At a time when new educators all over Texas are leaving the profession at an alarming rate and many more are considering the same, a small school district just east of Dallas is investing in new teachers, and the returns are substantial. Since 2014, Gilmer ISD has been placing its faith and resources into an innovative program designed to support and retain new teachers. Created and led by Dr. Dawn Harris, the Gilmer assistant superintendent, the Invest Mentoring program is designed to give first- through third-year teachers the tools and the confidence they need to succeed in those difficult years and beyond. 

Where It All Began 

Harris has worked in Gilmer ISD for 20 years as an assistant principal, principal, and now assistant superintendent. Her primary responsibility is now mentoring new teachers, and her focus has been on the Invest program since its inception. In order to fill her superintendent’s certification, Harris needed a district-wide project, so she put together a program where she could invest time into teachers who were new to the classroom. Her idea was to meet with each of them once a month to fix problems in one hour’s time. 

“I started out with 10 first-year teachers,” Harris says. “I met with them in their classrooms a lot, answered tons of questions, gave them a tissue when necessary, pats on the back, and even kicks in the butt—whatever they needed to get motivated.” 

After a few years, Harris realized that for this program to work, she would have to dedicate more time and would need to train each one differently—just like teachers differentiate to meet students’ needs. At that time, she was finishing up her doctorate, and it became apparent that the one-year, once-a-month schedule she had first proposed would need to expand to an intensive three-year program. 

The Most Challenging Part 

As any educator could tell you, the first year in a classroom can be a trial by fire. This may be a significant reason that teachers in Texas are less likely to return after their first year than at any other time in their career. Lack of experience and support combine to make that first year a huge challenge.  

“My job now is to make sure that first-year teachers do not fail,” Harris says. “You are going to succeed if you come to Gilmer. Whether you are from a traditional cert program or alternative cert program, I am going to make sure that you succeed.” 

Harris realized early on that training for teachers who were traditionally certified could be very different from those who came from an alternative certification program. The teachers who had completed a clinical teaching experience at least had an idea of what school was; those who hadn’t may have never set foot in a classroom before as an educator. 

Nick McNeel was one of those nontraditional teachers. He now teaches small engine/auto tech at Gilmer High School, but his work background did not involve any classrooms. He began his teaching journey as an EMT and oil field mechanic. Later as a shop supervisor, he trained new hires to rebuild engines. When he went to work for the maintenance department at Gilmer ISD, Harris asked him if he had ever thought about teaching. He decided to make the leap with Harris as his mentor. 

“Being here, I never felt that I was alone as a first-year teacher,” McNeel says. “Dr. Harris sets it up well where we have a lot of mentors. She is constantly pouring into us so you always have that support.”Amy Davidson, a fifth grade teacher at Gilmer Intermediate who joined the program last year, was awarded Gilmer ISD’s Elementary Rookie of the Year for 2021-22. 

“The knowledge and confidence I have gained from my first year of the Invest program is immeasurable,” says Davidson. “I learned what to expect from each part of the year from first day jitters to Christmas break excitement to state testing preparation. Most importantly, I learned how to set healthy work/home life boundaries to prevent burnout.” 

Robin Stephenson is completing her second year in the program. She is a Gilmer alumna and teaches health science at Gilmer High School. Before her career began in education, she was a certified chiropractor who had her own practice since 2006. In her first year as a teacher, she overcame many difficulties to earn the “Rookie of the Year” award for her school. 

“Last year was a unique year to start teaching with masks, remote learning, remote attendance, and all the COVID procedures,” Stephenson says. “I am pretty sure that if I made it through all of that, I could make it through anything.” 

Although transitioning into education from another field is its own unique challenge, it isn’t just the non-traditional certification teachers who struggle in their first year. 

Tamica Hill teaches second grade at Gilmer Elementary School, and she has been working in Gilmer ISD for 24 years. She just completed her sixth year in the classroom and is quick to acknowledge the difficulty she experienced. 

“Fatigue is a challenge for the first year of teaching,” Hill says. “I just felt like a hamster on a wheel some days. Just having someone you can go to and to give you that feedback and input saying, It’s ok; I‘ve been there’ is so incredibly helpful. I remember that first year, I really looked forward to the times when I could meet up with Dr. Harris and others in the program so I could see them and think: ‘Good. You are still here!’” 

Growing Together 

Harris attributes the program’s success to the investment she makes in both the lives and careers of her teachers. She explains that every new teacher has a long way to go to achieve their potential, and not all of them are cut out for the job.  

“Nobody knows everything about teaching,” says Harris. “You may have graduated summa cum laude, but when you get into a room of 28 kindergarteners for the first time, all that pedagogical stuff goes out the window. If you love kids, I can teach you how to teach. But I can’t teach you how to love those kids.” 

This attitude resonates with her teachers as they struggle through their first year and all of the self-doubt and uncertainty that comes with it. 

“Personally, the program has given me confidence,” McNeel says. “I knew that I was going to fail, and probably a lot since it was my first year. But having good mentors has taught me that failing is part of the process, and it does not mean that you are a bad teacher. As long as you are willing to keep trying, then you will eventually get it.” 

Harris aims to shift her teachers’ mindsets from wishing they were better to knowing that they are always improving. She asks them to put both their pride and insecurities aside to strive to be the best they can be—nothing more, nothing less.  

