Elementary education students REAP benefits of landmark MC-CPSD partnership
A new institutional partnership between Mississippi Christian University (MC) and the Clinton Public School District (CPSD) provides senior elementary education students at MC with a full year of classroom teaching experience under the guidance of a mentor teacher at CPSD.
MC President Blake Thompson and CPSD Superintendent Andy Schoggin signed the Rising Educator and Arrow Partnership (REAP) agreement on July 30 at Clinton’s Northside Elementary School. It was the first day of classes for CPSD’s 2026-2027 school year.
“MC is incredibly grateful for its relationship with the Clinton school system,” Thompson said. “It’s one of the most important and strongest relationships that we have, and it forms the core of our two institutions. I’m proud that we are here at Northside Elementary for this official signing.”
Typically, senior education students complete a semester of field experiences before receiving a student teaching placement in their second senior semester. In that model, the students miss the opportunity to see how classrooms are initially prepared, primary students are welcomed to the classroom, and parents are engaged with the curriculum.
“When education students graduate and begin their careers, they haven’t had those experiences,” said Rachel Peeples, chair of MC’s Teacher Education and Leadership program. “Clinton Public Schools wants to invest in training these teachers, because many of them may become future employees.”
Stephanie Busbea, MC interim provost, began her career as an elementary art teacher. She said the partnership is of great benefit to the participating students and mentor teachers.
“Our students are going to be much more successful by having this agreement. I’m very excited about the opportunity it gives the teacher candidates and the mentor teachers. As an elementary art teacher, I would have loved to have had one of these students in my classroom as a teacher-in-training with me.”
Schoggin complimented the students on their commitment to teaching.
“Our MC students have taken time away from their summer schedules to participate in this program and to start school early,” Schoggin said. “To create something new, it takes people who are willing to try things. That’s what we have with the team at MC. It’s a natural partnership and those of us in Clinton Public Schools are seeing the benefits of this agreement already.”
Mandy Ambrose, Northside Elementary School principal, said students thrive when their teachers receive the resources needed to be successful. REAP is one of those resources.
“Coming in for those first two weeks of class, seeing what it takes to get a classroom built, is imperative,” Ambrose said. “That’s something education students haven’t experienced in the past. I’m looking forward to continuing this partnership and perhaps having some of these students as professional teachers in one of our classrooms before too long.”
Peeples said MC students who participate in the program have the opportunity to observe primary education at its highest level.
“When we send students to CPSD schools, they see classrooms that are well run,” Peeples said. “There’s not an experience more valuable for students who are preparing to enter a classroom and teach.”
Not only does REAP give education students a “behind-the-scenes” look at setting up classrooms for a new academic year, but according to Brittany Ricker, MC assistant professor of TEL and director of field experience, it also allows them to observe how effectively back-to-school and meet-the-teacher events can cultivate parental involvement and help them track individual students’ academic progression throughout the year.
“School administrators who hire our students to be teachers say they haven’t had the experience or lack confidence when dealing with classroom setups or establishing a classroom management system,” Ricker said. “Now, I am thankful that our students will be able to see everything that’s involved in education prior to having a classroom of their own.”
REAP teacher candidates are not substitute teachers and may not assume unsupervised instructional responsibilities, unless authorized by district policy. According to the agreement, teacher candidates will work two full days per week during the fall semester, participate in all classroom responsibilities and professional activities, and complete full-time student teaching in the spring semester with the same assigned mentor teacher, among other responsibilities.
To participate, teacher candidates must be a senior-level elementary education major who is formally admitted to the Teacher Education Program (TEP). They are selected through a competitive application and interview process and must remain in good academic standing and successfully complete required background checks.
In turn, mentor teachers will implement a co-teaching model that gradually releases instructional responsibility to the teacher candidates during the course of the year-long internship.
For more information about MC’s Teacher Education and Leadership Program, visit mc.edu/academics/departments/education/.
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