Rayleigh Deaton at The South Bend Tribune reports that at 57 years old, Traci Nagy is going back to school. Nagy is in her first year of the Teacher Apprentice Program at South Bend Schools, which allows participants to earn their teaching degree on-line while working in a South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC) classroom. In Nagy's case, she teaches Fourth Grade at Nuner Fine Arts Academy, and, she said, the program has been a good fit for her now that she's an empty nester. Nagy and Apprentice Teachers like her are part of a program that SBCSC says addresses, and hopefully helps counteract, the Teacher shortage seen in schools across Indiana. The District also says the program will decrease the number of Teachers holding Emergency Permits (EPs) - a group that officials say currently accounts for roughly 10-15% of the total teaching population at SBCSC. Jessica Hoover works as SBCSC's Teacher Mentor Facilitator, overseeing initiatives like the District's Apprentice Teacher Program. She said the program was designed to address the teacher shortage, creating opportunities for people who "want to be a teacher, but they don't know where to start."

To Read This Apprenticeship And Training Labor News Story, Go To: Apprenticeships help South Bend grow its own teachers during shortage