JACKSON — When the bell rings at Raymond High School, the Algebra I teacher doesn’t walk through the door. Instead, he appears on a screen, writing formulas in neon ink across a pane of glass miles away in Jackson. Today’s lesson: the quadratic formula. Students call out steps to math problems as they follow along on school laptops.
“For me, it takes a long time for me to process (math),” said ninth grader Brayden Tucker. “With him writing it down, I can just see it, and I understand it better.”
This is one of Mississippi’s newest solutions to its teacher shortage: a live, online learning program called REACH MS — or the Mississippi Virtual Synchronous Learning Initiative. It connects certified teachers from Mississippi Public Broadcasting studios to classrooms that otherwise might not have one — and plans expansion to more schools in January.
REACH MS connects teachers, classrooms
Since the $2.2 million pilot program launched in August, Raymond’s Algebra I students have adjusted to the new setup. Principal Charles Willis said the school joined because of four math teacher vacancies…