Inside the registered teaching apprenticeship: Finding the perfect mentor

From the fall 2026 edition of the Apprenticeship Works newsletter.

From the time she was in kindergarten, Cierra Hopson loved to read, write her own stories and help other children improve their reading skills. She knew that reading and working with children would have a place in her life.

After a year away at college, she left because she felt out of place. After returning to the Twin Cities, she worked in day care for several years until a help-wanted sign outside a Minneapolis elementary school caught her eye and changed her plans.

Something clicked when she was hired at Jenny Lind Elementary as an associate educator in a second-grade classroom, Hopson says. “That’s what really sparked my interest to be an actual classroom teacher. That group of second graders – they just won my heart over, and they changed my life completely.”

In January 2025, Hopson moved to Cityview Community School in Minneapolis as an associate educator in Faye Wooton’s second grade class. When they met, it felt like fate. They both have roots in Chicago, a shared passion for teaching second graders and a love of literacy.

At this point, Hopson was ready to become a teacher, and was willing to do whatever it took to get there. An online search brought her to the Minneapolis Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program — an opportunity she never knew existed. 

She chose the apprenticeship path because it put her in the classroom right away, giving her wages and experience from day 1. The program also pays for K-6 apprentices’ college coursework through Metropolitan State University. 

Wooton’s mentorship started even before the program began, when she reassured and supported Hopson through the application process. Wooton always knew Hopson was going to make it into the program. That’s why Hopson asked Wooton to be her journey teacher – the trusted mentor to guide and train her throughout the program.

In her 38th year of teaching, Wooten was already planning to retire at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“I was on my way out, so I wasn’t exploring anything else,” Wooten recalls. “I said, ‘Well, that’s interesting; let me think about it.’” 

In September, Hopson started her apprenticeship in Wooten’s classroom, and Wooten put off retirement for another year to be her journey teacher. It has been a partnership and learning opportunity for both.

For Wooten, having an apprentice enhanced everything from classroom activities to lesson planning and meeting with parents. And Hopson’s youth was a bonus, Wooten says. “She’ll have the technology part, and she’ll be at the (college), so she can still bring me things of what’s happening nowadays.”

They were both learning together as they co-taught, taking turns leading the class.

“All I have to do is think of something and she’ll just create it for me,” Wooten says. “She doesn’t mind my old-school ideas.”

For Hopson, time in the classroom and the ability to bounce ideas off Wooten or discuss education concepts that she’s studying has made her coursework less daunting.

The promise of the registered teaching apprenticeship program is not only an education and a teaching license; it’s the promise of a new career waiting at the end of the training.

When Hopson completes her apprenticeship in early 2027, she will take over Wooten’s classroom full time. Hopson will realize her dream, and this time Wooten will be able to retire, knowing her students – and her legacy – will be in very good hands.