In their final week of classes, a group of Albertville high schoolers scoured a supply closet, looking for teaching tools they could use in future classrooms.

Across the room, several students quizzed each other in Spanish, working to translate worksheets, picture books and other material into many of their peers’ native language.

“Personally, growing up, I struggled learning English,” said one senior, Trinity Poncio Sapon, who is bilingual. “And I noticed that that’s a problem still going on today.”

The students are part of a new program, the first of its kind in the state, that is training local high schoolers to become future educators.

The goal: They’ll become certified teachers within three to four years of graduating high school, and receive a bachelor’s degree for less than $4,000. That’s less than the cost of a single semester at many colleges in Alabama.

Albertville, located in northeast Alabama, is home to one of the state’s largest populations of immigrants. But the school district has struggled to find staff who can work with students who need extra support to develop language skills.

More than a third of Albertville’s students are English learners, but only two of the district’s certified teachers are bilingual. Hiring fairs, officials said, rarely turn up candidates who can speak Spanish or Haitian Creole. Lately, leaders have been working to hire more aides and paraprofessionals to help fill language gaps, but funding for those roles is limited, too.

In search of a solution, the district is taking a creative approach: They’re teaming up with local educators, colleges and community groups to build a new pipeline – with their own high school graduates.

Albertville is the only school district in Alabama to create a complete pathway for high schoolers to get a low-cost teaching degree and credentials. Students and leaders hope the program will both boost college attainment and help fill key gaps in the district’s teaching force.

“They know our community, they know our culture, they know our issues that we face,” said assistant superintendent Todd Watkins, who helped develop the idea. “That’s a good thing for us, and it’s going to be a transformational thing for the kids, too.”

How does it work?

Over the last several years, Albertville has built partnerships with a local community college, Snead State, and Reach University, which gives uncertified teachers additional training and support.

“We’re going to create a culture and a climate where they’ll want to come back and work with us,” said Albertville Superintendent Bart Reeves. “They’ll already know the system, they’ll know their colleagues, they’ll know the principal. And more importantly, they will know the expectations and standards and can quickly apply that as a first-year teacher.”

Starting their sophomore year, high school students can take teacher training courses at the district’s new magnet high school, Albertville Innovation Academy, while also enrolling in education classes at the community college.

After they graduate, they will work as paid teaching aides at Albertville City Schools while taking virtual courses with Reach’s professors.

From there, they can apply for teaching jobs and, once accepted, be certified through an alternate certification program.

Without a low-cost pathway, several Albertville students said attending college might not have been possible.

“I was like, ‘The Lord heard my prayers,’” said Poncio Sapon. “It’s helping a lot of us, because lots of us do also go through the same struggles or worries about there not being enough money to be able to continue this pathway.”

‘I can make a difference’

Currently, 35 students are enrolled in Albertville Innovation Academy’s teaching and training course.

In Moriah Miller’s class, students learn all about how to run a classroom. They create their own lessons, visit every school in the district, and shadow teachers. Many also take dual enrollment courses at Snead State, where they get extra exposure to day care programs and learn the fundamentals of early childhood education. Recently, a group of Miller’s students won a national award for a STEM lesson they created.

Miller estimated at least 25 to 30 of her students would pursue a teaching career after they graduate high school.

“Whichever direction they go, I think our advantage is giving them so much exposure to being in the classroom and having that hands-on experience where they can truly make an informed decision about what they want to do,” she said.

Several students said the course has exposed them to both the real-word challenges and the opportunities that come with working in a district with lots of English learners.

When Poncio Sapon started school at Albertville, her parents would often have to go to the public library for help with translation. Neighbors would bring over books to try to help her learn how to read and write in English.

While the district has improved English language support, Poncio Sapon said the course has opened her eyes to some of the barriers that many newcomer students and parents still face. She started high school with her sights set on cosmetology school, but now she feels a calling to teach.

“I was like, ‘You know, I can make a difference if I become a teacher or an EL aide or an aide in general,’” she said. “I could help a student.”

