NAU, BCSD host workshop for tuition-free teaching degree

BULLHEAD CITY – Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Mohave County public school districts are continuing their joint efforts to train a new generation of teachers that are not only from the area, but who also desire to stay here and teach after graduation.
NAU and the Bullhead City School District (BCSD) will hold a workshop for anyone interested in obtaining a tuition-waived bachelor’s degree from NAU, in exchange for teaching in a Mohave County school. Laughlin and Needles residents are also eligible.
Now in its ninth year, the “Grow Your Own” program is open to both adults and students from throughout Mohave County and the Tri-State area interested in public education as a profession.
The workshop will be held Friday, January 10, in the BCSD board room, 1004 Hancock Road. The 7:30 a.m. session lasts about an hour and is designed for those who don’t want to miss work.
Some students in NAU’s “Grow Your Own” program spend their first two years at a community college before transferring to finish their bachelor’s degree. Others spend the entire four years at NAU. The program includes three years of undergraduate classroom work and a final semester of observed student teaching. In exchange for the waived financial aid, the new teachers commit to teach in an Arizona public school for each year they received their scholarship through the Arizona Teachers Academy.
There are 15 public school districts in Mohave County, as well as public charters. Locals who wish to stay within their communities or near their families after graduation may teach at any level Arizona school after receiving their teaching certification. The program also includes early childhood education and special education.
The program is overseen by NAU assistant clinical professor Amanda Amann, who is also BCSD’s English Language Learner director. She may be reached at Amanda.Amann@nau.edu.
– Lance Ross