By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Multiple partner school districts gathered Friday at the Louisiana Tech College of Education and Human Science (CEHS) 2025 Mid-Year Recruitment Event in the Davison Athletic Complex where junior and senior education students entering the final stages of their degree program had the chance to network and find both residencies and post-graduate career paths.
Senior students were invited in the morning to visit with partner schools as they prepare for graduation, while junior students attended the afternoon session to network for their yearlong residency site.
“This is our opportunity to gather our partner districts who host our senior students for their year-long residency,” CEHS Interim Department Chair of Curriculum, Leadership and Instruction Dr. Dustin Whitlock said. “We have partner districts represented all along the I-20 corridor and then south all the way to West Feliciana Parish. We have a lot of opportunities for our students all over the state. We’ve been doing this event since 2019 and our districts have continued to ask for opportunities to meet with our students because they know the high quality and the caliber of students that they’re getting from from Louisiana Tech.”
School districts in attendance included Bienville Parish, Bossier Parish, Caddo Parish, Claiborne Parish, DeSoto Parish, Jackson Parish, Lincoln Parish, Monroe City, Ouachita Parish, Rapides Parish, Richland Parish, Webster Parish and Winn Parish.
CEHS Clinical Residency and Recruitment Director Dr. Amy Vessel expressed how the event is a huge win for both Louisiana Tech education students and the district partners in attendance — particularly in persuading students stay in the state to teach.
“This is a terrific opportunity for our graduating seniors to meet the amazing opportunities they have to stay and grow in Louisiana,” Vessel said. “One of the neatest quotes that I heard earlier in the day was the fact that a student said this program makes the real world real to us in January, even though we’re graduating in May. And they know now they have a lot of work to do between now and May to make sure that they are ready for the next season in life. So they’re learning unique benefits, unique salaries, unique opportunities from each district. And we’re just so grateful that we have the opportunity and the capacity to have an event like this in rested.”
Lincoln Parish Schools Human Resources Coordinator Julie Stephenson recognized the importance of coming to the event to meet prospective teachers that are entering the workforce.
“Louisiana Tech is a very strong university partner for us on a number of levels,” Stephenson said. “We’ve hosted residents since the program began, so we really believe in this as a pipeline — we’ve been able to hire a lot of the residents that we’ve hosted. Coming here allows us to connect with our residents and talk to them as a possible employer and really sell that Lincoln Parish is a place that everybody should want to come teach.”
Cassie Harwell came to represent Caddo Parish Public Schools as the HR Development Specialist and echoed Stephenson’s praise for working with Louisiana Tech.
“Our partnership with Louisiana Tech has always been strong,” Harwell said. “The midyear recruitment event really helps us get an opportunity to connect with those that are in our district or wanting to come to our district to get their first jobs. It provides us an opportunity to kind of put a name with faces and them to learn more about our district — and for us to be able to share the resources that are provided to them when they come into that first job, which is always just so intimidating for a lot of new graduates.”
Louisiana Tech’s CEHS utilizes a team model for clinical residency for teachers that was developed back in 2014 with the goal for students to co-plan, co-assess and co-teach in an apprentice-style residency alongside a professional teacher. The mid-year recruitment event began back in 2019.
Morgan McCready is on track to graduate in May of 2025 and came to the event during the morning to visit with the partner parishes about job opportunities. A secondary education major, McCready has been a resident at Ruston High School for this past year, starting back in August.
“It’s a really good opportunity to come in and see what’s available,” McCready said. “It’s good to make all these connections so that when we’re looking for a job, you’ll know who you’re talking to and have an idea of what is offered.”
McCready also gave praise to the residency program the CEHS offers to seniors in education.
“I think the residency program they offer is really cool because you get to be with a teacher all day, every day, and if you have classes, you can leave for the class and come back,” McCready said. “It’s a cool opportunity, and it’s all year. When you go actually be in the classroom, you can know how to start the year and how to progress throughout the year, which not a lot of people know how to do. So I think that’s really cool.”
