By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.
Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Big Sky Connection reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Collaboration

In Montana, high schools and colleges are working together to build a pipeline of homegrown talent for the classroom. High school students interested in a career in education are part of teaching teams at elementary schools.

The Teachers of Promise Pathways (TOPP) brings together the Havre and Great Falls school districts with Montana State University-Northern (MSU) and Great Falls College Montana State University (GFCMSU) with dual enrollment opportunities for juniors and seniors.

Education-specific courses are part of the program, and students may have the opportunity to take other college-level classes to earn credits before they graduate high school.

“[The teacher shortage] is past critical stages,” says Brad A. Moore, assistant superintendent of Havre Public Schools.

“We won’t be able to fill all positions. We’ll get by. I was 9-1/2 positions short last year. We’ll be a few short this year. Not just certified teachers, but for paraprofessionals and support staff, we’re short on, too. I’ve been doing this a long time and it gets harder and harder every year to find staff.”

Fostering Homegrown Talent

Beckie Frisbee, the 7-12 curriculum coordinator for Great Falls Public Schools, agrees with that struggle. Frisbee says, in the past, one opening attracted 50-80 applications; one candidate out of 20 would make it to the interview stage. Now, she says perhaps one of five make it that far. Specialty areas are more difficult to fill.

The idea of fueling high school students’ interest and developing talent through TOPP started a couple years ago. Students at their respective high schools take a year-long Teacher of Promise Pathways class at their high school then can take other high school classes or dual enrollment online college classes.

In addition to their academic work, they spend a few hours every week in the classroom, with students, assisting a fully certified teacher. Frisbee says this program offers more security and freedom than the typical process to becoming an educator. 

“Locally, the program has a lot of benefits. Think of a Great Falls high school graduate who has always lived in this area. She wants to teach in the area. She can do the program while working, and be a teacher,” Frisbee says.

“The goal is to stay in our district, which is the idea of growing your own talent. They’re from the area. They can stay here. They don’t have to move. Maybe still able to live with mom and dad. Maybe have a great part-time job in high school, can keep that job, and go to school.

“Versus when they’re a transplant, even if they’re only moving across the state or another state, they’ve got to find a new place to live, a new part-time job [while taking classes]. This allows a lot of freedom from stressors like that.”

The TOPP program falls under a wider New America strategy – Grow Your Own (GYO). GYO – often used to combat the shortage of educators, focuses on the development and retention of teachers who part of the community.

‘You’re helping them succeed’

Havre High School senior Patience Allestad has already made a dent in the classes she needs towards a college degree in education. When she graduates from high school in May 2024, she’ll be close to also earning her associate degree from MSU-Northern.

“I really got into education when I was in my first class and our presenter said, ‘When you’re a teacher, you have the most important job. You help to be part of someone’s life and make a big difference. Without you, even as second grade teacher, they couldn’t be a doctor today.’ You’re helping them succeed,” Allestad says.

Through the TOPP program, Allestad works in a kindergarten classroom every day with 20 students. During her first three periods of high school, she is at Highland Park Elementary School assisting the teacher. 

“I have my own reading group and help around the classroom with writing and fun assignments. I help with whatever is needed, with kids who need extra attention,” she says.

Then, she heads to her high school for a government class, lunch, and three dual credit classes from MSU-Northern. The TOPP program has given her a new perspective of teaching when in classes as a student.

“Especially after my first introduction to education class, you start to study different teaching styles. I remember talking to a teacher one day and said, ‘You teach like this,’ and he said, ‘yes!’”

Allestad says, “I study my kindergarten classroom and watch how the teacher presents the lesson. I study the way she talks – how it’s different based on age levels. Math is a big one because you have so many ways to incorporate a lesson. But I really, really love the teaching styles of math at Havre High. It’s fun. I find myself looking too much into how they teach versus what they teach.”

After earning her associate degree, Allestad plans to continue her education at MSU Bozeman or Western. She hopes to eventually earn a master’s degree and experience teaching every grade. She’s not entirely sure, though, if that will be in her hometown.

“I’ll be the first teacher in my family,” she says. “I have been interested in it from a young age. I played teacher when I was younger and excelled in school very early on.”

Wherever Allestad’s education career takes her, Frisbee says the TOPP program is still an asset to the community.

“If you’ve got young first- and second-year teachers coming back, they’re bringing their income here. If they’re young teachers, they’ll eventually have family which will grow your community and grow the economics. And if you ask a parent, I’m sure they’d love opportunity for their child to not have to move their family elsewhere,” Frisbee says. 

“The true effects we won’t see for three, four, five years,” Moore says. “With the shortage across the state…we’ve got to try something.”


