March 6, 2025 • 10 mins
In this episode, Phil Tower speaks with Dr. Sarena Shivers, Executive Director of the Michigan Nonprofit "Talent Together."
Dr Shivers joined us on the program to discuss how MI Talent Together is ensuring all students have qualified teachers.
Talent Together is a relatively new nonprofit here in Michigan and one of the nation’s largest ‘grow your own’ teacher programs.
Dr. Shivers told us the organization was created to provide solutions to address Michigan’s teacher workforce shortage by targeting the needs of all school districts, including those in underserved communities.
Talent Together was designed to remove barriers for its candidates like the cost of a degree, time constraints, and accessibility to teacher prep programs to help them pursue a teaching career.
Since its launch in December 2022, Talent Together has received more than 5,000 applications from potential candidates.
Dr Shivers joined us on the program to discuss how MI Talent Together is ensuring all students have qualified teachers.
Talent Together is a relatively new nonprofit here in Michigan and one of the nation’s largest ‘grow your own’ teacher programs.
Dr. Shivers told us the organization was created to provide solutions to address Michigan’s teacher workforce shortage by targeting the needs of all school districts, including those in underserved communities.
Talent Together was designed to remove barriers for its candidates like the cost of a degree, time constraints, and accessibility to teacher prep programs to help them pursue a teaching career.
Since its launch in December 2022, Talent Together has received more than 5,000 applications from potential candidates.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. Thank you so much
for tuning in across whatever iHeartRadio station you are listening to.
And in this segment, we are going to talk about
something that has been in the news and in conversations
across the state of Michigan for years and a recent development,
kind of an exciting development which is almost three years
(00:37):
in the making, is the focus of our conversation with
doctor Serena Shivers. She is the executive director of Talent
Together Here in Michigan, one of the nations, one of
the country's largest grow your own programs for addressing the
teacher shortage and in a very innovative way. Doctor Serena Shivers,
I'm so grateful we could talk to you about this.
(00:59):
I wanted to be a tea before I went into radio.
I should have chosen teaching. By the way, I'm just
going to tell you that welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You can still join us.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, we may need to thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
For having me.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
We may need to talk how did Talent Together come
to be? How do you get involved? This is obviously
a passion and important thing for you.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, again, thank you for having me this morning. You
hit the nail on the head. Teacher shortages have definitely
been a thing that we've heard more and more about,
not just here in the state of Michigan, but obviously
around the country. There was an issue with teacher shortages
prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, that need became
even greater, and Talent Together really is one of the
(01:42):
most amazing opportunities for all stakeholders across the state of
Michigan to come together and solve a problem in our
own backyard. The impetus for Challenge Together were mini leaders
at the intermediate school district across the state of Michigan
coming together and thinking innovatively, thinking creatively, and thinking how
(02:04):
they could within their own school community find those that
are interested in becoming teachers like yourself and figuring out
how to remove those barriers to the classroom.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
And one of the focuses of Talent Together is focusing
on minority candidates, people of color, and diversifying the teaching ranks.
The teaching ranks have traditionally been older, white and a
lot of people retiring, a lot of people not choosing
teaching because of perhaps lower salaries than they had hoped for.
(02:40):
So this is a very innovative program, kind of a
fast track. How do you recruit these minority applicants, Doctor Serena.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Shivers, That's another great question. One of the beauties of
Talent Together is that many of our teacher candidates are
coming from the communities in which they serve. So we're
looking to elevate the numbers of diverse applicants in our pool.
That means that we're going to the communities where these
teacher candidates work, lives, have grown up and have already
(03:11):
committed themselves to the communities in which they work. Most
Talent Together candidates are already in the schools. They are
para professionals, they are food service workers. They may be
a secretary, a plus driver, maybe they were a long
term sub. So we don't have to go look far.
