USF, Manatee schools partner to address teacher shortage

With summer break around the corner, the School District of Manatee County already is preparing for next school year.

A big part of being ready to welcome students Aug. 10 is ensuring there are enough teachers in the classrooms.

The school district is adding eight teachers to its roster after students from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee celebrated signing contracts with the district April 29. 

Jason Wysong, the superintendent of the School District of Manatee County, said he was thrilled the students selected Manatee County as the district with which to start their careers. 

“We certainly need as many hands as we can get, and USF does a great job preparing teachers,” he said. “I’ve been impressed with all of the USF graduates who I’ve met this year who are teaching in our classrooms.”

The USFSM partnership with the school district is helping to address the teacher shortage, with USFSM providing qualified teachers. Many of the teachers grew up in Manatee County or the surrounding area and are choosing to remain local. 

Cheryl Ellerbrock, the campus dean for the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee in the College of Education, said there needs to be a grassroots approach to teacher retention, focusing on recruiting local students earning a degree in education. 

“(Signing day) is one effort to uplift, inspire and raise awareness that education is indeed a worthy profession, one worthy of being celebrated, honored and worthy of attraction,” Ellerbrock said. 

Photo by Liz Ramos

Before the start of the 2023-2024 school year, the School District of Manatee County welcomed more than 300 new teachers to the district. 

Wysong said there are more pathways into an education career now than earning a degree to become an educator. Besides the USFSM graduates and other recent college graduates joining the education workforce, Wysong said more people are choosing education as a second career. 

“For us as a school system, we have to make sure we’re supporting each of those groups with their unique needs,” he said. “It’s great for kids to have teachers who know the research and have had the kind of clinical training, and it’s great when kids learn from people who have been out in the field and have a lot of life experience.”

Wysong said a key to getting more people into education is exposing them to the classroom environment so they can see the challenges and the rewarding aspects of working with children. 

“There’s nothing more rewarding than working with a child and seeing the moments of connection and then hearing from former students that you made a difference in their life,” Wysong said. “That’s gotten a little bit lost amidst everything else going on in the world and in education.”

Ellerbrock and Wysong said one of the best moments a first-year teacher will have is seeing those “lightbulb moments” where a lesson clicks for a student.

The first-year teachers will have the joy of seeing students overcome obstacles, knowing they played just a small part in helping them. 

Ellerbrock said the coursework at USFSM is “kid forward,” meaning the future teachers focus on the whole child. 

“We’re not just there to teach arithmetic or to teach how to read,” Ellerbrock said. “We’re here to teach the child, that includes all their needs. That is challenging, but until you are able to have that student feel safe, respected, heard and cared for, could you ever expect that child to learn from you and to learn with you?”

Korissa Erdman, one of the USFSM students who will be starting her first year of teaching math at Southeast High School next school year, said she’s looking forward to developing relationships with her students and colleagues. She said the biggest challenge will be adjusting to having her own classroom and making her own. 

Wysong said ensuring there are supports in place for teachers and resources are easily available will help new teachers. 

Ginger Collins, the principal at Southeast High, agreed. She said Erdman will have a math coach available at all times to assist. She encouraged Erdman to listen and observe teachers with more experience but also not hesitate to share new strategies. 

Ellerbrock’s biggest piece of advice is to treat each child like a Cracker Jack box. She said teachers must dive in to find the prize inside each child and utilize it to help the child be successful in the way the child deems success. 

“I never, ever want any of our teacher candidates to lose the focus on the child,” she said. “Tune out the noise. Stay laser focused on that child and find the prize.”