Tabitha Lair teaches third grade at Gilmer Elementary and has been there almost 10 years. When she feels down during the school year, she remembers an exercise that Harris has her teachers perform: “One of the things that Dr. Harris has us do in the program is to write a letter to ourselves explaining in our own words why we chose to teach. My reason is solely the children. I don’t really care as much about the academics—that is going to come in time. I am primarily there to love those children no matter what.” 

Training vs. Mentoring 

Harris and her teachers insist that even though training and mentoring can look awfully similar in the classroom, there are important distinctions that give each its own identity.  

“Mentoring is when you help someone when the outcome didn’t go like the training said it should,” McNeel says. “A mentor gives you advice about real-world experiences, but the best ones do not tell you it has to be done the way they did it. They let you figure out your way with guidance.” 

Unlike most training, mentoring is often unscheduled and unscripted. Educators of all varieties receive training for many aspects of their jobs, but trainers are not the same as mentors. They fulfill a more limited function that lacks the flexibility and creativity of a mentorship program.  

“Mentoring provides you with your own personal cheerleader to help you be the best version of you,” Stephenson says. “Teaching is an art, and mentoring helps hone your skills versus being trained to be a cookie cutter clone.” 

Courtney McCasland is the 2021-22 Gilmer High School Teacher of the Year. She teaches Algebra 1 and just completed her fifth year. She credits much of her success to the Invest program: “I like to think of mentoring as training wheels; it allows you to get in there and start rolling without worrying about falling down. I have these standards I am going to teach. I know this is the unit that I’m on, and I know this is the lesson for the day. But how do I make this good for the kids?” 

Every teacher is different, and each of their needs are different as well. Mentoring helps address the issues that training fails to fully cover by filling holes and connecting dots with patience, experience, and encouragement.    

Return on Investment 

Harris remains close with the 75-80 teachers in the district who have been a part of the Invest program. She has relationships with them that stretch back to the first day they stepped foot into a classroom, and her goal is to retain them all for as long as they feel called to teach. 

“At the end of the first year, when those teachers and their schools had to make a decision on whether or not they would come back the following year, all 10 returned,” Harris says. “I had feedback from principals saying that they were all getting better—whatever you are doing is working. At the end of each of their first three years, those teachers were renewed again. Now, at the end of 2022, eight of those 10 are still with me in Gilmer.” 

The progress that Harris has made within Gilmer ISD tells a story of not only the benefits of mentoring but also the need for a program dedicated to retaining new teachers. In each case, teachers didn’t just return the next year; they improved substantially. 

“This is just my second year to teach, but I think it is very important,” Stephenson says. “We established connections throughout the program that gave us someone to talk to that was in the same boat and possibly experiencing the same struggles. We formed long-lasting relationships that make it easier to collaborate and constructed a strong foundation that individuals can build upon.” 

Invest is more than just a mentoring program; it is a support network for teachers that reaches all over the district and across every grade level and subject area. Its purpose is not only to make teachers better but also to retain them. 

“Without this program, I am not sure I would have stuck with teaching,” McNeel says. “If they would have just thrown me in a classroom and said, ‘Good luck,’ I would probably be back to what I was doing before.” 

McCasland compares Harris’ role in the program to that of a parent watching her children grow up to take care of themselves: “We all entered the program as little newborn babies. In our second year, we are like toddlers learning to walk and do some things. Eventually it gets to the point where we have ‘graduated,’ but Dr. Harris is always going to check in to see if we need anything.” 

Even though the program is designed to help teachers in their first three years, the relationships last well beyond that. Harris makes it a point to check in with all her current and past teachers throughout the school year and to maintain a personal relationship with them and their families as well. 

“Dr. Harris finds ways to always be in your life without being directly in front of you,” McCasland says. “She makes it her priority to know you and to love you. Why would you not stay here?” 

What Makes This Program Special? 

Successful programs of this nature are not common, and for Harris, the key is support from the district: “I can’t say enough about Gilmer for letting me make this program my own. The board and Mr. Albritton, our superintendent, give me the resources necessary to help those teachers be better.” 

Since its inception, 91 teachers have been a part of the program, and 70 of them are coming back to Gilmer this fall.  

“Above all, I have learned that Gilmer ISD is an anomaly,” says Davidson. “From the community to the admin, they truly care about me and their teachers. They want us to be supported and successful and will provide opportunity after opportunity for just that.” 

Teachers in the program understand and appreciate the extraordinary nature of the investment that Harris and Gilmer ISD have made in them.  

“I don’t know if this program is unique, but I do know that Dr. Harris is unique,” Hill says. “She is the kind of person, where if you have been in her life, you are never out of her life. It is the same thing I say about my students: once mine, always mine. Dr. Harris invests in relationships, and it is important for us to succeed because we are important to her.” 

Every investment is an undertaking with the hope of a worthwhile result, and Gilmer has hit the jackpot with the Invest program. Harris wants schools and districts across Texas to take note of what they have accomplished and look to create their own mentoring programs to keep quality teachers from leaving the profession.  

“I don’t know that just anybody could successfully run a program like this,” Lair says. “They would have to be authentic and transparent to make it work. I do think that every district has someone with the ability to do it, but it takes more than just a body to do it right. It takes heart.”