Grand Island Public Schools continues to grow its own leaders. Tausha Jones, a GIPS teacher, graduated from the Tri-Cities ASCEND Academy internship program in December 2022. 

The ASCEND internship program is a collaboration between Hastings Public Schools, Kearney Public Schools, and Grand Island Public Schools. The program allows one intern from each district to get experience as an Assistant Principal at an Elementary School. The interns spend 9 weeks in one of the other districts and 9 weeks in their home district.  

“The ASCEND program gave me an opportunity to grow and learn alongside amazing educators,” Jones, a recent program graduate of the second cohort, said. 

Brian Kort, GIPS Recruiting and Retention Coordinator, said the Tri-Cities ASCEND Academy is an exciting program.

“We get to watch as our interns grow throughout the first semester as a building level leader. At our monthly meetings with the ASCEND Interns, I look forward to hearing about their experiences in this program,” Kort said. 

Jones said the program offered her a unique opportunity to experience leadership  in three different school districts.

“When going through your administration courses, it’s hard to get different hands-on leadership experience. This program helped provide those experiences for us,” Jones said.

“I’m thankful that our collaboration between the Tri-City districts is investing in building up leaders within their districts and that I had the opportunity to be part of this program,” she said. 

This is the second year for the program and it shows no signs of slowing down as GIPS continues to grow leaders.