A teacher apprenticeship program aiming to increase the number of teachers in the state is announcing 15 new graduates. The South Dakota Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway, or TAP, program now has more than 70 graduates.
The TAP program allows paraprofessionals currently working in a school, such as teacher’s aides, to earn a teaching certificate while still working.
Participants earn a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, special education or secondary education.
The program gives enrollees a discounted degree at Dakota State University and Northern State University over a two-to-three-year period. The Department of Education said it eliminates financial barriers for prospective educators.
It also allows participants to stay and work in their hometown while earning a degree.
This fall 15 participants from communities across the state graduated from DSU. Below are the school districts those graduates are from:
- Andes Central
- Bison
- Chamberlain
- Dell Rapids
- Lennox
- Rapid City
- Sioux Valley
- Smee/Wakpala
- Spearfish
- Tea
- Warner
- Wolsey-Wessington
- Yankton.