If we're looking to diversify the community, These stakeholders are
actually already in the community, have already shown their commitment
(03:34):
to the schools, their desire and passion to work with students,
and again, our focus is on removing those barriers, whatever
they may have been that forbidden them from being able
to pursue their post secondary degree in teaching prior to
coming to Talent Together.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, and Talent Together is all about making sure there
are as few barriers as possible for people who want
to go into the world teaching. The field of teaching,
it can be expensive to go back to school obviously
time if a lot of these are adults with families
or you know, kind of changing their career if you will,
(04:12):
as a lot of people have done. But I'm curious
as far as some of those barriers, how Talent Together
works with these people to make this an easier career change,
if you will, and something that can feel like, hey,
this is working toward my goal.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, for one, it's tuition free for the candidate. We
are able to work with our post secondary institutions, several
of them within the state of Michigan that are part
of the Talent Together, to make it affordable for us
to be able to provide tuition at no cost to
the teacher candidate. That's one way that we remove that barrier.
(04:51):
The second thing that we focus on is model teaching, coaching, mentoring,
all of those things that we know that firing teachers
need wrapped around them three hundred and sixty degrees for
them to be successful. One of the lynchpins of Talent
Together is a registered apprentice program. We call that the
(05:12):
learn and earn while they are learning. They are able
to earn a portion of a teacher's salary, and that
allows for someone who like you mentioned in your question,
who may have a family to be working towards their
course credit, to be in the classroom as a registered
of princess with a mentor and with a seasoned master teacher,
(05:35):
but also earning an income at the same time.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
We're speaking with doctor Serena Shivers. She is the executive
director of Talent Together. You can learn more at their
website Ami Talentogether dot org Ami talentog dot org. You
are working with all fifty six intermediate school districts all
isds here in Michigan, which is very exciting. The program
is going on three years old and began in December
(06:03):
of twenty two. Who doctor Shivers is eligible to actually
apply through Talent Together to be a part of the program.
We mentioned people of color. Can white people apply? Is
this limited to a certain age or background? Can you
talk about that please.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's an expoint question as well, and is not limited
to a certain demographic. As you mentioned, all fifty six
iss in the State of Michigan are part of the
Talent Together. Almost four hundred school districts in the State
of Michigan are a part of Talent Together. So no
matter where you might live, if you're in a rural, suburban,
urban community, no matter of your background, your demographics, if
(06:44):
you are interested in being a teacher, you have completed
your high school diploma, you know, maybe you started post
secondary and have some credits. Maybe you don't. We are
interested in you and we welcome you to apply. And
as you mentioned, that information is on our website at
MI Talenttogether dot org.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Do we know, doctor Shivers in terms of putting a
number how short we are on teachers every year here
in state of Michigan, you hear different numbers based on
different school districts. I know, I have a very close
friend who just retired as a teacher after nearly thirty years,
and you know they have a shortage at his district,
(07:25):
and I would assume this has been an ongoing problem.
But do we know in terms of numbers how broad
this is across Michigan.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, that's those numbers change and depending upon the size
of the district or the location of the district, they
can vary where we see the shortages more than actual
numbers are in certain areas. So special education is the
area where we tend to have a lot of vacancies,
(07:54):
a lot of hard to build positions. As you can
imagine the more sciences like physics, or you might be
teaching mathematics at the secondary level. Sometimes those positions are
hard to fill. So specialized areas certainly special education, but
(08:16):
in general, you know, something of our rural school district
just has simple vacancies across the board because of the
size of the school, size of the community, and not
a lot of candidates that may be available to teach.
So it really does vary from community to community.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
This is an exciting program. It's an very important program,
Talent Together. You can learn more at am I Talenttogether
dot org. Again, their website is am I Talent Together
dot o r G. Real quickly, we've got about a
minute and a half left here for those listening who
(08:53):
want to learn more, maybe they want to support the program.
