LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With the new school around the corner, hundreds of students and new incoming teachers are gearing up for the first day of class.
"So exciting, it's really like a dream come true," said Giselle Lowe.
Lowe has always wanted to be a teacher and in less than two weeks, she will be living out her dreams. She will be a second-grade teacher at Gibson Elementary School in Henderson.
"Something that I've been wanting to do since I was a child myself," Lowe said. "I want to continue to inspire their love of learning so that they continue their learning journey throughout life."
Lowe said the high costs of getting an education almost made it nearly impossible to achieve her goal. However, she said with the support of the Teacher FastTrack program she was able to get her teaching license quicker than the traditional route.
"The program offered the opportunity to assist financially and to assist academically, great mentorship, to actually be able to achieve my bachelors and apply for my teaching license," Lowe said.
"We are providing them with mentors, we are providing them with tuition assistance, even stipends to help with transportation or childcare," said Kirsten Searer, president of the Public Education Foundation.
The programs provide a fast-track route into teaching for individuals who hold a bachelor's degree outside of education. It offers the ability to receive a conditional teaching license in Nevada after one semester (based on successful completion of licensing requirements) and continue through the Nevada standard licensing requirements and master's degree requirements for early childhood education, special education, and curriculum & instruction.
On Tuesday, 45 teacher hopefuls completed the program, and 41 will become first-time teachers at CCSD.
The president of the Public Education Foundation said the programs also help address the critical teacher shortage in the district.
While the district says 94% of their teaching positions are filled, they are still looking for more than 1,000 teachers.
"We are also mentoring them for the first three years. We know that 44% of teachers leave in the first five years in the classroom, and so we think that if we can provide them with that extra support, so they are more likely to stay," Searer said.
Lowe said her background as a paraprofessional will help her succeed this upcoming school year.
"As support staff, we quite often have more experience, because we been working the school district, we've been in the classroom situation," she said.
The new teachers also received a semester's worth of school supplies to get them started on the right foot this upcoming school year.
Fore more information on the program, click here.
