TPS Accepting Applications For Tulsa Teacher Corps Program

Tulsa Public Schools is looking for people interested in becoming teachers to apply for the Tulsa Teachers Corps. It's a program that provides training, support and professional development to people who have bachelor's degrees to help them become educators.

With this program, potential teachers don't need to go back to a four-year university to get certified. This two-year program doesn't cost members anything. In fact, they actually get compensated while going through the program.

TPS said that the Tulsa Teachers Corps, now in its fourth year, was initially developed due to a lack of teachers available.

"It was definitely created out of an acute need for our teacher shortage, and we were able to bring folks who otherwise would likely not have come through or been interested in being teachers and able to get really high-quality, dedicated folks into the classroom that otherwise we would not be able to recruit," Dr. Katy Green, TPS' executive director of educator effectiveness and professional learning said.

Candidates can come from all different backgrounds, and everyone who goes through the program will be paired with mentors who will offer advice on how to improve their teaching skills.

Candidates also get to choose what grade levels or subjects they want to teach, and one candidate, Emily Rouse, who is finishing up the program in May, said that she would make the decision to go through this program over gain because she found that she has a passion for passion a difference in students' lives.

"I would say it has provided me an opportunity that I would not have otherwise had, and it has provided me with I would say lifelong friends that are also educators. They are passionate about kids in the classroom and making a difference in kids' lives," Rouse said.

Anyone who completes the program is required to remain at TPS for two years. Interested candidates can apply for the program on the TPS website through May 15.