Teaching is not for the faint of heart.

“Teachers make 1,500 decisions a day,” said Kara Belew, a 2020 Kansas Teacher of the Year finalist. “It can be exhausting. But if you set your expectations, people will meet them.”

Belew, who teaches government at Andover Central High School, Andover Unified School District 385, was one of three certified teachers leading a group of registered teacher apprentices during an academy this week in Topeka. The event was at the Topeka Center for Advanced Learning & Careers, or TCALC, part of Topeka USD 501.

The Registered Teacher Apprentice Program, or RTAP, began in the fall of 2023, and is administered by the Kansas State Department of Education. Its goal is to increase the number of classroom teachers to address the ongoing educator shortage. In January of 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor designated teaching as an apprenticeable profession that can have registered apprentices, which, in turn, paved the way for the RTAP to be created. 

While the academy this week provided small and large group discussions, exercises and lesson planning guidance for the aspiring teachers, honesty about how teachers have to handle their emotions when addressing student behavior and similar issues was also discussed.

“I tell my students you can control your attitude and your effort,” said Ashley Sharbutt, one of the three academy teacher leaders and a physical education teacher at Hutchinson Middle School, Hutchinson USD 308. “Same goes for us. But we are all human. Just because we’re teachers doesn’t mean we don’t have feelings. It’s okay to ask for help.”

Belew asked the apprentices, many of whom have classroom experience as paraprofessionals, to think of the most difficult student they’ve had with whom they’ve had the most success.

Megan Alexander, an apprentice in the pre-K program at Tonganoxie Elementary School, Tonganoxie USD 464, said she gave a difficult student “a lot of patience and understanding” and gave him other ways to communicate his feelings.

“I get to see him in the hallway now,” she told the group. “He’s just the most amazing kid.” 

Roneisha Luarks, an apprentice who works at McClure Elementary in Topeka USD 501, said she worked diligently with a second grader so he could spell his name. Mariana Moreno, an apprentice who works at Dodge City Middle School, Dodge City USD 443, said she found success in helping a girl who was struggling.

“I seem to be a magnet for these kids,” added Brook Train, an apprentice who works at Coronado Elementary in Salina USD 305. “But that means I must be doing something right.”

Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson addressed the group on Wednesday, congratulating those attending the academy this week for being part of the first RTAP cohort. Afterwards, he said the apprentices are not only investing in their own future, they’re also investing in their students.

“They’re changing themselves to later make an impact on kids,” Watson said. “It’s a win for them, soon to be a win for the kids. We’re glad to provide the funding for the program while they provide the sweat equity.”

The apprentices who are selected by their districts are compensated for on-the-job learning with a structured wage scale. After graduation and successfully completing the program, apprentices receive a Kansas teaching license and are placed in one of their district’s classrooms.  

There were 12 RTAP apprentices in the 2023-24 cohort group. There will be 90 in the cohort for the 2024-25 school year. Watson said he’s confident the RTAP can grow to have 100 to 150 apprentices every year which will positively impact the state’s teaching workforce.

“We’ll have more diversity and more determination,” he said. “These are people who are heavily invested in this.”

Shane Carter, director of teacher licensure at KSDE, said the spike in the number of apprentices for the coming school year’s cohort can be attributed in part to “a lot of hands-on, boots on the ground contact” he and Joel Gillespie, a coordinator in KSDE teacher licensure, had with districts that wanted more information about the RTAP.

“Every opportunity we had to get out and speak about it, we did,” he said.

Carter added the RTAP essentially “sells itself” by giving districts a chance to invest in their own employees, especially in rural communities.

Click here for more information about KSDE’s Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program. You can also email apprentice@ksde.org or call (785) 296-1862.