Applications are now open for the Golden Apple Foundation's Scholars and Accelerators programs in Illinois.
"We're providing intensive wraparound support so that you don't feel alone," said Alicia Winckler, CEO of Golden Apple, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing and supporting future educators.
The Scholars Program is a teacher preparation and tuition assistance program geared toward high school seniors and freshman and sophomores in college, while the Accelerators Program is a 15-month teacher residency and licensure program for career changers and college seniors not on a teaching path.
Winckler said the programs provide participants with support and knowledge they might not have had in school.
"You have a strong peer network that we help you build with other aspiring teachers in our programs every summer and then we give you some intensive tools and supports that not every university has the ability to deliver at scale," she said.
The said part of the goal of the programs is to address the teacher shortage. Illinois currently faces nearly 4,000 unfilled teaching positions, with 87% of school leaders reporting shortages.
"Those vacancies result in, in some cases, under qualified or not as well prepared people being in front of students," Winckler said. "We've got to be focused both on recruiting people into the profession and doing the right things when they are in the profession to ensure they excel, are supported and stay."
She said more than 1,800 applications have already been started for the programs.
"I don't want that to discourage people. I want it to encourage them," she said. "We do encourage folks to tell us authentically their story about why they want to become a teacher because this does take an element of persistence and grit that goes beyond what everybody is born with."