Rick Jones attended schools in Martins Ferry, and never was he instructed by a minority teacher.
“And I think that’s still the case in school systems around here and in a lot of areas of the United States,” said the assistant superintendent of Ohio County Schools. “Ohio County Schools has a few minority teachers, and that is one of the main reasons we have developed a program to change that, and it’s truly the best thing I’ve worked on in the six years I’ve been in this position.”
The new program is called, “Beyond Education” and it focuses on recruiting current juniors and seniors to learn valid information about working in the education field so such a career may prove attractive to the involved high school students.
The program calls for teachers, administrators, and coaches to make nominations so about 50 juniors and seniors can be gathered to learn about education and about the opportunities that will be available when they are graduated from college. The goal is for approximately two-thirds of the students to be minorities.
“The lack of minority educators is not just an issue here in Ohio County, but it’s an issue across the country, but we are trying to change that with this new program,” Jones explained. “We started the program just before the pandemic began, so we’ve not been able to do a lot with it until this school year, and we will continue with it so we can address the teacher shortage that is affecting public education everywhere.
“I know we have a lot of minority students who are perfectly capable of being teachers later in their lives, but it’s not likely they have considered being a teacher to make a living because they’ve never had a minority teacher themselves,” he explained. “And if that’s the case, we doubt they have considered the profession at all because they’ve never had one themselves. This program lets them know that it is possible.”
The Truth About Teaching
One of the primary reasons for the teacher shortage in public schools, Jones believes, can be explained with just a single word.
Misinformation.
“The one thing you always hear is that teachers don’t make any money, but that’s just not true. One student who is in the program asked if a teacher could ever make $60,000, and I told her that in Ohio County Schools a lot of teachers earn that much money,” Jones said. “Plus, there are positions other than being a teacher when it comes to a career in education, and some teachers choose to add to their salaries by coaching. When I have told the students that some teachers earn more than some lawyers, that really woke them up.
“I have told the students that if they become a teacher in Ohio County Schools, they would never have to worry about their health benefits, and that includes their dental and vision insurance, and they would not have to worry about their retirement,” he said. “How many people can say that? Trust me; a career in education makes for a really good life, and that’s what we are trying to teach the students in this program.”
For the participating pupils, the “Beyond Education” program exposes them to even more realities involved with public education.
“The information we provide the students helps them decide if they want to take a deeper look, and if they do, we make that happen, too,” Jones said. “We have visited the education departments at West Liberty University and Bethany College, and we are going to Wheeling University soon, and we’re going to WVU in the spring.
“We also will have several guest speakers so these students can learn everything involved with a career in education,” he continued. “I know a lot of people believe everything they read on social media and everything they hear from people who really don’t know the facts, but they pretend to for whatever reasons.”
Changing Landscape
For many years, West Liberty University was known as a “teachers’ college” because the program was the institution’s most populated.
Not only were there consistent employment opportunities in the education field throughout the Upper Ohio Valley, but teaching was a respected profession with a positive reputation for being a very stable position during an era when the region was losing manufacturing jobs at an alarming rate.
“That’s why, if this program is a success, it would change the whole dynamic that we have now, and we believe that would be the best thing possible for all of the future students in Ohio County Schools,” Jones said. “The teacher shortage is very real here and across the United States for a lot of different reasons, and it has really changed since I decided to go into education. When I made that decision, a lot of my friends had made the same decision to become teachers, too, but now you don’t hear a lot of people even talking about it.
“So, I feel this is the right time for the ‘Beyond Education’ program because we’re really opening up a lot of eyes to all of the opportunities that do exist in the teaching profession,” he said. “We have talked through a lot of different situations when it comes to teaching, but the one thing we’ve told them is they have to have the passion to teach. That is very important.”
At some point in time, Jones hopes to offer “Beyond Education” participants financial assistance.
“I would love to recruit some sponsors so we can offer some of these students who are going to go into education some sort of scholarships to help with their college education because we all know how expensive it’s become,” the assistant superintendent said. “We’re working on a lot of different things right now, but we have seen some success with it already because we had a Wheeling Park student who is a minority sign to run track at West Liberty and go into the education field.
“That student, Jailah Walker, will tell you herself that she would have never thought about becoming a teacher if it were not for the ‘Beyond Education’ program,” he added. “And I believe she’s going to be a great teacher and I hope it’s for us here in Ohio County.”
