Civil Municipal Magazine - Dec 2023

278 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 alongside Concord, has established itself as a national leader in the apprenticeship model. Concord, in partnership with HEA, is working to strengthen its educational workforce in three ways. First, there is a program where students can actually serve in a paid apprenticeship role as a paraprofessional or instructional assistant. This both addresses the instructional assistant shortage and gives students a glimpse into what it’s like to be a teacher. Secondly, Concord has been developing its relationship with area colleges. Thanks to a The district has its own Police Chief and officers who operate within the district grounds and departments. This way, in the event of any emergency, students will have a dedicated police force at their schools all the time. Beyond these investments, the district also has initiatives in place to help ensure that its community doesn’t lack dedicated teaching staff in the near future. “We’ve started to grow our own teacher preparation program through an apprenticeship program we have a partnership with called Horizon Education Alliance,” Funston says. HEAis an Elkhart County nonprofit that,