The Vincennes Community School Corporation is strengthening its efforts to recruit and develop future educators through a new partnership with Vincennes University.
VCSC Superintendent Greg Parsley joined Vincennes University leaders last Wednesday to sign a memorandum of understanding supporting VU’s new Online Teacher Preparation Initiative.
The program creates a flexible pathway for aspiring educators, including current school employees and community members, to earn a bachelor’s degree and work toward teacher licensure.
For VCSC, the partnership supports a “Grow Your Own” approach — creating opportunities for individuals who are already connected to local schools and the Vincennes community to become licensed teachers.
“We appreciate the partnership with Vincennes University,” Parsley said.
“We know we need teachers, and we need high-quality teachers. We’ve had a long relationship with VU. A large number of our teachers come from Vincennes University, so anything that we can partner with the University on, including the Grow-Your-Own initiative, is a win for the VCSC.”
Through the initiative, Vincennes University is offering an online bachelor’s degree with dual licensure in Elementary Education (K-6) and Special Education – Mild Interventions (P-12).
The online format is designed to make earning a teaching degree more accessible for paraprofessionals, career changers and others who may need to continue working while completing their education.
The program could also provide another pathway for current VCSC employees who are interested in becoming licensed classroom teachers.
VU developed the initiative following conversations with K-12 school partners about the challenges districts face in recruiting qualified educators, particularly in elementary and special education.
“This initiative comes straight from conversations with our K-12 school partners, who shared the specific challenges they face every day,” VU Provost Jaci Lederman said.
“Vincennes University created this online program in direct response to those needs, tearing down geographic and financial walls.”
The partnership builds on a longstanding relationship between VCSC and Vincennes University that already provides opportunities for students and staff. That connection is also visible inside VCSC classrooms.
Vincennes Lincoln High School history teacher Collin Crabtree is a 2020 VU graduate and returned to teach in the same community where he grew up.
“A lot of the methods that we learned at VU were tremendous in helping me be prepared for a classroom,” Crabtree said.
“I’m thankful for the experiences the VU Education program gave me during college, and being able to work in my hometown in a corporation that I grew up in.”
VCSC leaders hope the new initiative can help create more stories like Crabtree’s by giving local individuals an accessible path into education while helping the school corporation develop the next generation of teachers.
The Online Teacher Preparation Initiative is one more way VCSC and Vincennes University are working together to invest in education — and in the people who will lead local classrooms in the years ahead.