W.T. White P-Tech Students May Return as Teachers
By Javier Giribet-Vargas
Dallas ISD
For W.T. White High School P-TECH sophomore Micayla Martin, volunteering in one of her school’s special education classrooms helped her realize her calling of becoming a teacher.
Martin, who is enrolled in her school’s education pathway, now has a big head start on achieving her calling after being one of 12 W.T. White students who received a letter of intent to return to Dallas ISD and work as teachers after earning a bachelor’s degree.
“I love teaching students and interacting with them and spending time in the classroom,” Martin said. “I’m so excited for this opportunity.”
Dallas ISD’s Human Capital Management representatives joined campus staff to organize Letter of Intent ceremonies at three high schools offering an education pathway.
Dallas ISD manages 18 Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) programs and eight collegiate academies, where students can choose from a wide variety of career pathways, take college courses and earn up to 60 credit hours while in high school. All incoming freshmen can apply to enroll in this four-year program and earn an associate degree – along with their high school diploma – upon completion.
The Dallas ISD Human Capital Management (HCM) Department serves as an industry partner for the district’s P-TECH’s and Early College High Schools that offer an education pathway. As an industry partner, HCM invites talented educators to speak to students at high schools and organize field trips for the students.
“It’s an overwhelming feeling to know that these kids will represent themselves when they get back into the classroom as teachers,” Justin Bryant, HCM Initiatives Coordinator said. “They’re going to look like their students, they’re going to talk like their students, they’re going to be from the same community as their students. The impact will be so much greater.”
