New grant encourages career transition to teaching in Missouri

WEBB CITY, Mo. — It's a big financial boost in southwest Missouri.

The goal: make sure local students get the right teacher in their classrooms... something that's becoming tougher and tougher.

"I'm sitting here thinking I should have done this long time ago," said Roger Doman, teacher in training.

For Roger Doman, that's transitioning from working as an athletic trainer to becoming a teacher.

"The reward was I was able to be home more with my family and actually see my kids, you know, go to their events and be present and be there for my wife and everything," said Doman.

He's taking the classes needed for an educational degree, a trend Dr. Melissa Massey wants to see grow.

"We found out a lot of people wish they would have been teachers, and you don't find that out until later in life," said Dr. Melissa Massey, SW Center for Ed. Excellence Exec. Dir.

Now she and the Southwest Center for Educational Excellence can help encourage that decision with a big grant.

The U.S. Department of Education is giving them $4.3 million in grant funding for the "Teacher Quality Partnership" program.

The money will be used to help professionals—like Doman—who want to transition from their current career to education.

"The purpose of this grant is to attract and retain qualified teachers for our school districts, because right now we have such a shortage of teachers," said Massey.

In fact, a state report last spring showed more than 12 thousand teaching jobs went unfilled.

The T.Q.P. grant aims to encourage a wider field of applicants to fill those openings.

"We pay for their tuition, but we also provide them with professional development—PD. So PD, that helps them be better teachers, that gives those best teaching practices that continues them to allow to build their knowledge on just what they need," said Massey.

If you're interested in making the switch to teaching—you can apply for grant funding for educational costs.

You can find more information on the Southwest Center's website, here.