I just had the opportunity to pop my Zoom square into a meeting with the NWESD’s BEST Consortium Leads. I think I know what you might be thinking… What makes them the BEST Consortium Leads? What I learned is, though they really are fantastic humans dedicated to teaching and learning in each of their districts, the particular focus of this group’s work is supporting beginning educators.
BEST stands for Beginning Educator Support Team, and what a team it is! From dedicated mentors and colleagues in school buildings to administrators at all levels of the educational system, this team supports new teachers as they enter and move through the first few years of their careers in education. While many school districts in the northwest region of the state receive direct grant funding from OSPI to carry out the BEST work, there are ten NWESD school districts that receive support through a consortium.
The NWESD has taken on the role of grantee and coordinator for the services and supports new educators in these ten districts receive. They work closely with the leads at each district to manage contracts with mentors, provide professional development for new teachers and share practices and models that are effective in retaining new teachers and building their skill sets to match the needs of their students.
Over the 7+ years that the NWESD has facilitated the BEST Consortium, it has provided numerous opportunities for collaborations within the NWESD Teaching and Learning Department, as well as the Special Programs and Services departments. The most recent example is a collaboration with the Inclusionary Practices Coordinator, Cassie Stevens. Cassie played a crucial role in developing the BEST New Teacher Connections series which offers new teachers the opportunity to learn together, network, and earn clock hours.
I truly enjoyed my time listening to these educators discuss the ways in which they’re creating and recreating opportunities to support beginning educators through strong webs of support at their schools, their districts, in the region, and in the state. They share ideas, personnel, materials, and plans all with the shared purpose of equipping early career educators with what they need to be successful. The level of dedication and willingness to engage in this work doesn’t falter even in the face of some significant layoffs in the region that impact new teachers the most. There is a beautiful understanding that the work that they are doing to support these new educators will continue to benefit students, even if their work has to move to another district or state.
When I think about the would-be educators in my life, I am encouraged to know that the BEST program will be there to help them get established in this rewarding and very challenging career.
