DENVER — Denver Public Schools is finding a creative way to fill teaching positions by bringing in educators from around the world.
It's part of the district's international educator institute started just a few months earlier. And already, DPS is ready to expand the program to bring in even more teachers.
Inside Bruce Randolph School, the kids are counting down the days to the end of the year.
"Yes, we are counting. We have exactly four weeks," said Santa Martinez, an English Language Development Teacher at Bruce Randolph School.
Their teacher, Santa Martinez has a different count, the days she's been teaching at DPS.
"Eight months and a few days," Martinez said. "At the beginning it was challenging, especially with the weather. But now, it is like okay, here we are, lets go."
Martinez has taught for the last nine years in the Dominican Republic. But when DPS created an international educator institute to bring in teachers like her through work visas, she signed right up.
"It was like an opportunity to come here and learn. Whenever it's an invitation to learn, I'm open," Martinez said.
"We have to think outside of the box and outside of the states," said DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero.
Marrero said the international educator initiative has only been around a year and already, they're ready to grow to include more teachers from more countries.
"We have 64 across the globe. And with this initiative we're looking to have over 200," Marrero said. "We’re starting with the Dominican Republic. We have existing relationships with Colombia. We’re looking to establish and expand that. Also, Mexico of course. We’re looking at the Philippines and we are eager to engage in Venezuela however we have to just position the timing better because we have received and welcomed a good amount to our new to country students from Venezuela.”
And being new to the US themselves, Marrero said these teachers are able to more easily connect with the roughly 4,000 migrant kids who've joined DPS this year.
"So what a great way to just bring culture and also, having someone that looks like you but even more so, has walked the same paths as you is transformational," Marrero said.
"It's challenging," Martinez said. "But at the same time, I know that some of them feel more confident when they are with somebody that can totally understand and we can put ourselves in their position. Also, sometimes I use my own example. I let them know, I know it's not easy, it's hard. This is a totally different culture, you are surrounded by people, this is a new language for you."
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As she works to include new students and new dialects into her classroom, Martinez said she and the students are learning about language, Latin America and one another as a class.
The work is challenging her, pushing her to be creative and through it, helping her become a better teacher.
"I am so happy that I am here," Martinez said. "Being a teacher, if we stay in our comfort zone we won't grow."
DPS is working to bring on another 120 international educators for the coming school year to reach a total of 200. These teachers will come to Denver on a three-year work visa.
Marrero said this program won't be the district's main source of hiring by any means but can help to supplement it, while bringing in a diverse group of educators for the kids to learn from.
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