By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor

From many years of working with children, Elaine Hunt has figured out a lot. For example, she discovered early on that young people do better when parents and educators work together.

“I believe that if you can build a relationship with the parents, then the relationship you have with the student is stronger because you are a team,” Hunt said.

Working over decades in daycare, preschool and summer school settings in Saginaw, Hunt has learned to connect with parents by focusing conversations on strengths and positives.

“If you talk to them in a way that is not judgmental, they’ll see you on the street years later and remember you before the kids do,” she said.

In addition, Hunt has found what happens to a dream deferred — to borrow a phrase from the Langston Hughes poem: It waits in hope. At age 55, she finally is following her long-held dream.

Despite some fear and doubt, Hunt is attending Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) to complete a degree she started long ago to become a certified teacher. It’s a vision of herself she first dreamed as a babysitting teenager but thought perhaps had passed her by.

“I was thinking it’s too late to go back to school because it’s almost time to retire. But it never left, that wanting to teach. Sometimes we put our dreams on hold to move on in life, but our dreams never leave us; they await an opportunity.”

Three years ago, opportunity arrived in the form of a Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program jointly administered between Saginaw Public Schools, the Michigan Department of Labor, the Saginaw Intermediate School District and the Saginaw Education Association (SEA).

While the state Labor department oversees other registered apprenticeship programs — known as the “earn-and-learn” model of workforce development — most offer pathways to positions in skilled trades, construction or manufacturing.

The Saginaw program is the only registered apprenticeship in the state for developing educators. Other partners include the Michigan Department of Education and Michigan Works.

Apprentices work in classrooms as paraeducators, with mentor-teacher advising, while taking college courses at Delta College and SVSU. Participants need no college credits to apply, and the district pays for coursework by leveraging federal, state and local grants and programs.

The union and school district negotiated terms of the program, first announced in 2022, including participants’ pay, mentor teachers’ pay and responsibilities, competencies within domains required to demonstrate professional mastery, and rubrics for evaluation.

Developing the agreement was time-consuming because of being the first, said MEA Executive Director Jean Weiss, who serves the Saginaw unit. “We had nobody else to turn to because no one in education was doing something like this.”

SEA President Andrea Rethman — a 36-year educator in the district who took over leadership of her local at the onset of COVID — said she waded into the complex task because she saw great potential in the district being able to fill vacancies with teachers who are already deeply invested.

“These are people who’ve got experience in the classroom, they’re amazing with the children, and with some help getting their degree and certification they will go on to make a huge difference in the community,” Rethman said.

Apprentices earn pay raises as they complete trainings and achieve competencies under a four-level schedule negotiated by the union. Competencies involve a wide range of tasks, such as creating bulletin boards, leading parent conferences, and using technology in lesson plans.

For participant Jennette Hoffman, who began the program in November of 2023, achieving competencies outlined in Level 1 brought a $5 an hour pay increase. She anticipates moving up another level next school year.

“Not living paycheck to paycheck as much has relieved some stress and tension in my life,” Hoffman said.

A 10-year employee of the district, Hoffman has been in an hourly role as an associate teacher in a Pre-K classroom for five years after previously serving as a kindergarten aide. “I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid,” she said.

After graduating high school in 2000, Hoffman earned an associate’s degree at Delta and began work on a bachelor’s degree at Ferris State University but left for financial reasons. She recently had her remaining student loan debt forgiven for completing 10 years of public service.

The apprenticeship program has made it possible to juggle responsibilities of a full-time job and family while completing coursework — some online and some in-person. She’s allowed to take time off from work for classes only offered during the day.

“It’s been good not to have to stress about how to pay for it; you can just go to class and concentrate on your studies,” Hoffman said.

Depending on credits earned previously, apprentices complete coursework equivalent to two years at Delta and finish the bachelor’s degree at SVSU, said MEA member Colleen D’Arcy, a professor of Teacher Education and acting assistant dean of SVSU’s College of Education.

“We try to meet their needs on an individual basis,” D’Arcy said. “We have a strong partnership between Delta and Saginaw Valley, so there’s a smooth hand-off that happens among our admissions crew and advising folks.”

No one has yet graduated from the program, expected to take four to six years. It could also be adapted for high school students out of dual enrollment or middle college programs.

Hoffman plans to complete a degree and certification in PK-3 with an early childhood endorsement within the next 18 months. Then she becomes eligible for a teaching spot at step one of the SEA contract, which also covers preschool teachers.

She looks forward to stepping onto the teachers’ pay schedule and continuing meaningful work. She especially enjoys connecting with introverted students, like herself, who can get overlooked.

“I love building bonds with all kids, and I want to be there for the quiet ones who just need a little extra push from someone who cares.”

For Elaine Hunt, who also started college long ago but left when her daughter was born, the apprenticeship is a second chance. She began the program with an associate’s degree and has only a few classes left to finish.

She’s figured out how to push past doubt and fit in with younger classmates, relying on years of hands-on experience helping children learn according to their needs and interests.

“Deep down, I’m a teacher,” Hunt said. “But having that degree, that certificate, will just stamp it. I’ll finally get to finish what I always wanted to do.”

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SPECIAL REPORT: Teacher Recruitment

• Introduction / MEA welcomes new educators
• ‘Doing what’s right for the next generation’ / High schoolers explore education careers
• Armada: ‘If you love this, do it’
• Lenawee: ‘There are great rewards’
• In para-to-teacher project, classroom aides level up
• Saginaw apprenticeship a first-of-its-kind
• Rural hub at CMU offers free credentials