It was the middle of summer, but Berit Wilkins’ classroom was in session. 

On a recent Wednesday, the teacher was giving a math lesson to a group of incoming ninth graders. But Wilkins decided to pause for a doodle break. 

“Do you want to pass the markers out?” she asked a girl, clad in a hot pink shirt and jeans, seated in the front row. The student then distributed the markers and mini whiteboards to her peers. 

“If we’re doing math, we’re doing math, but I also like to take a break and doodle,” Wilkins said. “It helps me focus.”

Wilkins and her students were part of a recent five-week training called the Detroit Summer Learning Institute. Organized by TeachMichigan, the initiative launched by Teach for America Detroit works to recruit, retain and develop educators across the state. This year’s session provided free enrichment for students at the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as on-the-ground training and school leadership practice for TeachMichigan fellows.

The 24 fellows who took part this year consisted of enrichment teachers, school operations managers, school directors and mentor teachers, said Nikhita Navani, managing director of principal leadership and lab school for Teach for America Detroit. 

The program aims to give new and early-career teachers the opportunity to improve their skills by teaching in a classroom five days a week, while veteran teachers mentor those who are newer in the field. Plus, students entering first to ninth grades get a preview of what they’ll learn for the upcoming school year. 

Children spent their morning in traditional classes like math and reading and in the afternoon, switched to enrichment activities like swimming, learning Spanish and Japanese and “tennis and tech” a program where kids learn how to play tennis and code a tennis video game. Navani said that students also chose between an entrepreneurship course funded by StockX or a medical pathway course designed by a pair of TeachMichigan fellows. 

Navani said the program’s objective is to ensure teachers and students receive support and gain new skills, but TeachMichigan also aims to make fellows feel like they’re part of a school community. 

Addressing Michigan’s teacher shortage

The Detroit Summer Learning Institute coincides with a worker shortage in Michigan in almost every type of education role, from teachers, bus drivers to counselors and social workers. 

In recent years, state leaders have approved funding for scholarships for college students who are learning to become teachers as well as stipends for student teachers who previously were unpaid as they worked alongside professional teachers in the classrooms.

Some school districts initiated individual “grow your own” programs to train existing school workers to become certified teachers. Last year, the state launched Talent Together, a partnership involving 48 intermediate school districts and nine university teacher preparation programs to train more people to become certified teachers in Michigan. 

TFA Detroit, which was created in 2010, decided to expand its reach with TeachMichigan last year. The organization partners with Benzie County Central Schools, Kentwood Public Schools, Lansing School District, Saginaw Public Schools, Sault Ste. Marie Area Public Schools, Grand Rapids Public Schools and Traverse City Area Public Schools to recruit educators on their staff who will earn stipends of $35,000 each over three years. 

The heart of improving the economic future for Michigan is investing in high quality teachers, said Armen Hratchian, executive director of TFA Detroit. Teacher shortages are most prominent in high poverty areas, he said, and that’s why the organization is targeting specific school districts across the state. 

“We know that teachers are the greatest input into changing the academic outcomes and ultimately, the economic mobility for students. And right now, Michigan does a really bad job of this and we’ve been on a 20-year decline,” he said. “Bloomfield Hills and Ann Arbor are struggling to get new teachers. They have fewer applications, but they still get applications. Whereas, if you go to Detroit or you go up to Traverse City or Benzie County, they’ll have a staff opening and there’ll be no applicants for years.” 

In addition to the $35,000 stipend, teachers receive two years of professional development individually and in cohorts. The program also offers three paths for educators: One focuses on strengthening skills for early-career educators, another is focused on teachers who want to achieve the rigorous National Board Certification and the third is for experienced teachers who want to take on administrative or supervisory roles.

“The data tells us that this is both an unattractive profession for a lot of folks and that teachers are leaving the profession for multiple reasons. Compensation is absolutely one of those,” Hratchian said. “This is why we’ve really taken a comprehensive approach in this fellowship structure to invest into all the different elements that teachers say are important.” 

Erynn Green said becoming a TeachMichigan fellow has been the best decision of her life so far. 

A friend told her about Teach for America in 2019 while she was in college. That same year, Green became a corps member in TFA’s Detroit region. Upon completion of the corps member program, she then became a fellow for the Encore Fellowship, a two-year program for high-performing early-career teachers committed to living and teaching in Detroit. Green is now in her fifth year as a first-grade teacher at University Prep Science and Math Elementary School.

For the Summer Learning Institute, Green tried her hand at mentoring first-year teachers. She said the experience has brought out a different side of her as an educator, as a teacher observing and giving feedback. 

Green said she’s going to take what she’s learned this summer to her classroom at UPrep, such as shadowing other first-grade teachers. 

“I was worried about stepping into the mentor role,” Green said. “I don’t want to teach somebody how to be ‘me’ because that might not work for them. But the staff here and the training that they give me as a mentor has helped me develop those skills to give advice and give first-year teachers the space to mold their own classrooms. It’s been really powerful this summer stepping into that.” 

Editor’s note: This story was updated since publication to reflect the correct year DFA Detroit was created.