{"id":75811,"date":"2025-09-24T10:13:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T17:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=75811"},"modified":"2025-09-24T10:13:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T17:13:18","slug":"ata-mentoring-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/ata-mentoring-program\/","title":{"rendered":"How NAU\u2019s teacher mentoring program sets future educators up for success"},"content":{"rendered":"

New teachers have a lot to juggle\u2014lesson plans, student behavioral issues, parent feedback, standardized tests and opinions from administrators. It\u2019s overwhelming, but it\u2019s more manageable when you have a knowledgeable and sympathetic mentor at your side.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

Take it from <\/span>Audrey Sattler<\/span><\/b>, who landed a job at DeMiguel Elementary School in Flagstaff after graduating from NAU in 2024. Sattler said she made it through that challenging first year in the classroom thanks in part to fellow Lumberjack <\/span>Casey Crowley<\/span><\/b>, a veteran science teacher.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to be stressed about as a first-year teacher,\u201d Sattler said. \u201cCasey helped take the stress away with little things, like additions to lesson plans I wouldn\u2019t have thought of on my own and tips on how to manage a hyperactive student. I didn\u2019t feel I was being observed or judged; she was truly just there to help me and listen to me.\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sattler and Crowley met through NAU\u2019s <\/span>Arizona Teachers Academy mentoring program<\/span><\/a>, which pairs experienced Arizona teachers with new Lumberjack graduates just entering the field. The mentoring program is free through the <\/span>Arizona K12 Center<\/span><\/a> and open to any NAU education students who <\/span>participate in ATA<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ATA<\/a>
The ATA mentoring program pairs experienced Arizona teachers like Michelle Doherty (left) with NAU graduates just entering into the profession, like Rodell Endres (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The program is one of many initiatives created to address Arizona\u2019s dire teacher shortage, which has left more than 2,000 teaching positions unfilled and created some of the largest classroom sizes in the nation. According to the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association, a huge source of the shortage is attrition: In 2021, the teacher turnover rate was 19%, more than double the national average.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching is a tough career, so it\u2019s really rewarding to be a person who can help a first-year teacher stay positive and hopefully keep teaching,\u201d said Crowley, who spent many years teaching science to students on the Navajo Nation and leading professional development courses for teachers. \u201cThat\u2019s the whole goal\u2014to keep Arizona teachers teaching.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing impact<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ATA mentoring program began in 2019 with just two mentors supporting 10 new teachers. Since then, it\u2019s ballooned to include <\/span>21 mentors with more than 450 combined years of teaching experience who are supporting 101 first-year teachers, according to Arizona K12 Center <\/span>p<\/span>rogram <\/span>d<\/span>irector <\/span>Joshua Meibos<\/span><\/b>.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mentors<\/a>
Joshua Meibos (posing at back center with ATA mentors and mentees) said the program is keeping teachers in state classrooms on a long-term basis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSince Fall 2022, 95% of teachers who received ATA mentoring and responded to a survey have secured teaching contracts and will be in Arizona classrooms this school year,\u201d Meibos said\u2014evidence that the mentorship program keeps teachers in state classrooms on a long-term basis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sattler is proof of the program\u2019s success. The Lumberjack\u2019s first year of teaching at DeMiguel presented unique obstacles: Her preschool-aged class included some students with learning and physical disabilities, and it was challenging to develop a curriculum that suited everyone and to keep lessons moving while managing behavioral issues. She said Crowley\u2019s calming presence and expert advice helped her through.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since joining the ATA mentoring program four years ago, Crowley has mentored more than a dozen new teachers throughout northern Arizona, from Prescott Valley to Flagstaff and beyond. Crowley loves being the person she wished she\u2019d had at the start of her teaching career.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a first-year teacher, I didn\u2019t have a mentor at all,\u201d Crowley said. \u201cIt was really hard. In some schools, you can feel very much alone and isolated. I love that this program gives me a way to help keep our most passionate, phenomenal new teachers in Arizona schools long-term.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mutual benefits<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

NAU\u2019s mentoring program doesn\u2019t just benefit new teachers. It\u2019s also deeply rewarding for mentors like <\/span>Beth Douthitt<\/span><\/b>, who retired after decades of teaching in the Valley\u2014only to find she missed making a positive impact every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Beth<\/a>
Beth Douthitt (third from right) posed with some of her mentors at a recent AZK12 event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI remember an old co-worker telling me about the ATA mentoring program and thinking, \u2018I wish I\u2019d had someone like that when I was younger,\u2019\u201d Douthitt said. \u201cI was fortunate to have older teachers take me under their wing in my first job. But to have someone who could come into my classroom and observe me, someone who wasn\u2019t evaluating me but who was truly in my corner\u2014that would have been really valuable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a mentor, Douthitt now spends a few hours a week in a handful of classrooms across the Valley, from Buckeye to Apache Junction. She\u2019ll start out by getting to know her mentees, their teaching styles and their specific challenges. Some need help with lesson planning, Douthitt said; others need help managing students\u2019 learning or behavioral challenges.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI try to meet with them outside of school as well, so they have the ability to be as candid as they need to be,\u201d Douthitt said. \u201cI don\u2019t work for their school districts; I\u2019m here solely for them. If they\u2019ve had a lousy day, if they need to vent, I\u2019ll listen and then that\u2019s in the vault.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ciara Arellano<\/span><\/b>, one of Douthitt\u2019s mentees last year, chose to attend NAU partly because of the mentoring program. When she graduated, she found a job teaching first grade at William C. Jack Elementary School in Glendale, where most of her colleagues had years, even decades, of experience under their belts.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFinding my groove as a teacher was intimidating and, at times, overwhelming, especially being surrounded by veteran teachers,\u201d Arellano said. \u201cBeing a new graduate, it\u2019s easy to doubt yourself and the impact you\u2019re making on your students. Having Beth by my side to encourage, support and affirm the work that I was doing was invaluable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Douthitt said she appreciates that NAU uses part of its ATA funds\u2014which totaled $8.9 million last year\u2014to offer personalized, one-on-one mentorship. That\u2019s why the Lumberjack tells prospective teachers to attend NAU\u2019s College of Education, despite not having majored in education herself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell people, \u2018Look at NAU, because you\u2019re going to get great support and mentorship you might not get elsewhere,\u2019\u201d Douthitt said. \u201cI brag on it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Top photo: NAU 2022 ATA grad Marissa Blanco-Johnson talks with her ATA mentor Angela Buzan.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New teachers have a lot to juggle\u2014lesson plans, student behavioral issues, parent feedback, standardized tests and opinions from administrators. It\u2019s overwhelming, but it\u2019s more manageable when you have a knowledgeable and sympathetic mentor at your side.\u202f Take it from Audrey Sattler, who landed a job at DeMiguel Elementary School in Flagstaff after graduating from NAU…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":75816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

The program doesn\u2019t just support graduates in Flagstaff\u2014it also offers instructional mentorship to all NAU <\/span>ATA<\/span> graduates, wherever they teach in Arizona, along with Arizona Teacher Residency and <\/span>West Valley Grow Your Own initiative<\/span><\/a> graduates, both of which are affiliated with NAU\u2019s College of Education. In addition to one-on-one mentorship, ATA graduates have access to free professional development opportunities, including a summer institute in Tucson. M<\/span>entors themselves receive professional development through the program: The Arizona K12 Center provides each mentor with multiple training sessions <\/span>so they <\/span>can provide effective, research-based and student-focused support to the new teachers on their caseload.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n