers building their leadership capacity and engaging in highly reflective practices, they are in turn doing the same thing with their students,? said Wylder. ?We don?t want our students to be robots, we want them to be incredibly reflective and take ownership of their learning.?