08-04-2025
Symposium held in Morgantown for West Virginia teachers in training
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — The West Virginia Department of Education hosted the 'Grow Your Own and Milken Educators Symposium' at the Morgantown Marriott on Monday for students training to become teachers.
The 'Grow Your Own Pathway to Teaching' program was started to help develop West Virginia's teaching workforce and give students in high school an accelerated path to becoming a teacher.
Over the next two days, students will hear from Milken Award-winning teachers about the latest practices and issues in the education field. Session topics include 'Teaching with Integrity: Navigating Ethical Challenges,' 'What Does AI Mean for Me?' and 'Assessment 101,' among others.
This week's symposium will be attended by 100 students from 20 schools throughout the state. In total, 476 West Virginia students are enrolled in the 'Grow Your Own' program.
The program starts in high school, where the goal is to have students spend time in real classrooms in a training capacity so they can be at a college sophomore level academically when they graduate.
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In college, students will continue to receive support as they delve further into the teaching profession. Participating school districts will then give hiring preference to graduates of the 'Grow Your Own' program.
'The goal today is to really recruit within the state and to get our young people to realize that teaching is very rewarding,' West Virginia Department of Education Director of Education Preparation Dr. Traci Tuttle said. 'West Virginia has a lot of support for them if they choose to stay in the state and teach in the state, and we want them here.'
Pocahontas County High School senior Miranda Gum is one of the students enrolled in the program. She plans to teach preschool and has learned a lot in her observation hours.
'There are many students and there are many different ways that they behave,' Gum said. 'Some children learn this way and some other children learn a different way, so you have to focus on them and how they can learn the best.'
You can learn more about the Grow Your Own program by clicking here.
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