The Rural Educator Preparation Partnership is accepting applications from future teachers who may be eligible for the program as a candidate or intern. REPP's primary goal is to increase the number of Alaska Native educators in the state by providing alternatives to campus-based teacher education programs.
Students study and learn with a mentor at a local school rather than leave home to go to college.
Program interns are prospective teachers who have already received a four-year college degree. Program candidates are future teachers who have not yet received a bachelor's degree. Either way, REPP is designed to work with eligible program participants to help them become certified Alaska teachers. According to REPP Director John Weise, traditional methods of training Native teachers for service in rural Alaska has not been as successful as many parents and educators would like. In 1998, Native children made up about 25 percent of the state's K - 12 population, yet less than five percent of Alaska teachers are Native.