Mentoring Program Aims to Attract and Retain Teachers of Color Amid Efforts to Reverse Workforce Shortage
January 18, 2023
MCC education students will be paired with early-career Rochester city educators for a year
WHAT: Eight students in Monroe Community College’s education degree programs will find out who will serve as their professional mentors for a year at a kickoff event that will match them with early-career teachers. Meeting for the first time this week, the students and teachers are the first group participating in the inaugural Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Teacher Mentoring Program aimed at creating a strong system of support for aspiring and current educators of color. It also aims to recruit and prepare a new generation of teachers while helping retain those who are relatively new to the profession.
A collaboration between MCC and the Rochester City School District, the mentoring program will begin with eight teachers who have two to five years of experience in the field. Teachers will be connected to a support network and resources within their schools. All mentoring program participants will come together to attend a series of events, including community suppers, on various topics led by different speakers throughout the spring and fall semesters.
The mentoring program is funded by a two-year, $120,944 grant (covering 2022-2024) from the Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation.
WHERE: Second-floor Multipurpose Room (200C) on MCC’s Downtown Campus, 321 State St.; parking is provided in lot AA.
WHEN: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19
DETAILS: Event agenda:
- Welcome and introductions
- Announcement of mentor-protege pairings
- Breakout sessions
- Team-building activities
- Community supper
Schools participating in the BIPOC Teacher Mentoring Program:
- Edison Career & Technology High School
- Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School
- James Monroe High School
- Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School
- University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men
- Dr. Walter Cooper Academy
Dr. LaToya Manon, assistant professor of education at MCC
Co- facilitators of the program are LaToya Mañόn, Ed.D., assistant professor of education at MCC, and Jessica R. Banks from The Children’s School of Rochester.
Education is among the top five chosen fields of study at MCC, with 286 students enrolled across four associate degree and certificate programs in fall 2022.
In 2019, the state Teacher Retirement System projected that one-third of New York’s teachers could retire in the next five years, according to the New York State United Teachers organization, adding that the State University of New York has projected the state will need 180,000 teachers from 2019 through 2029.