By Nikki Kallio | Photography by Hillary Schave
Heather Lott’s career seemed designed for the County New Teacher Project (DCNTP), a consortium of 18 school districts focused on supporting beginning teachers through mentorship.
“This has been some of the most life-affirming work that I’ve ever done,” Lott says. “And I am a believer that all of the things we do in our lives lead us to the things we’re doing now.”
Fresh out of college as a family and consumer science teacher at Madison West High School, Lott taught a class in which students created a preschool lab.
“Many of those students then became teachers … it sort of planted this seed for me that, wow, there is some influence to be had to support and encourage our young people to join a noble profession.”
Lott later coached student teachers, then moved into a district role training mentors of new teachers before transitioning to DCNTP, where she began as a trainer.
This year, Lott’s goal is to offer a new summer professional learning series for superintendents and other leaders on the takeaways from Partners for Racial Inclusion (PRI), a program launched
by DCNTP in 2021-22. That year, Dane County school districts employed 6% teachers of color, but enrolled 69% students of color, Lott says.
“There’s some pretty important research about students seeing themselves in their teachers and being more successful when they do,” she says.
Teachers of color who receive support through PRI are also more likely to stay, Lott says. Since its inception, the program has expanded from four to six lead partners. The state of Wisconsin requires new teachers to be paired with a trained mentor, and PRI supplements this, building a sense of community for teachers.
Lott is retiring at the end of this school year, so her other focus will be prepping DCNTP for a new leader, she says. As befitting of the organization’s mission, “we have a plan for providing them with induction and mentoring support.”
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF?
“I would say, ‘Be open.’ Our professional path is not predetermined — and we don’t know what direction it’s going
to take.”
