Talent Together is a consortium of every intermediate school district in Michigan that serves as a “Grow Your Own” teacher preparation program.
Washtenaw Community College and Talent Together are teaming up for an initiative that aims to end the current shortage of teachers in Michigan. Washtenaw Community College has been chosen as Talent Together’s premier community college partner to lead the charge in educating future teachers who have little or no college credits. Talent Together is a consortium of all 56 intermediate school districts in the state of Michigan and works in partnership with the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative.
According to an article on Washtenaw Community College’s website, Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, the president of Washtenaw Community College, was quoted as saying of the partnership, “This innovative partnership is at the forefront of helping to overcome the barrier of accessibility in raising up a future generation of educators. We are proud to collaborate with Talent Together to provide a direct pipeline for those interested in a teaching career.”
The partnership gives participants in the program an affordable way to become a teacher, by waiving tuition fees, providing free materials, and bearing no additional fees. While working through courses at Washtenaw Community College to earn an associate degree, the future teachers are also working at a school as a full-time employee, as a paraprofessional or a substitute teacher, for example.
Once achieving an associate degree, the students will transfer to a four-year university to complete a bachelor degree. The final year of the Talent Together program has the future teachers working in a registered apprenticeship alongside a mentor teacher, earning 80% of the salary a beginning teacher would earn in that district, as well as the benefits.
Sierra Pauley, a teacher candidate taking classes at Washtenaw Community College, explained how this partnership has given her the opportunity to work toward a goal she never thought she could achieve. She is quoted as saying, “Talent Together has reignited my desire to give back to my community by serving our most important members: our children. Educating our youth was something that I felt was inaccessible to me, due to financial or situational barriers. Through this program, those barriers have been demolished and I am free to pursue one of the highest callings in America. Being able to inspire, improve, and enrich a student’s life is an honor that I look forward to experiencing, and I couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds.”
The Fall 2024 semester is serving as a pilot program for the partnership between Talent Together and Washtenaw Community College, as WCC is the only community college participating in the initiative. This semester’s cohort of future teachers includes 16 students, and the Winter semester will have 50. The affordability of the program through Washtenaw Community College is evident in the fact that WCC’s tuition is among the lowest in the state, plus students can take advantage of the Michigan Reconnect program. Whatever tuition costs aren’t covered by that, Talent Together will take care of it in order to make the opportunity accessible to as many individuals as possible.
For more information about Washtenaw Community College, visit the school’s website.