Deontrenique Woods is considering becoming a teacher.

She is one of over 100 students in Teach for America Milwaukee’s Teacher Pathway Program, which is designed to introduce Milwaukee high school students to the teaching profession through dual-enrollment college courses.

The group recently hosted a Youth Educator Convening at ThriveOn King that provided high school students from Milwaukee Academy of Science, Hmong American Peace Academy, Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, Pathways High School and St. Anthony High School with the opportunity to explore education as a potential career path and gain insights into the teaching profession.

The convening included interactive workshops and firsthand accounts of the rewards and challenges of working in education.

Teacher Pathway Program

The Teacher Pathway Program was launched in 2023 by Teach For America Milwaukee in partnership with Alverno College.

“The idea of the program starts with a firm belief the talent in Milwaukee currently resides in Milwaukee classrooms,” said Michael Nguyen, the executive director of TFA Milwaukee. “So when we talk about needing excellent teachers or how we address a teacher shortage, we look to these kids right here.”

The program offers programs and conferences like the Youth Educator Convening, where students across the city can come together, learn more about what it means to be a teacher and talk about their experiences and why education would make sense as a career field.

Nguyen said last year about 70 students earned college credits; this year, the program has over 130 students enrolled. 

Finding new teachers of color

The program focuses on having teachers who reflect the communities they serve and empowering Milwaukee’s youths.

Milwaukee’s lack of teachers of color is one issue the program tries to address.

According to the Milwaukee Public Schools’ organizational profile, 90% of its students are students of color but only about half of the district’s workforce in its entirety are people of color.

Nguyen said over 90% of pathway program participants are students of color, with 90% coming from low-income backgrounds.

“First-generation college students and students of color generally, just foundationally, don’t have access to career awareness that kids who come from more privileged economic backgrounds have,” Milwaukee Academy of Science Principal Judith Parker Brown said.

“Their network of careers is smaller; their experience with teaching is really just as a consumer of education; and they don’t know how it all works, how magic happens,” she said.

‘We have to build the world we want to be a part of’

Franz Meyer, the director of community programming at TFA Milwaukee, said: “We have to build the world we want to be a part of,” and this program is a way to do that.

“The best way to do that is with children. They are the people with the most hope, the most energy, the most belief that the world can be different and better.”

Deontrenique, who attends Milwaukee Academy of Science, said she is learning to be a better classmate as a result of participating in the program.

“One of the things we had to learn about is understanding the students you’re working with because you don’t know a child’s background; you don’t know where they come from; you don’t know if they are in poverty or not,” she said. “So, it made me think about my classmates . . . I don’t know what they’re going through.”