Grand Island Senior High School seniors Nancy Garcia Santos and Matthew Ramirez have been selected as the latest recipients of a teacher contract through the GIPS PathBack Program.
Each will have a GIPS-assigned educator as a mentor throughout their college experience and will be provided the opportunity to return to GIPS to teach upon the completion of their degree.
“This is making me excited to see what my future might look like. All of the teachers in my life who had an impact on me made me want to pursue this,” Nancy said. “I’m so thankful and I can’t wait to come back to the district.”
Matthew plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Nancy plans to attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
“I’d like to thank Grand Island Public Schools for showing me that this career was possible,” Matthew said. “I’m really excited to come back and really excited to see where the Academy is four years from now.”
The PathBack Program was started in 2018 as a way to bring students back to Grand Island and create a pipeline of former students in staff roles. The program doesn’t lock the recipients into taking a job with GIPS if they want to explore other options.
“We are excited for Nancy and Matthew to continue into college knowing they have an opportunity waiting for them on the other side,” said GIPS recruiting and retention coordinator Brian Kort, who leads the program. “Having mentor support and professional development opportunities is critical, and we are happy to provide both to these wonderful recipients.”
