Six Ector County ISD instructional facilitators, aides and substitute teachers were recognized as recipients of the Para to Teachers grant Thursday.
The ceremony took place in the board room of the administration building and each candidate received a swag bag with pens and T-shirts and other goodies.
Recipients are Alyssa Garcia, an instructional facilitator at Wilson & Young Middle School; Samantha Gomez, an instructional facilitator at Lamar Early Education Center; Erica Luna-Rodriguez, instructional facilitator at Odessa High School; Emily McFall, long-term substitute at Gale Pond Alamo STEAM Academy; Bianca Subia, an instructional aide at GPA STEAM; and Cynthia Pinch, instructional facilitator at Carver Early Education Center.
“Para to Teacher is an opportunity that will provide funding for these really deserving instructional paraprofessionals to complete their bachelor’s degree, to undergo a certification program to become a teacher and then some additional funding for living expenses, as well,” Executive Director of Talent Development Ashley Osborne said.
Osborne said ECISD received these funds through a Texas Education Agency Texas COVID Learning Acceleration Support grant.
“This portion of the funding is specifically designed for a Grow Your Own program and Grow Your Own is designed to facilitate an increase in qualified and diverse candidates into our teaching profession,” Osborne said.
This particular part of Grow Your Own is for paraprofessionals to become certified teachers.
“You’re already working in our classrooms and doing a wonderful job with our students …,” Osborne said.
This allows the instructional professionals to finish their bachelor’s degrees and get certified as teachers so they can “continue that awesome work.”
According to a Rand Education and Labor Report, Osborne said, teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling.
“So soak that in. How important are teachers? They matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling, so having a highly qualified, highly skilled teacher in a classroom is essential for our students,” Osborne said.
“It is the goal of Ector County ISD to attract and recruit and retain highly effective teachers and this opportunity, Para to Teacher, allows the district to support these educators through the process of becoming those certified teachers,” she added.
Debbie Bynum, director of Talent Development, said each recipient signed a letter of intent, demonstrating their commitment to completing their bachelor’s degree and the Odessa Pathway Teaching certification program.
“The district is committed to supporting them along this journey and providing employment upon successful completion,” Bynum said.
Osborne said they have two years to earn their bachelor’s degree and go through the certification program.
“We expect that they will be first-year teachers with us” in the 2024-25 school year, she added.
And then ECISD asks that they make a commitment for two years after that year.
“We believe that because of this opportunity we’re investing in their education, we’re investing in their certification process and supporting them along the way, so we do ask that they invest in the district as well,” Osborne said.
Pinch said she wanted to apply for the Para to Teacher program because she had worked with 3 year olds in a similar prekindergarten kind of Head Start setting for five years in Big Spring.
“When I came out here and there was an opening, I’d actually applied as an aide, and then they had the opening for the instructional facilitator, and then I was able to get in there to start getting some experience,” Pinch said.
Pinch said she was honored and surprised to be selected for the Para to Teacher program.
Pinch said she would like to stay with the 3 and 4 year old level.
She has been working in schools for five years. She has been with ECISD since October. Pinch worked at the newspaper in Big Spring and the library until she found a teacher opening.
Gale Pond Alamo STEAM Principal Regina Lee said she is looking forward to having her two candidates become teachers and getting paid for the “awesome job that they do because they work very hard. And so they hold their own with certified teachers every day.”
“They’re good for kids,” Lee said.
Osborne said while they’re taking courses to earn a bachelor’s degree, they will stay employed as paraprofessionals. She said they can stay at the campus where they are currently, but they do have some choice.
