By Tena L. Cook, CSC Marketing Coordinator
CHADRON – As Associate Professor Dr. Hank McCallum prepares to retire in May, he is particularly satisfied with a program quickly gaining popularity and simultaneously meeting a need in the K-12 education system. The Special Education Apprentice track is designed for students pursuing an endorsement while they work under the supervision of a mentor teacher.
McCallum said there has been a lot of interest in the on-the-job, experience-based option.
“We mined the para professionals. They know what they want to do. A lot of them are single moms who can’t leave work to go to college. Others are in mid-life and live on ranches. They’ve dreamed about being teachers,” McCallum said.
Others in the program are teachers earning a second endorsement, and several already have their master’s degrees. They live in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Vermont. McCallum said students on this track heard about the opportunity through school administrators.
“There’s a strong, word-of-mouth network,” McCallum said.
He started working on the program in August 2018 with support from Dr. Jim Powell and Dr. Don King.
More than 60 students enrolled in the apprentice program in Fall 2019, about 20 are in the process of applying, and another 20 have expressed interest, according to McCallum. He anticipates about 40 of the students will start the year-long student teaching field experience in 2021 and be on course to graduate in 2022.
Six adjunct faculty teach special course sections earmarked for the program. McCallum said they are highly qualified and capable current practitioners with an average 10-20 years of experience. One was the runner up Teacher of the Year in Nevada last year.
“The schools love it. They are snatching these students up to fill open positions, some on provisional agreements based on successful graduation. The students are loving it too. The only real challenge is meeting the demands of the school districts to produce more SPED K-12 certified teachers to lower the severe SPED teacher shortage in Nebraska and other states,” McCallum said.
Those interested in the Special Education Apprentice track should contact McCallum at [email protected] until May 9 when a new point of contact will be determined.