Above from left to right: First-grade teacher Amelia Tulim is starting her career in the same school she attended as a child in Chevak (Photo by LA Johnson, NPR); Once a month, teacher mentor Ed Sotelo takes three planes to get to Tulim’s classroom in Chevak (Photo by LA Johnson, NPR); Snowmobiles glide across the tundra at sunset in Chevak (Photo by Joseph, Flickr).
Nationwide, teachers are in short supply. That’s especially true in small, isolated districts, the kind that are easy to find in Alaska. Here, hiring teachers is only half the battle. Keeping them is hard, too. Alaska is especially hit hard by the teacher shortages, losing roughly one in four teachers every year. But research shows there is a powerful thing schools can do to retain teachers — pair them up with veteran teacher mentors. NPR’s Cory Turner shares the story of one effort to get mentors out to Alaska’s most remote schools — the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP).
The story follows the experience of Chevak first-grade teacher, Amelia Tulim, and the meaningful mentorship of ASMP’s veteran teacher, Dan Sostelo.
Click here to listen to the story or read the transcript.
UA Workforce Development News 