VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — In the world of local education, efforts are underway to keep teachers here in the valley.

Vigo County, along with the state of Indiana, did a pilot program with the objective of retaining teachers.

The participants go through a residency program and receive a stipend of $10,000 dollars for student teaching at a local school.

Alexis Spice will start this year as a first-grade teacher at Terre Town Elementary School.  Spice is the first graduate of this program and spoke about what teaching means to her. 

“I was always told growing up I would be a great teacher and finally I decided to take the classes, see how it would go, and I fell in love with it the first day,” Spice said.

Spice continued, noting the most memorable thing about the program.

“And I changed my major probably 4 times, and whenever I finally started taking education classes, I realized that this is what felt right, it felt like my calling, I was told growing up, you’d be a great teacher, and finally I decided to take some classes, see how it would go and fell in love with it the first day,” Spice explained.

She said the most memorable thing about the program was the connections she made with students.