Victoria Lim wrote this article for WorkingNation.


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Teachers in Louisiana are trying to stop an upcoming constitutional convention proposed by Gov. Jeff Landry. The governor, who has been in office for three months, is demanding that state legislators and 27 of his appointees convene from May 20 through June 3 to rewrite the state's constitution.

Baton Rouge first-grade teacher Jaret Guidry is concerned by the governor's lack of specifics.

"I have been emailing all of my representatives and Congress men and women," Guidry said, "saying, 'This is too rushed, this is not a good idea, something's going to get missed, something's going to be done wrong.' You cannot effectively go through this document in a matter of weeks."

K-through-12 school funding, retirement security for teachers, school bus drivers and other public employees who don't pay into the Social Security system are protected in the current state constitution. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has posted petitions opposing the convention on its website.

The Louisiana Constitution was last amended in 1973. The convention then lasted 12 months under then-Gov. Edwin Edwards.

If the new convention occurs now, said Ascension Parish history teacher Jacob Newsom, lawmakers could make decisions that change the lives of everyone in Louisiana.

"We've got a lot to be concerned about," Newsom said. "Number one, Jeff Landry - based on his own proclamations and actions - does not appear to be a friend of public education and if given the chance, I would assume he was going to remove the protections that we got placed in the constitution for public-education funding and Medicaid funding, and all these other programs."

Landry's office has said the convention would only focus on rewriting the articles that govern taxes and spending.


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The first week of May is designated as Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States.

The push to honor teachers started in 1953 when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded Congress that there needed to be a specific day to recognize educators for their hard work. Students and parents often give teachers small gifts this week, and many retailers are offering special deals and discounts to educators.

Jennifer Easley, president of the Texas PTA, said the best way to honor teachers is to stand up for their rights.

"I think the biggest thing we can do to show them appreciation is to be advocating for them year-round - not only for public school funding, so that teachers and staff can get the compensation that they deserve, but also to make sure that they're getting the two-way respectful communication they are craving and deserve," she said.

Easley added improving working conditions for teachers will also encourage more young people to enter the profession and keep more seasoned educators in the classroom.

The Texas PTA was formed in 1970 when the "Texas Congress of Mothers" and the "Texas Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers" combined efforts to improve the state's education system. It's the second-largest state PTA in the nation, with more than 2,000 chapters across the state. Easley said throughout the years, the organization's mission has remained the same: to improve the lives of teachers, students and families.

"And they are able to facilitate conversations on their campuses with their parents. And as far as engagement goes, I mean, our PTAs are there to try to provide opportunities to bring parents to the table, " she explained.

Easley added a person does not have to be a parent or have a child enrolled in school to join a local PTA chapter. Membership is open to anyone who cares about young people and their futures.


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The shortage of educators and school staffers has reached a crisis level in some Pennsylvania public schools, prompting a new "Educators Rising" program, which aims to recruit future educators from local high schools.

Ten schools are already participating, with students attending the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center to develop teaching skills.

Donna Rain-O'Dell, workforce education coordinator at the center, said in the "Grow Your Own" program at Mount Pleasant High School, the students gain hands-on experience by observing and assisting teachers in classrooms a couple of days a week.

"We actually have some of our students going into classrooms that are teaching small group or mini-lessons," Rain-O'Dell explained. "Like, one student is teaching Spanish I, when she's a Spanish III student; and then we have a student, that's in AP Bio that's helping with the biology class. So it's kind of cool, and it's definitely a unique situation."

She pointed out next year, they will start their first "college in high school" course at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg campus. Keystone State schools are struggling to fill more than 5,500 vacant teaching positions.

Rena Enterline, vocational rehabilitation counselor for the center, said they partner with The Learning Lamp and Shippensburg University and students can earn nine credits toward higher education.

"That is more of a dual-enrollment type class," Enterline noted. "They will take classes through Shippensburg University, and they'll actually get a transcript through them. And then, they can take those credits and use them at any university that will accept them when they decide to go to college."

Enterline added current seniors will not have been in the program for two years but can still use the credits they earn this year through the dual enrollment opportunity.

Amanda Funk, CTE instructor at McCaskey High School in Lancaster, said hers is the only Lancaster County high school to have an in-house career and technology program. It attracts a diverse group of students who help out in elementary schools as juniors and seniors, eventually extending to middle schools.

"The goal is to bring them back and they get a guaranteed interview after college in our district and then they'll have that added support," Funk stressed. "Part of our job description is to actually mentor them through their college years. And then once they come back and get a job in our district, to mentor them there as well."

Funk added one lesson in the Educators Rising curriculum focuses on anti-bias instruction. She observed students have personally thanked her for classroom discussions on the topic.


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