WKU News

With about 200 graduates earning initial or advanced certification this year, Western Kentucky University’s School of Teacher Education continues its work to address the state and national teacher shortage.

“Our programs, our freshman recruitment efforts, and our partnerships with our schools have really increased the number of students we have in the pipeline,” said Dr. Corinne Murphy, Dean of WKU’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “Over the next couple of years, you are really going to see growing numbers of graduates, which is terrific and highly needed in the shortage situation within our schools.”

Dr. Murphy also encouraged Topper Teachers in WKU’s Class of 2023 to help identify and recruit the next generation of educators.

She and Dr. Susan Keesey, Director of the School of Teacher Education, visited the WKU in Glasgow Campus on Monday afternoon for the first of four Big Red Teacher Bag Ceremonies for the region’s newest teachers.

Providing a proper teacher bag for graduates is one way “to make sure we set our Topper Teachers up for success in their classrooms,” Dr. Murphy said. “The Big Red Bag is full of things you can put up in your classroom to celebrate the fact that you’re a Topper Teacher, you’re a graduate of WKU and hopefully some students in that class someday will be Topper Teachers.”

The bag included a WKU-branded picture frame, lanyard, stickers, red towel, pencils, pennant, mug, and a squishy Big Red.

Tara Britt, a nontraditional student from Glasgow, was excited to receive the Big Red Bag. The mother of two boys who has worked full-time and has been a full-time student since 2019 is excited to complete her WKU degree as the first special education/elementary education major at the Glasgow campus.

“I wanted to do something that helped others,” Britt said. “Special education is really close to my heart.”

Kylie Milam, an elementary education major from Metcalfe County, will graduate in December 2023. As a student teacher this fall, she plans to set the Big Red on her desk to remind students that she’s a Topper Teacher.

“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and work with young children,” Milam said.

WKU’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences has developed several programs and partnerships to ease a statewide teacher shortage. “Our enrollment has returned to pre-pandemic levels. We are very excited about that,” Dr. Murphy said. “We’re excited to work with school districts across the state on partnerships.”

The recently announced apprenticeship program with Nelson County Schools has selected seven students for its first cohort.

WKU is working with about 20 school districts on Grow Your Own programs to identify high school seniors and classified employees who are interested in teaching careers.

Enrollment in WKU’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program continues to grow and provides an alternate route to certification. More than 30 MAT students are obtaining certification this spring and summer.

Celebrating new teachers is important for WKU, for the communities it serves and for its students. “Today is a great day of celebration,” Dr. Murphy said. “You all have made an amazing choice for yourselves.”

The School of Teacher Education will conduct Big Red Teacher Bag ceremonies at 5 p.m. Thursday at the WKU campus in Bowling Green, at 4 p.m. May 2 at the WKU in Owensboro campus and at 4:30 p.m. ET May 3 at the WKU in Elizabethtown campus.

WKU’s 2023 Commencement will begin at 6:30 p.m. May 4 at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium. The College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Recognition Ceremony will begin at 3:30 p.m. May 5 at Diddle Arena. More: Commencement information

To learn more about WKU's education programs, visit https://www.wku.edu/cebs/

Contact: College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, (270) 745-4662

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.