Teaching is a challenging, ever-changing, yet always essential job. Teachers have the important role of educating our future, and Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana is committed to providing these teachers with the resources and support required to thrive.
Big Shoulders Fund, whose mission is to provide children with access to quality, values-based education, works with schools throughout the Diocese of Gary. From grade school to high school, Big Shoulders Fund is there – sometimes with school supplies, and other times with training. One of the most impactful programs is the Instructional Coach Initiative. Led by veteran educator Dr. Mia Jones, the initiative empowers teachers to become leaders and mentors within their schools.
“When we started this program, the goal was to take already high-performing teachers and train them to take on additional leadership positions within their buildings,” Dr. Jones said. “We equip them to lead professional learning community meetings, to provide whole-school professional development, and to offer one-on-one professional coaching for teachers.”
14 teachers across 10 schools are currently participating in the program, which takes place over three years. Six of those teachers are in the first cohort set to complete the program this year and settle into new coaching roles at their schools – for which Big Shoulders Fund will be providing them a stipend.
These coaches need to be both talented educators and exceptional communicators. They stay on top of the latest teaching methods and newest technologies and can demonstrate how it all can be used within the classroom. They may also observe a fellow teacher’s instruction and offer constructive feedback on how they can improve, making them a powerful asset for any school.
“They provide that professional development, but they also improve teacher recruitment,” Dr. Jones said. “When teachers find out that there are instructional coaches working within school buildings, they are more likely to want to work in that environment. It also increases retention and reduces turnover because new teachers in buildings with instructional coaches have someone there to support them while they’re learning the profession.”
Through three years of monthly lessons, participating teachers become reservoirs of educational knowledge. They can use data to identify what areas students are struggling to then implement effective lesson plans and help other teachers build those same skills.
Few educators are as well equipped to handle the Instructional Coach Initiative as Dr. Jones. She brings over 30 years of experience with the School City of Hammond, where she served as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator for students of all ages.
“I’ve been in education for two months and 34 extraordinary years,” she said. “The experiences have been vast. What that has allowed me to do is sit in the seat of a teacher and know what it’s like to be an administrator. I know what it’s like to work with those roles from both perspectives. I’m working with the teachers in the Instructional Coach Initiative to help them be sympathetic and empathetic and put themselves in the shoes of the educators they serve.”
While the first cohort of coaches is finishing its final year of training, participants in every stage are already seeing results.
“I have had the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with fellow teachers to discuss strategies and best practices to help drive instruction and benefit student learning,” said Jennifer Emerson, resource teacher at St. John the Evangelist School, who is in year two of training. “I have enjoyed learning and sharing with the other coaches and am grateful for this opportunity to take the knowledge that I have learned back to St. John the Evangelist. I feel confident that I can help our school to grow into something even greater!”
To learn more about Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana, visit bigshouldersfund.org/nwi.
