How to Build a Foundation of Induction and Mentoring

If you’re interested in better supporting the new teachers in your school or district, you don’t have to do it alone. 

The Arizona K12 Center is again able to provide comprehensive support, including up to $150,000 over two years, to help build new teacher support in schools or districts that are a part of the Arizona New Teacher Support Program. The application to join this program is now open with applications due Monday, February 22.

Formerly called the Arizona Master Teacher Program, the Arizona New Teacher Support Program provides monetary support and ongoing training to equip new teacher mentors in your school or district.

The Arizona New Teacher Support Program is designed to:

• Foster a spirit of accomplishment among Arizona’s teachers
• Recognize the contribution of excellent teaching in our communities, and elevate the status of the profession
• Provide training and support to those who mentor beginning teachers in schools throughout Arizona, starting with those in greatest need

A quality induction into your teaching community and ongoing mentoring is significant for new teachers.

Last summer, Allie Oskolkoff was overwhelmed about moving from Flagstaff where she had graduated from Northern Arizona University to Lake Havasu, adjusting to post-college life, and being prepared to start teaching at Lake Havasu Unified School District. But then she connected with her district mentor, Ginny Sautner, and attended Lake Havasu’s new teacher orientation.

“First day of new teacher orientation,” Oskolkoff says, “I felt like ‘OK, I can do this; I’m supposed to be here. I have the support that I need. We have structure and I know what I’m coming in for tomorrow to practice for.’ It’s just been amazing. It definitely would not have been the start it was if we did not have this mentor program.”

Oskolkoff says that, before starting at Lake Havasu, she had been uncertain about having a mentor. She envisioned it as being a stressful thing, having to be perfect whenever teaching in front of her mentor, or even as having a babysitter. But that has not been Oskolkoff’s experience at all. Sautner is an Arizona Master Teacher Mentor through the Arizona New Teacher Support program and Oskolkoff has seen how Sautner is there to truly support her growth as a teacher.

Sautner “practices what she preaches” as far as following protocols and modeling a growth mindset, Oskolkoff explains. They are both growing together at bettering their practice.

“I am very thankful for all of the support and guidance she gives us,” Oskolkoff says.

You can hear more about Sautner’s mentorship and how it has supported Oskolkoff in this episode of the 3Ps in a Pod podcast. You can also read more about the impact of mentoring new teachers across Arizona in Case Studies in Mentoring.

Learn more about the Arizona New Teacher Support Program, a part of the Arizona Teachers Academy, and find the application to join the next cohort at this link.