May they want to make sure this is continued to
be funded not only at the state level, but the
federal level. What should people do, doctor Shivers, Well, if they.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Have a relationship with their local legislator, they can certainly
talk to them about the importance of grow your own
programs here in the state of Michigan and their support
specifically for Talent Together. As you pointed out, we have
a website a lot of that information. There's videos on
our website, there is FAQ on our website, and there's
(09:26):
also contact information if they want to know more, But
certainly in their own communities lifting their support for Talent
Together would be amazing. We would really appreciate that well.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And a diverse classroom is a better classroom. So I
want to salute you and your whole team at am
I Talent Together. This is an exciting program. Again, you
can learn more ATMI Talent Together dot org. Doctor Serena
Shivers has been our guest. She is the executive director
of Talent Together. Thank you for enlightening us really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thank you again for having me and Hey if you're
serious about being interested, you too can apply.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We will talk for sure. Thank you so much. And
if you are interested in being a teacher, you heard
her Ami Talentogether dot org. And if you are a teacher,
thank you for doing what you do, even retired teachers.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio. Thank you so much
for tuning in across whatever iHeartRadio station you are listening to.
And in this segment, we are going to talk about
something that has been in the news and in conversations
across the state of Michigan for years and a recent development,
kind of an exciting development which is almost three years
(00:37):
in the making, is the focus of our conversation with
doctor Serena Shivers. She is the executive director of Talent
Together Here in Michigan, one of the nations, one of
the country's largest grow your own programs for addressing the
teacher shortage and in a very innovative way. Doctor Serena Shivers,
I'm so grateful we could talk to you about this.
(00:59):
I wanted to be a tea before I went into radio.
I should have chosen teaching. By the way, I'm just
going to tell you that welcome to the program.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
You can still join us.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, we may need to thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
For having me.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
We may need to talk how did Talent Together come
to be? How do you get involved? This is obviously
a passion and important thing for you.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, again, thank you for having me this morning. You
hit the nail on the head. Teacher shortages have definitely
been a thing that we've heard more and more about,
not just here in the state of Michigan, but obviously
around the country. There was an issue with teacher shortages
prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, that need became
even greater, and Talent Together really is one of the
(01:42):
most amazing opportunities for all stakeholders across the state of
Michigan to come together and solve a problem in our
own backyard. The impetus for Challenge Together were mini leaders
at the intermediate school district across the state of Michigan
coming together and thinking innovatively, thinking creatively, and thinking how
(02:04):
they could within their own school community find those that
are interested in becoming teachers like yourself and figuring out
how to remove those barriers to the classroom.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
And one of the focuses of Talent Together is focusing
on minority candidates, people of color, and diversifying the teaching ranks.
The teaching ranks have traditionally been older, white and a
lot of people retiring, a lot of people not choosing
teaching because of perhaps lower salaries than they had hoped for.
(02:40):
So this is a very innovative program, kind of a
fast track. How do you recruit these minority applicants, Doctor Serena.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Shivers, That's another great question. One of the beauties of
Talent Together is that many of our teacher candidates are
coming from the communities in which they serve. So we're
looking to elevate the numbers of diverse applicants in our pool.
That means that we're going to the communities where these
teacher candidates work, lives, have grown up and have already
(03:11):
committed themselves to the communities in which they work. Most
Talent Together candidates are already in the schools. They are
para professionals, they are food service workers. They may be
a secretary, a plus driver, maybe they were a long
term sub. So we don't have to go look far.
If we're looking to diversify the community, These stakeholders are
actually already in the community, have already shown their commitment
(03:34):
to the schools, their desire and passion to work with students,
and again, our focus is on removing those barriers, whatever
they may have been that forbidden them from being able
to pursue their post secondary degree in teaching prior to
coming to Talent Together.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, and Talent Together is all about making sure there
are as few barriers as possible for people who want
to go into the world teaching. The field of teaching,
it can be expensive to go back to school obviously
time if a lot of these are adults with families
or you know, kind of changing their career if you will,
(04:12):
as a lot of people have done. But I'm curious
as far as some of those barriers, how Talent Together
works with these people to make this an easier career change,
if you will, and something that can feel like, hey,
this is working toward my goal.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, for one, it's tuition free for the candidate. We
are able to work with our post secondary institutions, several
of them within the state of Michigan that are part
of the Talent Together, to make it affordable for us
to be able to provide tuition at no cost to
the teacher candidate. That's one way that we remove that barrier.
