'Lindsay Residency Program' helping aspiring teachers

LINDSAY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Valley program is giving people the chance to get their teaching credential and master's degree in a year.

The Lindsay Residency Program is currently accepting applications and looking for aspiring educators.

Isaiah Duran is a 7th grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School in Lindsay.

Although it's his first year of teaching, he says he walked into the classroom prepared for anything.

"This is a year one for me. I don't feel like year one. I just feel like I have so many resources going through the program," Duran said.

His confidence came from the Lindsay Residency Program.

It's a one-year plan that allows aspiring educators to earn their teaching credentials and master's degree while getting hands-on experience in the classroom.

"To me, that seemed to be too good to be true. You don't get that opportunity anywhere, so I jumped right onto that," Duran said.

The residency also gave Duran a chance to give back to the community where he grew up.

He was once a student at the school where he now teaches. He gave the speech during the groundbreaking as a fourth-grade student.

"Just for me to be able to teach in the community that I'm from was a dream come true," Duran said.

Yazmin Martin is the program coordinator.

She says benefits for residents include a more than $31,000 stipend to help with the cost of living, and the opportunity to receive state and federal grants to offset the cost of tuition.

Each resident is also paired with a mentor teacher for the entire year.

"Our residents get that course work and simultaneously, they will actually be teaching in the classroom, so they will be applying everything that they learned from the coursework the next day into their teaching practice," Martin said.

Applicants must be dedicated and passionate, must have a bachelor's degree by May, and must be willing to work four years following the residency in Lindsay, Dinuba, Cutler-Orosi Joint or Woodlake Unified School District.

For those who have been through the program like Duran, he says it's a welcome investment in the community to be able to pursue his dream of teaching.

"You're going to come in and you're going to learn. It's going to be intense, but you're going to learn and when you're by yourself, you're going to be able to provide the best education for your kids," Duran said.

If you'd like to apply to the Lindsay Residency Program, the deadline is Friday, March 22.

Click here for more information.

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