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Home Grown: A national model for hiring teachers in rural communities

by Dawn Montecalvo
ll students deserve “Teaching children is more than a job for me;
a high-quality it’s my life’s work,” said teacher Esperanza Leon.
A education, especially “I see myself as a bridge that invites children to
children living in rural come across to learn, to be creative and to explore
communities. the world around them. I am grateful that my career and my purpose
When Guadalupe Center mapped out come together each day with my students at Guadalupe Center.”
its plan to increase access to education for What if Guadalupe Center had followed a more traditional
families living in Immokalee, the biggest route and simply posted vacancies on job boards and in education
challenge was not securing funding to build two new state-of-the- publications? Given what is happening nationally, many of the 28
art campuses in 24 months. positions might still be vacant if Guadalupe Center wasn’t proactive.
Instead, the biggest challenge to Guadalupe Center’s ambitious The headline of a Fortune article this winter read “Staff shortages are
expansion plan was finding teachers in a rural community where crippling child care centers across the U.S.” A CNBC story notes
less than half of adults have a high school diploma, let alone a education is suffering from a “burnout crisis” as teachers leave the
college degree. Growth was obviously important, but not at the profession for a multitude of reasons, including safety concerns, low
expense of quality – a high-quality education starts with high- salaries, funding deficits and declining mental health. Locally, dozens
quality educators who have access to a strong network of support. of child care providers have limited enrollments or closed altogether
A year ago in this very magazine, we outlined a plan to because they were unable to find teachers. A classroom without a
recruit, train and support individuals already living in Immokalee, teacher means you have a classroom without students.
eliminating what had been the biggest barrier to attracting teachers Any hiring manager will affirm their job is not simply filling
– distance. We implemented a seven-step approach to establishing vacancies... it’s identifying and placing the right people in the right
a professional career path for early learning educators: roles. Good teachers inspire their students to become lifelong
Step 1: Hire a full-time recruitment, training and curriculum learners, to pursue their passions, to strive for the best, to never give
specialist to oversee hiring initiatives and professional development. up, to achieve anything and everything they imagine. Guadalupe
Step 2: Establish partnerships with curriculum and Center’s NAEYC-accredited Early Childhood Education Program
professional development experts at the college level. has an astounding record of preparing youth for the future as 95% of
Step 3: Build financial support from visionaries willing to students meet or exceed Florida’s kindergarten readiness standards. A
open their hearts to provide students with opportunities to learn. child prepared for elementary school is a student prepared for middle
Step 4: Offer competitive compensation that makes education school, high school, college and a career. That’s why replicating this
an attractive occupation with additional bonuses based on type of program across Immokalee, Southwest Florida and beyond is
certification levels. critical – every child should have an opportunity to learn.
Step 5: Identify potential candidates from pools that include We always tell our students to dream big, set a lofty goal and chart
parents of current and former students, recent high school a course to reach it. That’s exactly what we did in establishing both
graduates and retirees. new campuses in Immokalee.
Step 6: Offer paid training opportunities and certification They said it couldn’t be done. But here we are today, being
programs to help teachers earn required academic credentials. proactive to create a career pathway for highly skilled educators while
Step 7: Help teachers continually refine their skills through providing 218 additional Immokalee students with access to high-
an ongoing training and on-the-job performance review system. quality education programs that will fuel endless possibilities for years
Guadalupe Center opened the van Otterloo Family Campus for to come.
Learning last summer with 28 new teachers. Where does it stand About the Author
now, one year later? Today, 26 of those original 28 teachers are Dawn Montecalvo is president at Guadalupe Center, which provides
still in their classrooms providing a strong educational, emotional, educational services to more than 1,750 students annually in Immokalee.
behavioral and social foundation so crucial to a child’s development. To learn more, please visit GuadalupeCenter.org or call 239-657-7711.

Life in Naples | April 2023 47