By Chelsea Vance | The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma City School System is working to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for new teachers.

Assistant Superintendent Kenneth Fair introduced an outline on the new teacher-mentoring program at a work session on Thursday, which he and Superintendent Angela Mangum, Ph.D. started working on last month.

They found the need for the program after doing research that proved if teachers had mentors during their first year at a new school, they would be more likely to stay in their positions.

“The mentoring program will primarily offer an effort to unify everyone so that teachers don’t feel isolated in what they do,” Fair said.

Teachers are expected to learn classroom management, instructional strategies, purposeful planning and depth of knowledge while learning survival tips so they may have experiences of success and growth.

“Based on the research, the training mechanisms being put in place will make stronger teachers and give them the support needed in their craft,” Fair said.

Mangum feels that the program was a need in the school system for a number of reasons, but in all, grooming teachers and supporting them is important to her.

“Professional development and support is so very critical for any teacher to be effective. Based on research, when teachers enter the profession there are a lot of challenges that they experience,” Mangum said. “ A great deal of them leave the field within the first four years”

She believes the program is a solid effort to keep teachers in the school system because of the resources and encouragement they will receive. She said that it is a sure way that teachers won’t feel like there are left alone to figure out solutions to problems.

The program will meet on the third Thursday of every month.

The first session will be held on Feb. 18 at Selma High School’s library from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Mangum is confident that the mentoring program is a good start to give teachers a push to stay in Selma.

“I believe that it will help us retain and attract teachers. A wealth of information can be transferred to a teacher through mentoring,” Mangum said.

All first-year teachers are strongly encouraged to attend based on the severity of their classroom and ultimate career needs.