Educators dedicated to student success amid staffing struggles

By Jazmine Knight

With teacher shortages nationwide, schools around the country are focusing on retention and recruitment.

In St. Joseph, officials have been working on different strategies to attract and retain teachers.

Some of the most notable are the free before- and after-school programs for the children of employees in partnership with the YMCA and the recent passage of Proposition S, an initiative to boost wages for teachers and staff.

“Teacher retention is something that the entire nation has really been talking about … you could see it start happening years ago,” said Heather Yount, a sixth-grade teacher and academic lead lab teacher at Coleman Elementary School. “Not sure why because it’s a great profession.”

When there are not enough teachers, it can increase the daily workload. Coupled with a simultaneous substitute teacher shortage, it can be easy for full-time educators to feel stressed or overwhelmed. However, St. Joseph schools pride themselves on offering support to teachers, staff and students to ensure effective learning.

“We have a shortage and we have to kind of rally together and take care of those kids. If a teacher is sick or if something has come up, oftentimes we’ll group the students together,” Yount said.

Yount said she originally believed the nationwide teacher shortage would be short-lived.

“(I) thought, ‘Oh, this is going to work itself out,’” she said.

Now that shortage has continued for a few years, the biggest thing is making sure students don’t fall behind due to the lack of educators. The SJSD uses mentors to influence positive learning habits and collaboration.

“We work on maybe upper grades going to lower grades. A lot of times they’ll work with, mentor reading, mentor writing, mentor math,” she said.

If a teacher has to take over another classroom due to the teacher and substitute shortage, then the fill-in teacher often uses sub plans, group learning and their own teacher flair to create a successful learning experience for each child.

“We are really focused on small group interaction as well. With the lack of teachers coming in, you might have higher class sizes,” Yount said. “You work on maybe a group of six or five or, you know, and you really work on the skill that they’re lacking, and then you are just constantly monitoring that.”

Despite the teacher shortage and other factors like COVID and attendance, educators and administrators use student data and testing to determine where students are falling short. With attention to detail, they can organize a plan to help students improve.

But the main thing the teacher shortage affects is class sizes.

“You just might have a few more kids. And so by a few, I might mean maybe three or four more. So you might, instead of having a group of 20, you might have a group of 25 or 26,” Yount said.

With voters approving Proposition S, Yount is hopeful more individuals will be enticed to enter the teaching profession in St. Joseph.

“I think with the passage of that, it’s going to send another clear example that our community is rallying around us and that we are all here for the students,” she said. “I’m hoping the passage will encourage them to further their education and come on back to St. Joseph’s school district.”

Cindy King, principal at Coleman Elementary School, said the district also is using unique tactics to draw new teachers in from nontraditional settings.

“We are reaching out to colleges and finding students that are doing student teaching and seeing if they’re ready to be in the classroom,” King said. “They’re looking into our grow-your-own programs and pathways to teaching. That’s brought some great candidates to the building.”

In the Pathway to Teaching program, individuals with a degree can earn an alternative teaching certification.

“If you currently don’t have a degree, you can become an employee and then apply to be a part of the program and they’ll help cover some of your tuition,” King said.

When new teachers come on board, King said they are paired with a more experienced educator to act as a mentor. However, King tries to focus a lot on support for all teachers to avoid stress and burnout.

“We want teachers to feel happy in their jobs and want to come to school, just like we want the kids to want to come every day,” she said. “So we just try to create a community of family and support and back a teacher up when they’re having issues in their classroom and give them the resources that they need.”

During her 14-year stint as a teacher at Eugene Field Elementary, King said her favorite part about teaching was the camaraderie between the educators and staff, which is why she works tirelessly to create a healthy environment for her staff at Coleman.

Even for other positions like custodians and lunch staff, King wants everyone to be happy in their jobs.

“When someone brings that issue or concern that you listen and problem solve together and, to make it a more pleasant work environment,” King said.

She hopes with the continuation of these tactics, more people realize their passion for education. But in the meantime, she’s proud of the hard work of current SJSD employees.

“We’re problem-solving with the resources that we have available, and everybody has the same mission to educate kids,” King said. “People are making sacrifices and doing the best they can. And it’s all for the greater good of our students.”

Yount said district staff will continue to dedicate their time to finding a solution to the local teacher shortage. She’s impressed with the way SJSD has been engaged in trying to find qualified applicants and their ability to remain transparent with the public on different measures.

Through Yount’s new position as an academic lead lab teacher, she is also able to impact incoming teachers. She hosts new teachers in her classroom and provides a space for them to watch, ask questions, interact and brainstorm new ideas.

She describes some of the new generation of teachers as nervous. After hearing negative or sometimes scary stories about teaching, it makes the education world even more daunting. But she hopes that experience in a real-world classroom can help.

“I would encourage them to try it,” said Yount. “We’d love for new minds to come in and try to make a difference and encourage our education system in any way.”

For those who are unsure about a career in education or want to try it out, she suggests substitute teaching. SJSD also has a wide array of vacant positions for the 2024-25 school year. To find careers in the St. Joseph School District, visit sjsd.k12.mo.us.