The African Leadership Group has forged a partnership with the Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC) a longstanding, Denver-based education nonprofit focused on teacher preparation and professional development.
PEBC’s teacher residency program could be of special interest to ALG members. The yearlong program provides a stipend roughly equivalent to a first-year teacher’s pay, and places residents in a classroom full-time with an experienced mentor teacher.
People who identify as BIPOC or enter the early childhood education residency are eligible for additional stipends.
Over the course of the year residents receive extensive weekly and summer training as well as full-time classroom experience under the guidance of a veteran teacher. At the conclusion of the program, residents can receive their teaching license, and commit to working as a teacher in their host district for three years.
Residency experiences are offered in public, private, and charter schools in rural, urban, and suburban schools across Colorado.
PEBC offers two different alternative licensure pathways, said Jailyn Jenkins, PEBC’s manager of resident development. In addition to the residency described above there is the “Teacher of Record” pathway. To qualify, applicants must have extensive prior experience working with students in an educational environment.
Unlike the residency pathway, teachers of record work solo in a classroom. They receive the same mentor support and training as a resident. They are also hired by a district and paid by their host school district rather than through residency stipends.
The Teacher of Record Pathway is viewed by many districts as a strategy for helping offset a growing teacher shortage.
You can apply for either pathway here.
Another PEBC offering available to current and aspiring educators is an upcoming BIPOC Educational STEM Thinkers conference. It will be held June 24 and 25 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 2100 Colorado Boulevard.
The conference allows participants to “explore opportunities for belonging, awareness, healing, and change,” according to program materials. “Across two days, we will connect and discuss our challenges as well as build strength and a sense of community that we can bring back to our schools.
“After this two-day conference, we will then have monthly affinity group meetings that are tailored to participant capacity, needs, and collective goals. Groups may range from tackling policy and brainstorming instructional strategies, to simply having a safe space to be and show up authentically. Participants will have the influence and autonomy to guide this experience.”
The conference fee is $250. You can register here.