Senior Sandra Sebastian Jose originally wanted to go into nursing, but she decided to check out the course last year. She said the class helped her improve her communication skills by forcing her to practice giving lessons to her peers.

Jessica Bernabe Bautista, another senior, said the class has introduced her to a lot of different techniques, like dual language immersion, that she can use to help make learning more accessible for her future students.

She has also learned how to be an advocate for students. During one observation, she noticed a young EL student who was lagging behind his peers. She felt he had been placed in a classroom that wasn’t appropriate for his needs.

“I think it’s really good for the kids,” she said of the program. “Because they have somebody to help them and guide them, and not just be lost in the subject that they’re learning.”

Fast-tracking a degree

Teaching apprenticeships and grow-your-own programs have become an increasingly popular option for school districts aiming to fill workforce gaps. Strong programs, experts say, can increase high-quality teachers and improve educator diversity in local districts.

In the spring of 2024, former Russellville superintendent Heath Grimes approached district leaders about collaborating with Reach, where he now works as a director of partnerships.

Russellville, also home to a fast-growing population of immigrants in northwest Alabama, had been working with Reach to help uncertified aides, translators and other multilingual school workers complete the coursework needed to get their teaching credentials. Grimes said the candidates, many of whom were also former students, quickly became “rockstars” in their schools.

“The crazy thing is, if you put students in a good school system with quality instruction, they’re going to come out as quality instructors,” Grimes said. “Because they understand data meetings, they understand target instruction, and they understand small groups. They understand all of these things.”

Reach takes a much different approach than other traditional education programs. Many participants are already working in schools but lack a four-year degree. The program gives them on-the-job training, while they also take online education courses.

At the end of the program, graduates will receive a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, which will allow them to start a job as a full-time teacher while they work on their permanent certification.

Alabama is Reach’s fastest growing state partner. The national program, which started with just two candidates in Russellville in 2022, has now enrolled 180 candidates across 50 different schools in Alabama.

Research shows that the most effective residency programs provide ongoing mentorship for candidates and have built strong relationships between local schools and colleges. Ideally, candidates should be placed in classrooms that are already modeling high-quality teaching practices.

Data from Reach shows that across its undergraduate programs, about two in three participants graduate within two to four years – higher than the national rate of 42%. Many are caregivers or work full-time, and this year 72% of Reach students were eligible for Pell Grants.

“To anybody listening, it’s too good to be true, is how we felt,” Watkins, the assistant superintendent in Albertville, said, recalling one of his initial conversations with Grimes.

But after a presentation with school employees, leaders were all in. Currently, about 20 of Albertville’s support staff have signed up for the program, too.

Grimes acknowledges that Reach isn’t for everyone. Some students may want a full college experience, fit with football games, dorm life, and a broad range of courses to choose from.

But the program’s main goal, he said, is to meet working students where they’re at. Another big draw, he added, is the cost. Students won’t pay more than $75 a month for the undergraduate degree, and many qualify for Pell Grants or other scholarships that make it practically free.

“[Teaching] is the greatest profession in the world, but it’s a service profession, and we shouldn’t be overcharging people,” he said. “Immigrant families and traditional families – they don’t need to be paying $40,000 to be a teacher… It just doesn’t make sense.”

Next steps

This year, the state will send an additional $500,000 to Albertville to support the needs of English learners. Leaders said they plan to use some of that money to help fund the teacher training program.

The Albertville City Schools Foundation also has agreed to fund full scholarships for up to 10 students. Poncio Sapon, Bernabe Bautista and Sebastian Jose will be the first recipients.

Leaders eventually plan to work more closely with Snead State, and possibly partner with the state’s office of apprenticeships to offer another pathway to certification. Grimes said he’d like to see more schools consider similar programs.

“We need to be sharing this with every high school student in Alabama,” he said.

In just a few short months, Poncio Sapon, Bernabe Bautista and Sebastian Jose will trade in their backpacks for employee badges as they start work at their alma maters.

And they don’t plan on leaving any time soon.

“I wouldn’t know where else to go,” Bernabe Bautista said. “My heart and soul is here.”