The University of Lynchburg is developing a new, first-of-its-kind teacher education program that will help students become successful educators.
It involves pairing students with mentors who will support them from their early days on campus through their first years as full-time teachers. The mentors are local teachers whom the University is training in the practices that best help a new teacher transition to the classroom and make a positive impact on students. Forty-five mentors began training this summer. ABC13 came to campus last week to learn more about the training, which continues with four more days over the next few months. Watch the ABC13 story here.
“This will be embedded in our program from the very first undergraduate class in education through their very first year of teaching,” said Dr. Mary Ann Mayhew, a leadership studies professor and lead facilitator of the program. “We will eventually be following our teachers with our mentors through their student teaching and then into their first year of teaching as they become teachers in the area school divisions.”
The mentorship training is provided in partnership with the New Teacher Center, a California-based nonprofit. The New Teacher Center helps school divisions and states establish mentoring programs that help new teachers succeed, making education more effective and increasing the likelihood that new teachers will enjoy and stay with the job. The University of Lynchburg College of Education, Leadership Studies, and Counseling is the first higher education institution to implement the New Teacher Center model in its curriculum in partnership with local schools.
The new Lynchburg teacher education program is supported by a grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation.
Interested in becoming a teacher? It’s possible with the College of Education, Leadership Studies, and Counseling. Learn more about our teacher education programs.