Going to school can be a stressful experience for many students—It is a long day filled with a never-ending amount of work, tests, and exams. 

However, there are some students who actually like going to school. These students want to be teachers. 

“I genuinely like school. I think there are different opportunities that school can offer people that are widely underrated.” said Senior Samantha Gentil

Gentil sees a future as a teacher who helps other students reach their full potential and by helping students access the resources schools offer students can help them move forward and reach their goals.

“I don’t think people understand they have this many resources to go after what they want to do.”

For Wauwatosa East Senior Olivia Jessup-Anger being in the classroom is where she wants to spend her adult life. 

She was initially inspired to follow her parents’ footsteps into a career of education. 

“My parents highlighted the field for me. But I like it in general. I like the classroom, learning and I want to help other people enjoy learning.” said Jessup-Anger

Gentil and Jessup-Anger are two Wauwatosa West students enrolled in the Future Teacher Leaders LAUNCH program at Brookfield East High School.  The multi year long program engages students in a series of courses and field placements to expose them to the different aspects of the teaching profession.

One of the goals of the LAUNCH is to build a pipeline of teachers who will return to local area school districts.  The program seeks to address the issue plaquing schools across the nations. Unfortunately in recent years the people working as teachers and in the educational workforce have been retiring or switching careers more than new teachers are being hired. Studies say the U.S. will lose more than 100,000 teachers by 2030. 

Wauwatosa West Senior Ceili Callahan, someone who is interested in pursuing a career in teaching knows what is going on with the decreasing numbers.

“I honestly think it’s a big bummer because that’s what sets futures up and people tend to not acknowledge that fact,” Ceili said. “And because of that, people aren’t inspired to do the same for other students.”

In such a dilemma, Wauwatosa West teachers have a variety of opinions on the topic. 

Social Studies teacher Stephen Oliver, a Wauwatosa West teacher of 30 years believes many young people understand the time commitment of being a teacher. 

“I think looking at everything with the access to information of salaries as a public employee, I think some individuals look at it and look at the work that teachers put in and ask themselves the question, is this something I want to do?” Stephen Oliver said.

Third year Wauwatosa West Marketing teacher Abigail Strebig believes the school and the school district has been effective in addressing the teacher shortage. 

“I think our school does a very good job of this. In my first year, 33% of the staff here at West was new. The next year we had 15 new staff members, this year we only had 3 new staff members.” Abigail Strebig said.

Pay is a huge contributor to the depletion of teachers and others who are involved in teaching. Especially to the younger workforce according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, it has been found from analysis that “about four out of every 10 first-year teachers either leave the state or the profession altogether after just six years (39.4 percent of new teachers)” (New DPI report shows Wisconsin’s education workforce is in crisis)

Not only is pay a factor, but the overall environment of the workplace and how students treat staff could also contribute to the limited number of people who choose to pursue a career in teaching.

“I enjoy working with students and watching students succeed.” Stephen Oliver said about what he enjoys. “What’s frustrating is that there are some that just make the little things a lot more challenging”.

One of the recent challenges teachers face is the students’ chronic use of cellphones in class.

“The phone usage in class would be a great example at demonstrating what can be frustrating and what’s not appropriate. They are a distraction to the classroom and don’t help students achieve success and are just a challenge to deal with.” Stephen Oliver said. 

School districts are trying their best to stop this shortage with improving the pay and salary of teachers and other staff in order to keep their current teachers so it doesn’t get worse.

The State of Wisconsin launched a pilot teacher apprenticeship program in 2024 as a tool to help the road of young and aspiring teachers a much smoother experience. The Wisconsin Apprenticeship program started in 1911 and currently partners with over 2,600 employers and the technical college system to train and support the development of skilled employees.  In 2023, a record number of 16,384 people participated in the program.  

The Wauwatosa School District has partnered with the state program in the hope of training and hiring these new teachers.  

“We have teacher apprentices that are doing coursework through Waukesha County Technical College and Lakeland University, and then we’ll be getting their bachelor’s degree in teaching certification,” Human Resources Director Sarah Zelazowski said. “Over a period of four years, they’re going to be working in the school district as educational assistants and doing their coursework, getting paid while they work, and there’s a grant that’s paying for 50% of their tuition.”

Even though it is clear that the Wauwatosa School District is trying to stop this shortage, are other districts doing their part? According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, they stated: “There are eight active teacher apprentices enrolled, with three of them based in Wauwatosa.”.

It can be quite difficult to interpret whether or not this is a good number, but it shows that Wisconsin is trying. But is it the same for other districts around the nation?

Despite these present challenges, many students still aspire to go into teaching, fully aware of these setbacks. 

Wauwatosa West senior Gianna Benedict is one of 4 Wauwatosa students currently participating in the Future Teachers LAUNCH strand that will help her set up to work as a teacher in the future. 

“I like helping kids and I’ve met a few teachers in my life who have helped me and I want to be that person for someone else,” Gianna said “The launch program gives you a taste of what teaching is like without all the stress…You get to learn about teaching and be inspired by the teacher around you”

Fellow Wauwatosa West senior Ceili Callahan is fully aware of the setbacks of being a teacher but knows it’s 

“I am fully aware of the setbacks,” Ceili said. “People need to realize that teaching is a very important job no matter the setbacks”

There is a teacher shortage in America and in Wauwatosa and is getting worse every year. Young students across the nation are interested in the teaching workforce and hope for a better future for the education field. But will it be enough? Only time will tell.