Promise of success: Spring ISD students vow to return as teachers
After they meet the requirements of college and certification, district will guarantee jobs
Francisco Canas thought his dreams of playing soccer after high school died when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament during practice last year.
Now 19, the Westfield High senior said his Spring ISD coach would not let him quit the team. Instead, Canas began working as a student coach and quickly found a new passion he was eager to pursue — teaching.
“I liked learning how to manage a team, to motivate them to victory and to make them feel like they can trust and count on me,” he said.
He was among 21 Spring ISD students who signed letters of intent Tuesday, promising they would return to the north Houston-area district as teachers once they graduate from college and earn their teaching certifications. All are guaranteed a job with the district once they meet those requirements, and
eight were given $500 scholarships during the ceremony.
In a nod to National Signing Day in which high school athletes announce their college choices, most of Tuesday’s signers wore shirts emblazoned with the names and logos of their chosen schools. Proud parents pushed their way to the front of the audience once their students picked up their pens, eager to snap photos with their cell phones. The crowd of about 70 erupted into cheers when students flashed the thumbs-up to show they had finished signing the documents.
Tough times in education
The Spring ISD students’ commitments come as teachers across the country fume over low pay for themselves and scarce resources for their schools. Teachers in West Virginia and Oklahoma walked out of their classrooms for more than a week, lobbying lawmakers for more funding. Teachers in Arizona will walk out of their schools Thursday, asking for raises and investments in their students’ educations.
The relatively low wages and stresses of the jobs also have led fewer college students to pursue degrees in education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, enrollment in teacher preparation programs declined by more than 31 percent between 2009 and 2013.
Texas is third in the nation when it comes to enrolling students in teacher prep programs, according to the U.S. Department of Education, but Texas Education Agency data shows the growth of students enrolling in local schools has slightly outpaced the growth of teachers. Deeon McKeithan, chief human resources officer for Spring ISD, said that has made finding highquality educators more difficult, particularly for special education, math and science.
“One of the things we thought about is that we have these future teachers sitting in our classrooms,” McKeithan said. “What better way of growing your own than to invest in them while they’re in your schools?”
To do that, Spring ISD created an education pathway through their career and technical education programs. Students begin as freshman and take courses in child development, instructional practices and principles of education.
By their senior years, they complete internships in Spring ISD elementary or middle school classrooms, sometimes leading instruction.
‘Not doing it for the money’
Cynthia Williams, director of Spring ISD’s career and technical education, said about 150 students are enrolled in the education pathway program this year.
“We recruit starting in the eighth grade — that’s how we build the program,” Williams said. “There are grow-your-own initiatives for teachers who want to be in administration. But we took it a step further with kids in our community who want to come back and work in the district where they were educated.”
Joining the program was an easy decision for Nadiya Taylor, an 18-year-old Spring High School senior. She knew she wanted to teach as far back as third grade, but became set on the career after she had a wonderful teacher in fifth grade at Spring ISD’s Ponderosa Elementary.
“She made learning fun, that’s why I wanted to do it,” Taylor said. “I’m not doing it for the money, I want to teach young minds. Teachers helped me, so I’m ready to teach students what I know.”