Pioneer CTC and University of Toledo Partner to Offer Local Teacher Licensure Program

SHELBY — When Jacob Meadows started his job as an agribusiness teacher at Mansfield Senior High School, he spent four hours a week commuting to Toledo for his bachelor’s degree in career and technical education.

It was a difficult journey, but necessary at the time.

Vocational and technical education teachers have different professional qualifications than other teaching positions.

They must have at least five years of experience in their field or industry before entering the classroom. Then, they must complete a program to obtain a license.

Meadows said he worked in construction for about 26 years before starting at Mansfield Senior High in 2023. He also owns a farm.

“I wanted to give back,” Meadows said. “This was my way of giving back to the younger generation.”

Vocational and technical education teachers, however, must acquire new skills. Teaching requires designing lesson plans, conducting assessments, and understanding educational jargon.

That’s where Meadows’ bachelor’s degree program in career and technical education at the University of Toledo comes in. But the four-hour commute each week is long, and some say it poses a potential barrier to other career and technical education teachers who want to enter the field.

Enter: a new partnership between the University of Toledo and Pioneer, Richland County’s career center.

The plan proposes a career and technical education license program on the Pioneer campus for educators from Ashland and Richland counties and surrounding areas.

The Ins and Outs of the Bachelor’s Program

Historically, according to Deb Heban, coordinator and director of the University of Toledo’s career and technical education program, career and technical education bachelor’s degree programs were offered in person.

There are some hybrid options. Some lessons in a CTE degree program can be taught online, Heban said.

However, unless a program is at least partially in-person, the state Department of Education and Workforce Development does not fund it.

“I totally agree with that and I’m passionate about it because career tech is a hands-on profession,” Heban said. “Career tech education is hands-on, so you can’t learn it online.”

However, CTE degree programs exist at only a handful of universities statewide:

For the University of Toledo’s bachelor’s degree program, teachers must complete 24 credit hours over a period of four semesters, or two years.

“An easy yes”

Because at least part of the curriculum must be completed in person, teachers like Meadows sometimes have to drive hours to get their licenses.

This lack of geographic accessibility to programs poses a barrier for new educators, according to Greg Nickoli, superintendent of the Pioneer Career and Technology Center.

Nickoli said this problem, combined with other factors, makes it difficult to recruit new teachers into career and technical education.

It’s the same content, but it’s not the same work.

Greg Nickoli, director of the Pioneer Career and Technology Center

Heban added that there is a well-documented shortage of teachers, both statewide and nationally. Career and technical education is not immune to this shortage.

In fact, some studies suggest that vocational and technical education has a harder time filling vacancies than academic subjects.

Nickoli added that recruiting people from an industry background to teach at a career technology school like Pioneer poses unique challenges.

Heban and Nickoli said many career technology teachers take pay cuts to get into the teaching profession. Nickoli added that working with students and taking on that kind of responsibility can also cause people to move away from the job.

“I have to figure out how to get my knowledge across to students?” Nickoli said. “How do I teach them that?”

“It’s a different profession, and that’s one of the things we try to impress on new teachers: They’re entering a new profession. It’s not the same thing. It’s the same content, but it’s not the same job.”

When Heban approached Nickoli with the idea of ​​offering training classes on Pioneer’s campus, Nickoli said it was “an easy yes.”

Heban also recruited TJ Houston to teach the program at Pioneer. Houston is an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s bachelor’s program and a cybersecurity instructor at the Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center.

To Heban and Nickoli’s knowledge, the University of Toledo is the first in the state to offer an in-person, off-campus CTE degree program.

Teacher Training Camp

Houston launched the program with what it called a three-week “teacher boot camp” from July to August. The boot camp ended Aug. 8. Six teachers participated. These educators were preparing for either their first year in the classroom or their second year in the program.

Classes will resume as soon as the University of Toledo begins its fall semester, Houston said. The university’s start date is Aug. 26.

The curriculum of the bachelor’s program covers professional skills and knowledge in its first semester.

Teachers also learn different methods of vocational and technical teaching and receive coaching. They conclude the program with courses on curriculum construction and a seminar.

So far, only teachers from Pioneer and Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center have participated in the Pioneer program.

But Heban said there are many other career centers in surrounding counties for which Pioneer would be a closer location than Toledo.

Heban wants to expand the satellite program by making it available to teachers at these other vocational centers. She also hopes that more vocational centers in other parts of the state will offer the University of Toledo bachelor’s degree courses.

Key points for teachers

For Eddie McGinty, an automotive technology teacher at Mansfield Senior who launched the degree program last year, having the courses offered closer to home has already made a difference.

McGinty said the commute from Mansfield to Toledo to attend classes last year was a challenge. While education hasn’t always been accessible, his experience with the University of Toledo has been different.

McGinty said the instructors made him feel like an equal.

This year, by offering the program locally, he feels the university has done everything possible to accommodate him.

That’s exactly what Heban hoped to accomplish by offering the program in a location closer to teachers.

Zach Lozier, former manager of Pro Touch in Ashland, will take over as an auto body instructor at Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center this year. He said the summer boot camp helped prepare him to step into the classroom for the first time.

The Loudonville High School graduate entered boot camp nervous about teaching. He didn’t understand the effort it took to walk into a classroom prepared every day.

But during training camp, things “clicked,” Lozier said. He credited Houston for encouraging him to take the next step in his career by turning to teaching.

As an alumnus of the University of Toledo program, Houston knows what qualities are needed in a career technology teacher. You need someone who can be a “life coach” and be there for students. Those are the qualities he saw in Lozier.

Houston said he looks forward to continuing to help Lozier and other educators through the licensing program.

“The hearts are there, and the rest can be formed,” Houston said.

This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part through the generous support of the Ashland County Community Foundation.