A nationwide nonprofit organization has come to Phoenix hoping to increase the number of teachers in the Valley.
The Phoenix Teaching Fellows, the Arizona branch of the national New Teacher Project, certifies applicants with teaching degrees after an intensive course.
Kate Crowe, the site manager for the Phoenix Teaching Fellows, oversees recruitment and training of students. She said she was excited to join the teaching fellows because she believes in its ultimate goal to train more teachers.
"When I was a teacher, there was a desperate need for more teachers," Crowe said.
Enrolled candidates will begin teaching full time after a rigorous five- to six-week summer course. The newly trained teachers will be sent to high-needs schools in the Phoenix Elementary and Murphy Elementary School Districts in the fall.
The Teaching Fellows also has built a partnership with Arizona State University allowing the enrolled members of the organization to get certified with a master's degree in education while they teach.
The Phoenix Teaching Fellows will accept 45 to 50 candidates for its inaugural course in the summer. So far, about 290 applications have been filed, Crowe said. Applicants need to have a bachelor's degree but no teaching experience is necessary.
"We're looking for a really strong cohort of determined individuals, and hopefully that will translate to student achievement in the classroom," Crowe said.
Vice president of the Teaching Fellows program, Layla Avila, said the fellows had been hoping to come to Arizona for quite a while.
"If there is a need, that's where we want to be," Avila said.
According to the Arizona Education Association, Arizona has the highest teacher-to-student ratio with roughly 22 students to every teacher. Arizona is also tied with Nevada as the nation's fastest growing student population.
Deborah Dillon, education program director of Phoenix, said the Mayor's Office had seen the positive impact the New Teacher Project and the Teaching Fellows had made in other cities such as New York City and Oakland, Calif., and encouraged the group to set up shop in Phoenix.
Dillon said that while there is no funding from the city for the program, the city of Phoenix will continue to help the organization as it goes along.
"We're putting the word out there and linking them in our Web site," Dillon said. "It's our job to let the people know."
In line with letting the people know, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon sent a letter to the community urging citizens to join the Teaching Fellows.
"This is a unique opportunity for our community's most talented and dedicated citizens to have a lasting impact on student achievement and make a difference in the schools that need them most." Gordon said in the letter.
Applications for the Phoenix Teaching Fellows can be found at www.phoenixteachingfellows.org; the final deadline to turn in the applications is April 28.
