Teacher recruitment and selection in American public schools is increasingly a cause for concern. Nationwide, principals and administrators who hire teachers confront a shortage in key subject areas like special education, science, and bilingual education. Some regions of the country have an adequate supply of teachers in most subject areas, but school administrators across the country are concerned about the quality of the teacher candidates available to shape our children’s future. These two problems of teacher supply and quality are paramount when you consider that the caliber of the teacher as the single most influential variable that we can control in affecting student success in our schools.

The “Mesa Grow Your Own Teachers” Program (MGYO) is designed to address both of these concerns, in addition to meeting other key objectives. MGYO is a “grow-your-own-teachers” program currently underway in the Mesa Public School District (MPS) in collaboration with Mesa Community College, Tempe (MCC); Mesa Community College at the Red Mountain Campus (MCC); Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGC); Arizona State University, Polytech (ASU); and Arizona State University, Tempe (ASU). The premise behind MGYO is straightforward; if we can target promising prospective teachers from among our own students before they graduate, support them in their post secondary training, and ensure that their preparation is compatible with and will enhance Mesa’s ability to serve the youngsters in our schools, then we will significantly enrich the pool of teacher candidates available to MPS in the future. This concept is supported by professional research, which indicates that the sooner we begin recruiting students to become teachers, the more likely they are to elect teaching as a career and to remain in the profession long-term.

Students may elect to join the program in their senior year, or they may be nominated by a teacher or counselor at the high school. The junior high school Teens ‘n’ Teaching class as well as the high school Teachers ‘n’ Training course, is another source for teachers and counselors to identify and recruit MGYO participants. If accepted into the program, the MGYO teacher candidates and their parents meet with representatives from MCC, CGC, and ASU prior to their first term in the fall. Topics of the meetings include admissions, required coursework and electives, internship requirements, academic life, assessments, grants and scholarships, mentoring and tutoring, professional development sessions, and becoming acquainted with their assigned academic advisors. Additionally, the students are given guided tours of the colleges’ and universities’ campus. Then, the students embark on their program of study at either the college or the university depending on their individual circumstances and preferences, but with guidance from their assigned advisors.

Financial assistance for the program has been graciously provided by the Mesa Foundation for Excellence, assisting with college text and supply expenses. Mesa Public Schools English Language Learner Acquisition Department (ELLAD) provides the textbooks for those candidates seeking an English As a Second Language (ESL) Endorsement. The college and university representatives also work on providing dedicated MGYO candidates tuition scholarships and grants. MPS further supports the candidates by offering them opportunities to work as instructional assistants in district schools. Although they do not receive financial assistance, the candidates are further assisted by helping them to acquire volunteer positions within the school district. These opportunities further add another benefit of exposing these pre service teachers to the Mesa practices and priorities, which will shape their teaching philosophy.

When the MGYO teacher candidates approach graduation and student teaching, they will alert our human resources department and begin the preparations to enter the Mesa Schools hiring process. It is intended that their extensive exposure to the Mesa teaching methods through their observations and experiential classroom experience as aides and volunteers will make the pre service MGYO teachers ideal candidates for district employment.

MGYO is an innovative program, which has received national attention. It is featured in the May, 2000 issue of the professional journal, Principal Leadership, from the National Association of Secondary Principals (NASSP). Mesa’s collaborative relationship with the colleges, the university, the Mesa Foundation for Excellence, and the connections to our academic programs at the junior high school and high school creates a firm foundation for the program. The “homegrown” teachers who emerge from MGYO will add depth and caliber to the pool of candidates available to serve our students and families. In this time of tremendous change and challenge confronting public education, MGYO is one more measure to ensure that we “teach them well” in Mesa Public Schools.