Page 9 - Journal 89-3 Full
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the New Educators Support and Training (NEST) induction program. The CPSD is
            an annual recipient of The Rapides Foundation (2022) Effective Schools Initiative
            (ESI) grant, which provides $85,000 to the district. Part of these funds are used to
            support the NEST program, originally developed in 2013 under the leadership of
            Superintendent Dr. Gwile Freeman. In addition to the funds provided through the
            ESI grant, the CPSD has also been awarded $15,000 from the Louisiana Department
            of Education (LDOE; 2022b) through the New Teacher Experience (NTE) grant,
            which is being used in full to support the work of the NEST program from July 2022
            through June 2023.                                                                Dr. Tia Neal, a member
                                                                                              of Beta Chi Chapter
               After  Dr.  Freeman’s  retirement  in  2019,  Supervisor  Dr.  Tia  Neal  took  over   of Louisiana State
            leadership of the NEST program to ensure that new teachers continued to receive  Organization, is beginning
            support through the ESI grant. Teachers who are new to the profession, as well as  her 20th year as an
            those who are new to the district, are invited to attend NEST meetings. The NEST   educator. A supervisor in
            participants include certified teachers and uncertified teachers, as well as those who   a rural school district in
            are certified but are teaching outside their field of certification. The NEST program   Louisiana, she serves DKG
                                                                                              as the Northeast District
            serves as a pathway for beginning teachers to communicate and collaborate with    Director of Louisiana State
            other teachers throughout the district, to learn about district policies and procedures,  Organization. Dr. Neal also
            and  to  build  self-efficacy  so  that  they  can  instruct  and  manage  their  classrooms  teaches at the University
            effectively and efficiently.                                                      of Louisiana at Monroe
                                                                                              in the field of gifted
                                          Structure of NEST                                   education.
               Each school year, the CPSD plans five NEST meetings that are supported by the  tianeal@catahoulaschools.
            ESI grant. These meetings are strategically scheduled throughout the year to support  com
            teachers when they need it most. At the end of each meeting, participants complete
            a survey to determine the areas in which additional support is needed, and the final
            meeting specifically addresses these areas of need. Each NEST meeting lasts a total
            of 4 hours so as not to overwhelm the teachers with too much information during
            one session.
               The  first  meeting  of  the  NEST  program  is  held  before  school  begins.  This
            meeting is designed to help teachers become acclimated to the new school year and
            allow them an opportunity to ask questions and seek guidance before opening their
            doors to students. The CPSD spends time getting to know the teachers through team-
            building or ice breaker activities, and then time is spent delving into critical areas
            such as preparing for the first day of school, developing a classroom management
            plan, preparing for substitute teachers while maintaining student confidentiality, and
            ensuring professionalism. During this meeting, teachers who are uncertified receive
            additional support that consists of completing a temporary authority to teach (TAT)
            application  and  learning  about  teacher-preparation  programs  within  the  state  of
            Louisiana.
               During the second meeting, District Supervisor Eric Chauvin provides the NEST
            participants with information related to systems and technology. Chauvin reviews
            the district’s acceptable use policy, Internet systems and safety, and JCampus, which
            is the online platform used to enter lesson plans and grades for students. The last
            system  reviewed  by  Chauvin  is  called  “Safe  Schools,”  which  is  online  training
            provided by Vector Solutions (2022) that targets vital areas such as ethics training,
            bullying, student safety, and suicide prevention. During this meeting, Dr. Neal also
            provides Google training so that teachers can effectively use the Google Workspace
            (2022) for the purpose of checking email and posting activities in Google Classroom,
            as well as collaborating using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet. Educators


            Educators’ Choice                                                                                   7
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