The Teacher Training Committee (TTC), who works under the oversight of the Federation Board, would like to bring you up to date on the work that has been done with the Mentoring Program, as well as make you aware of an upcoming Mentor Training course.

HISTORY OF THE MENTORING PROGRAM

Since the spring of 2018, the TTC has been working to develop a multi-tiered program for mentoring new teachers in response to input received from a survey sent out to teachers in 2017. More than 80% of the respondents stated that a mentor teacher would have been of great value to them in the early years of their teaching. Respondents also strongly expressed that they would have appreciated help in applying Reformed principles to the subject areas and the work in the classroom. The TTC believed that these two objectives could be met best with a mentoring program that was focused on the Reformed principles.

The Second Tier of this program, Walking Alongside the First-Year Teacher, has been utilized within many of our schools since it was approved by the delegates at the Federation meeting in the spring of 2019. The Third Tier, Grounding and Refining the Teacher’s Craft, is also up and running after its approval by the Federation delegates. In addition to approving these tiers of the Mentoring Program, the Federation approved the compensation amount of $1500 to each teacher who serves as a mentor for a new teacher in the Second Tier, and up to $2000 for each teacher who mentors within the Third Tier. This stipend is paid to the mentor by the Federation.  

The First Tier, Developing a Worldview Filter, is still in development. This tier is meant to encourage and support college students who are aspiring to be teachers in the Protestant Reformed Schools, while also helping them become more knowledgeable and comfortable when looking forward to the process of interviewing, hiring, and beginning to teach.

NEED FOR MENTORS

As the Mentoring Program continues to be utilized within our schools, the demand for mentors will continue to be great. In the upcoming school year, there could be a need for up to 20 mentors to walk alongside new teachers. While there is no guarantee that each trained mentor will have a teacher to work with every year, both the TTC and Federation would like to see many experienced teachers be available to do this work as needed. Therefore, we want to make you aware of this opportunity and encourage those who are eligible to consider taking the upcoming Mentor Training course this summer. 

To be eligible to work as a mentor teacher, you must meet the following criteria: 1) At least 5 years of teaching experience in the Protestant Reformed Schools, 2) Be certified by the state in which you teach OR have an endorsement from your administrator stating the reason why certification is not current and a recommendation for being a mentor in this program, and 3) Be in agreement with the contents of the Mentoring Program. 

UPCOMING MENTOR TRAINING COURSE

This course will be 5-6 hours of instruction that will take place on Monday, June 9, 2025  at Heritage Christian School in Hudsonville, Michigan. It will include an introduction to the basic work of mentoring, an overview of the content used in this program, and instruction about the practical implementation of this program in the school setting. It is our hope that most teachers who are interested will be able to be physically present for this training session, but we will also deliver this program through an online format if that is needed. We encourage you to sign up for this training soon by using the following link which will bring you to the form: Mentor Sign-Up Form.

Please give serious consideration to the opportunity to use your experience and knowledge to assist those who are just beginning their work in our Protestant Reformed schools. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CREDITS

As a side note, it has always been the goal of the TTC to have teachers receive professional development credits for the work done in our programs. We are working to ensure that teachers in the State of Michigan will be able to receive credits that count toward recertification for both the Mentor Training course and the time spent mentoring new teachers in the Mentoring Program. Each state's certification requirements are different so this may not apply to everyone. The TTC will do what we can to assist those in other states as well. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions that you may have.

On behalf of the Teacher Training Committee,

Randy Kuiper, Managing Director

rjkuiper@hchr.org