Addressing Alaska’s statewide teacher shortage is critical, particularly as it impacts K–12 Indigenous populations in both rural and urban Alaska. Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher pathways have the potential to provide long-term stability to Alaska’s teaching force, and provide communities with teachers that have a deep understanding of the places and students where they teach. Building functional partnerships between teacher preparation programs, school districts, and local organizations can create high quality, funded pathways to a locally grown teaching force that is already making a difference in some regions of Alaska. We will share with you several models for partnership development, as well as address the challenges associated with the deep partnership commitments necessary to bring these partnerships to fruition.
