One way to recruit and retain quality teachers is to start training them while they are still students. The Reeds Spring School District received a Grow Your Own Grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
The district will use the $10,000 to pay high school student interns who have expressed an interest in becoming educators.
“We are excited to receive the DESE Grow Your Own Grant, which enables our district to offer high school students opportunities to explore their passion for teaching by working alongside our amazing educators,” said Dr. Travis Kite, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. “Through the RS Works Internship Program, students gain valuable real-world experiences, enriching their learning and preparing them for careers they are interested in pursuing. We hope these internship classroom experiences will inspire a greater love for teaching and positively impact the next generation of educators.”
The RS Works program places students in internships aligned with their career goals, offering them the chance to explore potential career paths. In our teacher internships, students rotate through various grade levels before settling into a specific classroom. Interns gain experience in lesson planning, classroom management, instructional support, and activity coordination. As a capstone project, interns work with their cooperating teacher to design and deliver at least one full lesson, including objectives, standards alignment, instruction, independent practice, and optional assessment.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see these high school students grow into their roles as future educators,” said RS Works Coordinator Rachel Pryor. “They build meaningful connections with the younger students and have truly become part of the Reeds Spring School District team.”