Tennessee Grow Your Own Center

Join us March 18 for the 5th Annual Rural Education Conferences, a ✨FREE✨ virtual conference hosted by the Center for Rural Education at Austin Peay State University ! 🏫 This year's theme—"Elevating Rural Education"—features more than 20 presentations on: • Student engagement strategies • Teacher education innovations • Community partnerships Join the GYO Center's very own Kate Hall & Charlene Russell for the presentation: "Bridging the Gap: Implementing Rural Apprenticeships for Tomorrow’s Workforce" When? ➡️ 2:05-3:35 p.m.🕑 Register today! bit.ly/3DkW0qE #growyourown

We’re excited to share that the GYO Center is featured in the 2025 Academic Supply for Occupational Demand Report! (see pages 27 and 28) Key highlights: ➡️ After two years, the GYO program has enrolled 846 apprentices with an 85.8% retention/completion rate. ➡️ 189 new fully licensed teachers have completed the program. ➡️ The report also highlights enrollment growth, new teacher licensure pathways, expanding district partnerships and more. Explore the full report to learn more! bit.ly/3F7sN2S This report is a joint effort between the Tennessee Higher Education Commission/Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (THEC/TSAC), the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development (TDLWD), the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE). #growyourown

You're invited! 📩 Join the GYO Center and the National Association of Education Foundations at the #ImpactED25 annual national conference. This years topic areas are organizational leadership 💼 🗣️ & planning 📆 GYO experts Erin Crisp and Kate Hall will be leading session 602, The ROI of Growing Our Own When? ➡️ Thursday March 27, 2025, from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Don’t miss your chance to learn from the best this upcoming March 25–27 at the Mariott in Downtown Knoxville! 🌟 For more information on the speakers and to register, click here: bit.ly/3EVDDcn #growyourown #buildwithin

🚀 Last week, the Grow Your Own Center had the pleasure of hosting deans and staff from Florida SouthWestern State College! 📍 On Monday, the Florida team connected with IE system office members, GYO regional managers, and UTK’s GYO coordinator & faculty leader to dive into the GYO model. 📍 On Tuesday, they toured the Clarksville Montgomery County School System & Austin Peay State University, gaining valuable insights. 💭 Their feedback? "We enjoyed our visit immensely and appreciated the wealth of knowledge shared about your role in facilitating partnerships between districts and related instructional providers." 👏 Huge thanks to everyone who made this visit a success! #GrowYourOwn

We were honored to introduce the Grow Your Own Collaboratory to our colleagues and community partners this morning at the University of Tennessee System Grand Challenges Summit! Funded by the UT Grand Challenge Grant program, the collaboratory equips 600 mentor teachers annually with the skills to support aspiring educators, strengthen school leadership pipelines and advance K-12 education across Tennessee. Big thanks to our UT System collaborators The University of Tennessee Southern and the University of Tennessee at Martin for tackling this with us! And we could not do this without support from our partners Tennessee SCORE, the Tennessee Education Association and the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research - UT. #UTGrandChallenges #GrowYourOwn #TeacherMentors #EducationLeadership #K12 #Tennessee

Yesterday, our very own Kate Hall and Erin Crisp attended UT Day on the Hill. It was a pleasure to connect with our state's elected officials and share the work we're doing to strengthen K-12 education in Tennessee! #growyourown

We're super excited to share that we've been selected as a Partnership for Student Success 2025 Community Collaboration Challenge awardee! This will help us to continue strengthening K-12 education in Tennessee!

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Teaching as a Profession (TAP) program serves as a model for cultivating future educators. Through hands-on experiences, dual-enrollment opportunities, and dedicated teacher mentorship, the program equips students with the skills and knowledge necessary for successful careers in education. The program is a valuable tool in addressing the teacher shortage and ensuring a brighter future for MSCS students! Learn more about TAP! https://bit.ly/4dSZL32 #raisethebar #growyourown

Great work is happening through Putnam County’s Grow Your Own (GYO) program 🌱 📚 and their partnership with the Upper Cumberland Workforce Development Board. ➡️ ➡️ Workforce Connections, presented a $20,000 check to Putnam Co. to support the GYO teacher training program where candidates are able to work full-time in the classroom while pursuing their degree. On Jan. 8, Putnam County School System (PCSSTN) hosted an interest meeting where twenty-two aspiring apprentices attended! ➡️ They currently have 8 paraprofessional apprentices at Volunteer State Community College preparing to transfer to Austin Peay State University to become teacher apprentices. ➡️ They are now recruiting for their second cohort of teacher apprentices. Aspiring apprentice? Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/4gUv0gc Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Apprenticeship TN

We’re thrilled to join the ERA Intermediary for their first info session of 2025! We'll share our thoughts on how we’re tackling teacher pipeline challenges through teacher apprenticeships in rural communities. Don’t miss out on hearing from us and other partners, like Study.com, on innovative ways to support future educators!