Eight Cape Girardeau Public School District staff members recently completed the inaugural cohort of the district’s Aspiring Leadership Academy.

The Aspiring Leadership Academy is a program designed to help staff members develop their “leadership skills in preparation for becoming an assistant principal and/or principal”.

Eight staff members — Shannon Berghoff, Kaitlin Contreras, Ashton Duran, Amy Dunn, Courtney Hanstein, Laura Jahn, Tyler Lappe and Shannon Ritter — were selected as the inaugural class, known as a cohort, out of approximately 20 applicants. Staff members who apply to the academy are required to work in a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) certified position, have three years of teaching experience and have either obtained or plan to obtain a Missouri Principal Certification.

The cohort was required to attend monthly meetings, engage in learning outside of the meetings and complete an action research project at the end of the year.

“(An action research project) would be similar to what you would see in graduate level programming for an education major,” said deputy superintendent of K-12 education Dr. Brice Beck. “They picked their own topics, and it revolved around some guiding research questions of what they were hoping to either identify as problems that are occurring across the district and then present themes that have identified that. That was through the process of meeting with different leaders across the district.”

Doran, the psychological examiner at the district’s Early Childhood Center, presented her action research project on student discipline.

“What I found is we're doing a great job,” Doran said. “We're doing all the things that research says. We're really, really innovative with our strategies, and we're not just sticking with the same one-size-fits-all approach. We are really thriving, I think, with trying to be innovators to combat the issue of student discipline.”

Doran, who has worked for the school district for 15 years, said the program was “positive and eye-opening” for her.

“It was just a good refresher that we all have big roles in public education,” Doran said. “From the top of our superintendents to our principals, to our teachers. It was a positive experience to remind me that we're all on the same team, and we all make decisions every single day that are focused on student achievement and the goals of the overall student population.”

Beck said the plan is to keep cohorts small, between five and 10 staff members, to encourage more one-on-one time between those enrolled in the program and the administrators who assist. Applications for the 2024-25 school year open in July.

“After talking to Dr. (Howard) Benyon, we will want to try to keep that number probably between five and 10 per cohort. That way it's not a small group, but it's a group where it's still small enough to have those meaningful connections between your participants and those good conversations.”

In addition to gaining leadership experience, staff members who complete the program receive tuition reimbursement from the district for two additional graduate courses at Southeast Missouri State University. Staff members already receive reimbursement for one graduate course every five years.

Doran — who already has a master’s and post-master’s degree, and is currently working on a specialist degree — said she plans to take advantage of her extra tuition reimbursement. She, ultimately, recommended the program to anyone who meets the qualifications for the experience in addition to the opportunity to take additional graduate courses.

“It was such a fun opportunity,” Doran said. “I got to network with my peers, not just with the leaders within our districts. I also got to make great connections with my peers across the district and form some really good friendships.”