FARMINGTON, Maine — The University of Farmington is offering a pathway to address Maine’s teacher shortage.
Since the pandemic, the teacher shortage has continued to grow across Maine.
At the University of Farmington, over 400 students are pursuing teaching careers and many of them have transferred from community colleges across the state for their bachelor’s degrees.
Dilyse and Maureen Lorello grew up in South Portland and attended South Portland High School before going on to Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) for two years of free tuition.
They started out at SMCC as liberal studies majors but switched to education.
Maureen said, "She took an [intro to education] ed class and was like, 'I love this.' So then I took this and was like, 'Oh my gosh. I love this too.' So, we switched our majors to education."
The more they thought about it, they realized they always loved working with kids. In high school, they would work at the South Portland Rec Camps.
"I mean working with kids really made me happy, and I thought, 'I can't do summer camp forever.' So, I think working with kids year-round would be the goal," said Dilyse.
The University of Farmington makes it easy for students to transfer from community colleges and finish their bachelor’s degree in education in just two years with a nationally-accredited degree.
UMF offers a yearly $4,000 Teach Grant to certain education majors who qualify to pursue teaching.
“There is definitely a teacher shortage, and we're trying to create some additional pathways. In Maine, there are a number of areas — special ed, elementary ed, mathematics, science, world language ed — so, we are making ways for our students to study those areas and be fully certified when they graduate from UMF,” says Kathy Yardley, co-provost and dean of the College of Education.
These twins, and the rest of their class at Farmington, are nearing the end of their college experience.
“With graduation coming up, we are both excited and nervous. But the thought of having our own classroom is just so exciting. That’s the best thing ever. We’re both looking forward to that,” Maureen Lorello said.
These future teachers in the class of 2023 are only 18 days away from graduation in Farmington.