(04:51):
The second thing that we focus on is model teaching, coaching, mentoring,
all of those things that we know that firing teachers
need wrapped around them three hundred and sixty degrees for
them to be successful. One of the lynchpins of Talent
Together is a registered apprentice program. We call that the
(05:12):
learn and earn while they are learning. They are able
to earn a portion of a teacher's salary, and that
allows for someone who like you mentioned in your question,
who may have a family to be working towards their
course credit, to be in the classroom as a registered
of princess with a mentor and with a seasoned master teacher,
(05:35):
but also earning an income at the same time.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
We're speaking with doctor Serena Shivers. She is the executive
director of Talent Together. You can learn more at their
website Ami Talentogether dot org Ami talentog dot org. You
are working with all fifty six intermediate school districts all
isds here in Michigan, which is very exciting. The program
is going on three years old and began in December
(06:03):
of twenty two. Who doctor Shivers is eligible to actually
apply through Talent Together to be a part of the program.
We mentioned people of color. Can white people apply? Is
this limited to a certain age or background? Can you
talk about that please.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's an expoint question as well, and is not limited
to a certain demographic. As you mentioned, all fifty six
iss in the State of Michigan are part of the
Talent Together. Almost four hundred school districts in the State
of Michigan are a part of Talent Together. So no
matter where you might live, if you're in a rural, suburban,
urban community, no matter of your background, your demographics, if
(06:44):
you are interested in being a teacher, you have completed
your high school diploma, you know, maybe you started post
secondary and have some credits. Maybe you don't. We are
interested in you and we welcome you to apply. And
as you mentioned, that information is on our website at
MI Talenttogether dot org.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Do we know, doctor Shivers in terms of putting a
number how short we are on teachers every year here
in state of Michigan, you hear different numbers based on
different school districts. I know, I have a very close
friend who just retired as a teacher after nearly thirty years,
and you know they have a shortage at his district,
(07:25):
and I would assume this has been an ongoing problem.
But do we know in terms of numbers how broad
this is across Michigan.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, that's those numbers change and depending upon the size
of the district or the location of the district, they
can vary where we see the shortages more than actual
numbers are in certain areas. So special education is the
area where we tend to have a lot of vacancies,
(07:54):
a lot of hard to build positions. As you can
imagine the more sciences like physics, or you might be
teaching mathematics at the secondary level. Sometimes those positions are
hard to fill. So specialized areas certainly special education, but
(08:16):
in general, you know, something of our rural school district
just has simple vacancies across the board because of the
size of the school, size of the community, and not
a lot of candidates that may be available to teach.
So it really does vary from community to community.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
This is an exciting program. It's an very important program,
Talent Together. You can learn more at am I Talenttogether
dot org. Again, their website is am I Talent Together
dot o r G. Real quickly, we've got about a
minute and a half left here for those listening who
(08:53):
want to learn more, maybe they want to support the program.
May they want to make sure this is continued to
be funded not only at the state level, but the
federal level. What should people do, doctor Shivers, Well, if they.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Have a relationship with their local legislator, they can certainly
talk to them about the importance of grow your own
programs here in the state of Michigan and their support
specifically for Talent Together. As you pointed out, we have
a website a lot of that information. There's videos on
our website, there is FAQ on our website, and there's
(09:26):
also contact information if they want to know more, But
certainly in their own communities lifting their support for Talent
Together would be amazing. We would really appreciate that well.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
And a diverse classroom is a better classroom. So I
want to salute you and your whole team at am
I Talent Together. This is an exciting program. Again, you
can learn more ATMI Talent Together dot org. Doctor Serena
Shivers has been our guest. She is the executive director
of Talent Together. Thank you for enlightening us really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thank you again for having me and Hey if you're
serious about being interested, you too can apply.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We will talk for sure. Thank you so much. And
if you are interested in being a teacher, you heard
her Ami Talentogether dot org. And if you are a teacher,
thank you for doing what you do, even retired teachers.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
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