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When a group of prospective teachers came to Thirty-Fourth Elementary School in Pine Bluff last week, they joined in a broader effort to combat the teacher shortage seen in Arkansas and across the nation. The visit also reflects an ongoing push by Kimberley Davis, dean of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's School of Education, to prioritize strengthening the relationship between the college and the surrounding community. That relationship is critical to getting UAPB students into Pine Bluff classrooms -- and keeping them there, she said. While several of the visitors were teacher candidates from the School of Education who were years into their journey to become educators, others were only high schoolers still considering future careers. Davis said this mix of the two groups was intentional; she also wanted to give high school students an opportunity to try teaching for themselves. The visit was meant to be "not only an event that we have for our (college) students that includes retention, but also recruitment of new students, so we change the field of education," she said. "That's our goal, is to change how students view education, because I think that's why you have so many students not going into education, because it's just kind of been sour." Wednesday's TEACH PRIDE Learning Tour at the elementary school marked the second time in as many years it has taken place at the campus. Davis told the students and school leaders gathered among the library's bookshelves for the visit's introduction that she envisions it as an annual event. Phillip Carlock, assistant superintendent at the Pine Bluff School District told the prospective teachers that their work that day would affect more than the elementary students they were about to meet. "Today you'll get experience in the classroom when you're co-teaching um getting some experience with classroom management and just helping to inspire not only our our younger babies but also our older people, like myself," Carlock said. "I'm inspired when I see future educators." He expressed hope that the prospective students would be inspired by the experience to help children grow, and that they would remember some of them may one day take on the roles held by their mentors. "College students, you see these professionals, this is where you're going to be very soon, and again, one day I'm going to take off this badge and I'm not going to be in education anymore" he said. "Somebody else is going to have to pick this up. Just think about your future. Where you are now is not where you're going to end up -- just like with our students." The high school students also partnered with teacher candidates to plan out a lesson on perseverance and how Joseph Carter Corbin, who founded what became UAPB, demonstrated that quality. With their plan finished, the high school students and teacher candidates visited a classroom of students ranging in grade from first through sixth and delivered their lesson together. Chelsea Perry, a health and physical education major in her sophomore year, said she thought her experience as a dance coach would help her to feel less nervous than she did when presenting in front of fifth graders. According to Perry, dance is a "comfort zone" for her, and teaching about perseverance meant stretching outside of that comfort. The students in her class were also less reserved than she expected. "Sometimes when people are speaking with you and asking you questions, being put on the spot can make you nervous," she said. "So for them to be engaged like they were, I was shocked." Brayla Carter, a senior from Pine Bluff High School said she enjoyed the experience of getting to present before a classroom alongside a teacher candidate. "I loved my class," she said. "They was very interactive. They were excited to learn, energetic." Tammi Dockett-Wilson, principal at Thirty-Fourth Elementary School and an alumnus of Pine Bluff High School and UAPB, shared Davis' enthusiasm about the inter-generational component of the visit. "To be able to give back to my alma mater and allow the future educators to come and interact with my current educators on my campus, and to also pull in the potential education majors from the high school, I just consider as a gift and something that I should do in giving back to society," Dockett-Wilson said. "To be instrumental, to be a part in that, I couldn't say no." RELATIONSHIPS, RESIDENCIES While the prospective teachers spoke on perseverance, leaders from Pine Bluff School District held their quarterly meeting down the hall to discuss goings-on within the two groups and the broader community. Among the topics discussed was the status of a yearlong paid teacher residency that places students from the School of Education in the district's classrooms, according to Catricia Carter, site coordinator for the education school. An executive order by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to prioritize what would become Act 237 of 2023, an education overhaul known as the LEARNS Act, requires that "all graduates receiving a degree or alternate teacher training certificate from a state-approved educator preparation program in Spring 2027 and beyond have completed a one-year supervised residency alongside an experienced mentor teacher in a school setting." The residencies are part of a larger effort, spurred in part by the LEARNS Act, to combat a decades-long teacher shortage in Arkansas. Like much of the rest the nation, the Natural State has struggled to recruit quality educators to fill teaching positions and keep them there, according to a 2024 report by TNTP, formerly known as The National Teacher Project. A 2025-26 report by the state Division of Elementary and Secondary Education indicates regions labeled in "high need" are largely concentrated in the southern and eastern parts of Arkansas -- including Pine Bluff. The university has joined several others in the state that have worked intentionally in recent years to foster closer relationships with the school districts and communities they serve. One of the goals of that relationship-building is to negotiate a way to pay prospective educators as they take on their residencies. At an Oct. 6 panel sponsored by the nonprofit Forward Arkansas at the University of Central Arkansas, leaders at UAPB's School of Education talked about working with the Pine Bluff School District to determine how to overcome the logistical hurdles that would otherwise prevent residents from being paid. District Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree told attendees at the panel event her district ultimately decided not to rehire about 40 paraprofessionals and instead used those funds to support the paid residencies. Davis has said that such paid residencies make it easier for prospective educators to focus on teaching, rather than on "trying to survive." Carter said Wednesday's leadership meeting at the elementary school helped both sides to better understand what was working, and what could be done better. "This is our pilot year, and so this is the year to get all that understanding," she said. Among the tweaks they hope to make are in better defining mentor and resident responsibilities, according to Carter. Davis said the leaders also discussed how more training could be provided for teachers, and the possibility of using the college's high-quality instructional materials within the district. "UAPB and the Pine School District, we're better and stronger together," Davis said. With support from the ADG Community Journalism Project, LEARNS reporter Josh Snyder covers the impact of the law on the K-12 education system across the state, and its effect on teachers, students, parents and communities. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette maintains full editorial control over this article and all other coverage.
