Teacher Apprenticeship Efforts - Wyoming Department of Education

Dear Superintendents,

This week, Wyoming PBS will be launching a new digital series designed for students/kids from kindergarten through third grade, focused on science exploration and outdoor learning. The name of the series is Nature WY. Here’s a sample. They will be hosting a webinar starting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13 for educators to showcase this content and show teachers where they can go to access the supplemental materials. Just a heads up for some of your teachers who you know might be interested in getting in on this.

Teacher Apprenticeship

Also, it will be important to continue to research some version of a Teacher Apprenticeship program in Wyoming, as we seek to respond to the teacher shortage problem we face. On this end, some select members of our WDE staff are working on getting our hands on the Tennessee playbook, as well as other related materials they are so willing to share.

I do want to make you aware that this process is in its infancy stage, and we will move forward judiciously, as we put concrete to our foundational plans.

We have searched for all related elements to this initiative from across Wyoming, whether that be from what some of the schools within our districts have already developed in this regard, or at the community college/university level. If you have some insights to share that could help us as we work on this, email our Communications Director, Linda Finnerty, at linda.finnerty@wyo.gov.

Deputy Superintendent Chad Auer has made contact with Representative Jerry Paxton from Encampment, and I will be meeting with Governor Mark Gordon to discuss how best to move this initiative forward. From there, we will begin conversations with Dr. Scott Thomas at the University of Wyoming, along with Dr. Sandy Caldwell with our community colleges, and Ryan Fuhrman with the State Board of Education and other stakeholders.

Look for an update in this space, hopefully on a weekly basis, to keep you fully informed as to the progress we hope to make on this initiative.

Thanks again for all you do.

Memos to be released today:

Sincerely,

BSchroederSig