From left, Jamestown Public Schools District Board of Education Vice President Joe Pawelski, and Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker discuss district business. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

There is no shortage of student teachers in the Jamestown Public Schools District.

Student teachers play vital roles in school districts as they are supervised by certified teachers.

To qualify for a teaching degree, students must complete their student-teaching components as they are required before students can apply and earn state certifications.

JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said there are about 40 State University at Fredonia student teachers in the district.

“It’s really great news,” Whitaker told school board members Tuesday.

Whitaker added that it is very important to forge partnerships with area colleges to attract both teachers who may want to become administrators later in their careers.

“It’s been very difficult to gather new people (teachers) because specifically in teacher preparation programs, enrollment has dropped, so it’s very challenging to find people when you don’t have that many people coming out of those programs,” Whitaker said.

The superintendent said that elementary education majors make up the bulk of student teachers, while subjects such as history and English attract most secondary education majors which are placed in middle and high schools.

He said the district struggles to find teacher candidates in English as a New Language (ENL), special education, teachnology, foreign languages, and physics.

According to fredonia.edu, student teaching is the culminating experience in the teacher education program where student teachers receive two placements at different schools over a 16-week period.

“Each student teacher is engaged in full-time teaching, gradually assuming responsibilities of the classroom while developing new understandings about teaching and learning. This is the opportunity to ask questions, build self-confidence, learn the intricacies of teaching, use strategies taught in education courses and re-define their role from student to professional,” the website said.

Whitaker said he was to have participated Wednesday in Zoom meeting with St. Bonaventure University officials about the university’s student teacher candidates.