BGM receives training grant

Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom Community School District is one of 11 districts that has received funding support from the state to train future teachers in the classroom and strengthen the educator pipeline.

According to a news release from Iowa Workforce Development, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday that a second round of grants in the Teacher & Paraeducator Registered Apprenticeship, or TPRA, Program will provide a total of $3.4 million to chosen K-12 school districts to “support the development of 68 new teacher apprentices and 26 new paraeducator apprentices.”

Districts chosen for the grant showed their need for more teachers through their job openings, the release stated.

“Gov. Reynolds’ commitment to expanding the teacher & paraeducator pipeline in Iowa through Registered Apprenticeships is not only innovative but ensures schools can contribute to the development of their teachers throughout their entire education,” said Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development, in the release.

“Today’s awards are a direct response to schools who wanted to utilize this successful training model in growing a skilled and experienced teacher workforce for their community.”

The TPRA program is built for both high school students and adult paraeducators, according to the program’s website. Through working in the classroom and participating in other education and professional development offered by their district, students can earn a paraeducator certificate and their associate degree and paraeducators can earn a bachelor’s degree.

Many of the school districts are planning to use or develop partnerships with local colleges and universities to provide mentoring, training, additional education and more, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

After its launch in 2022, the first round of TPRA program grants have aided 124 school districts in working with more than 1,000 apprentices, the release stated. The second round of funding, which was announced by Reynolds as TPRA 2.0 in October, builds off that success with a more “streamlined” structure to make the process easier on districts, according to the release.

“Registered Apprenticeships are a perfect method to train the teachers of tomorrow with extensive, in-the-classroom experience — leading to graduates who are better prepared to succeed in their career from day one,” Reynolds said in the release. “We’ve received such a positive response to the first round of awards, I couldn’t be more excited to expand the Teacher & Paraeducator program to more school districts.”