CCU program works to recruit and keep teachers locally

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW)- According to the results from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement’s (CERRA) Fall 2015 Supply and Demand Survey, the gap between teacher supply and teacher demand continues to widen.

The report found more than 5,300 teachers did not return to their teaching positions this year. Over the last five years, on average, only 2,180 graduates completed a South Carolina teacher education program.

Local school administrators say they’ve recently had issues filling vacancies for particular subjects.

“It has, we’ve seen over the years a reduction in the number of candidates in some areas of content. You know math has been one area we’ve been working to attain teachers and science,” Connie Huddle Principal of Ocean Bay Middle School said.

Local education leaders say a partnership with Coastal Carolina University helps with recruitment and keeping more teachers local. Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) assists with the recruitment, training, and certification of elementary teachers from disadvantaged communities who are planning to teach in South Carolina schools.

“We recruit students from a disadvantaged population and to provide more diversity to the classroom and to have students serve as teachers who normally wouldn’t teach,” Program Coordinator Dr. Jerome Christia said.

It’s that support that’s kept CCU Alumnus Brantley Cohens in the area. The Georgetown County native now teaches math at Ocean Bay Middle School.

“The reason that I stayed is because I had a really good experience in Horry and Georgetown County. The college of education does a great job of getting us into a diverse setting,” Cohens said.

“South Carolina is moving in the right direction with these initiatives to recruit teachers into underserved schools,” notes Jane Turner, Executive Director of CERRA. “As evidenced by the supply and demand numbers, however, there is still work to do to ensure that public school districts do not face the consequences of a statewide teacher shortage.”