The NCS apprenticeship for educators
Earn your teaching certification while LIVING and WORKING in NELSON COUNTY
The Nelson County Schools offers Education Collab students and current district employees the opportunity to enter a certified educator apprenticeship. Through the apprenticeship program, future educators will be hired by the district and work as a student teacher while enrolled at Western Kentucky University.
Open as early as freshman year
The model incorporates 2.5 hours daily of place-based and experiential learning students may enter as early as 9th grade. During their four-year high school career, students participate in dual-credit enrollment through Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and WKU to attain 59 hours of college credit, thus meeting post-secondary general education requirements as well as 24 hours toward teacher certification.
The paid youth apprenticeship will start in the student’s junior or senior year.
Earn your degree while teaching at NCS
Upon graduation, the student apprentices will continue to be paid employees of Nelson County Schools and enrolled at WKU to complete the remaining 61 hours toward a bachelor’s degree. Students remain in the Nelson County community throughout the college experience.
At the conclusion of the two-year student-teaching style experience, students attain their bachelor’s degree and Kentucky teacher certification, completing a total of 6,000 hours of coursework and on-the-job training.
Open to anyone with an associate degree
Anyone who has an associate degree may also apply and begin working for the district as an apprentice while completing education coursework and on-the-job training.
The NCS Education Collab
In the News
Read more about the announcement of The Nelson County Schools' teacher apprenticeship program KENTUCKY TEACHER
Read more about what this apprenticeship means for Nelson County Schools on our NEXT News
What they're saying
It is a win for our state as we expand our homegrown pool of teachers and a win for students who continue earning a college degree while being able to start their teaching career two years earlier.”Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear
This new apprenticeship program, providing a streamlined, faster pathway for high school students to become a teacher, is an excellent workforce tool that is a first for our state and a model for the nation ... It positions Kentucky as a leader in addressing the critical teacher shortage throughout our country.” Education and Labor Cabinet Secretary Jamie Link
Our country needs to seek new, innovative solutions to solve the teacher shortage and I’m proud to see Kentucky leading the way with the apprenticeship program in Nelson County.” Education Commissioner Jason E. Glass