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The Irma Thompson Educators of Color Program, an initiative of the Rockbridge NAACP, is currently working on a new career-switcher program to support the development of teachers of color in our area.
The program would offer grants to persons of color who want to become teachers, along with individualized career guidance, and ongoing in-kind support.
“Teachers are in great demand across the state so competition to hire them is fierce,” said Tinni Sen, co-president of the Irma Thompson Program board of directors. “We think that by launching a ‘grow your own’ teacher training program, we can lower the barrier for people who already live here to become teachers.”
The Virginia Department of Education initiated the Career Switcher Alternative Route to Licensure program in 1999 as a way to accelerate the training of teachers. It is aimed at those people who are seeking a career change, but also want or need to remain employed while earning their license. Classes are generally at night or on the weekends. A provisional license can be earned in under a year, depending on previous experience and education.
Current teaching jobs in the Rockbridge area start at $37,500 to $44,450. In addition, teachers work about 200 days a year, receive health insurance, participate in state retirement programs, and can qualify for additional benefits, such as additional paid career development training.
The proposed new program would assist in paying the cost of the teacher training while also helping to build a community of teachers of color. In return, teachers-to-be whose schooling is paid for by the program would commit to working in one of the area’s three local school districts.
An interest form is available at the group’s website, IrmaThompsonProgram.com.
“We urge anyone who identifies as a person of color and has an interest in exploring teaching as a career to check out the interest form,” said Sen. “Filling out the form doesn’t commit you to participating. It’s merely a way for the board to find out how many people might be interested in taking advantage of such a program.”
The Irma Thompson Program is an initiative of the Rockbridge NAACP. It was founded in 2022 to support the recruitment, retention, and flourishing of educators of color in Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County. In partnership with the local educational community, the program works to fulfill the NAACP’s objectives of “advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.
The program is named after Irma Thompson (1917-2019), a prominent educator and community leader from Buena Vista.
