POCATELLO — A School District 25 program is helping paraprofessionals become full-time teachers without them ever having to leave the classroom.
For Teresa Horrocks, who spent a decade working as a para before stepping into her own classroom for the first time this year, the program has been life-changing.
The Paraprofessional to Certified Teacher Pathway, known as PaCT, pairs paraprofessionals already working in District 25 with Idaho State University's teacher education program, allowing them to earn a bachelor's degree while continuing to work and get paid.
Idaho State's College of Education covers 80 percent of tuition, and the district covers the remaining 20 pecent, meaning candidates pay only for books and testing fees.
Brenda Miner, District 25's human resources director, said the pathway program is one of the top accomplishments of her career. The idea took shape in February 2022, after she noticed how many of the district's most dedicated employees, its paraprofessionals, were also among its lowest-paid. The shortage was especially evident in special education, where the district was struggling to find and retain certified teachers.
"Our hardest-working people in our classrooms are paraprofessionals, and they're not paid a great rate," Miner said. "They are really putting in the hard work, especially in special education, and that's where we have the greatest need to find teachers."
Miner then pitched the idea to Idaho State's then-dean of education to let paraprofessionals stay in their classrooms and get paid while working toward a teaching degree through an online program. The dean took the idea back to ISU, where funding through the Albion Center helped get the program off the ground.
The first year drew roughly 50 interested applicants, though enrollment has since settled to a handful of candidates on an annual basis. Miner said the program has now spread throughout the state, with cohorts in American Falls, Idaho Falls and West Ada school districts.
To qualify, a paraprofessional must have worked in the district for two years and hold a position that pairs them with a certified teacher, typically in special education or Title I reading and math support.
That certified teacher becomes a mentor, guiding the paraprofessionals through coursework as they continue working in the classroom. The degree typically takes three to four years to finish.
For Miner, the program is as much about honoring paraprofessionals as it is about filling vacancies. Miner described how many PaCT graduates stay in the district after finishing their degrees, not because they are required to, but because they have a desire to stay and already have roots within the community.
The successes of the program are evident. For over a decade, Teresa Horrocks' work as an educator has been instrumental in the development of those she has taught. She spent five years as a paraprofessional at Pocatello High School before seeking a broader experience at Wilcox Elementary School for five more. Her journey led her directly to the PaCT pathway, which compressed a five-year degree program into three. While the coursework was demanding, Horrocks drew from her invaluable experiences as a paraprofessional, describing the payoff as time well spent.
"I feel so much more confident as a teacher because of that experience that I have," Horrocks said. "But all of it's been good. The support of the district, the support of the administration where I've worked in both schools, and the professors at Idaho State are outstanding. It's all been such a positive experience. I would definitely encourage anyone to move forward in that program because it is well worth it."
Horrocks now teaches resource math in the special education program at Pocatello High School, leaning on the supporting cast of educators and staff at the school with an excitement to move forward and with the confidence that she can now teach anything. The rewards, she said, aren't measured in dollars.
"It's that successful student that you've helped that's made it," Horrocks said.
Horrocks said she still hears from former students, some now with careers, homes and families of their own, who just needed a little more support to get through school and found it.
"We gave them what they needed, and they are successful," Horrocks said. "They have built a life that's independent and productive in society. That's such a blessing to see."
As Pocatello High School's newest math teacher settles into her first year leading her own classroom, she looks back on the path that brought her here, drawing from the foundations that made her into the teacher she is today.
"My work as a para is paramount," Horrocks said. "It has really been my greatest education, because you work with kids every day. You learn classroom management, you learn curriculum. We always hear negative things about youth, about trouble, about problems, but there is so much good. I know that kids want to succeed, and we are there to help them do that."