CMC Mentor Teacher Report 2024–25
CMC Teacher Education graduate Melissa Lopez now has enough experience to become a mentor for future CMC students and is working on her mentor teacher endorsement.
Catalysts for Change: Over 100 Mentor Teachers Transforming Rural Education
Executive Summary
Since the passage of Senate Bill 19-190 in 2019, Colorado Mountain College (CMC) has remained a statewide leader in developing teacher leaders through its Mentor Teacher Endorsement Program. Supported initially by grant funding from the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE), the program has grown well beyond its original scope. In 2024, CMC was also awarded Opportunity Now funds, allowing us to run additional cohorts of mentor teachers and extend our reach across the Rocky Mountains and into rural communities beyond our traditional partner districts.
Together, these funding streams have created a powerful inertia of interest in teacher leadership—one that not only strengthens educator preparation but also fosters retention and professional growth for both preservice and early-career teachers. As of the 2024–25 academic year, over 100 certified teachers have completed the endorsement, forming a critical mass of experienced mentors actively shaping the next generation of educators.
This momentum has drawn statewide attention. Senator Cathy Kipp, a longtime advocate for educator support, has shown great interest in how the CMC model might be expanded to reach more communities through innovative approaches to mentorship. Her engagement underscores the program’s value as a scalable and replicable strategy for strengthening Colorado’s educator workforce.
CMC Program Completers
- AY 2021–22 = 15
- AY 2022–23 = 23
- AY 2023–24 = 20
- AY 2024–25 = 20
“I value this experience as it is a way to revisit all my tools and develop new ones. Additionally, it gives me a venue to collaborate—for sooo long in my career I have been alone in the room!”
Opportunity Now Mentors
SU 24 = 22, SU 25 = 28
Creating a Continuum of Leadership
CMC was among the first educator preparation programs approved to offer the Mentor Teacher Endorsement in 2020. Since then, we have trained more than 100 mentor teachers—many of whom are CMC alumni returning to serve the next generation of educators. Each year, between 90 and 100 mentor teachers partner with students in our traditional, alternative, and teacher apprenticeship pathways.
This is not a one-time experience. More than two-thirds of our mentors return for multiple years and mentor multiple candidates, building both consistency for our students and momentum in schools. Many mentors report that the endorsement reinvigorates their practice, sharpens their leadership skills, and inspires broader school impact.
“I have used a ton of the reflective scaffolding and questioning strategies with other teachers on my team, not just my mentee.”
“Bringing information back to school leadership and collaborating with my administration has elevated our instructional conversations.”
Mentorship in Action
- 96% of respondents rated themselves as Proficient or higher in core mentoring competencies.
- Most mentors reported adopting new practices, refining instructional design, and increasing satisfaction in their own teaching.
- Many are now engaging in school improvement efforts, instructional coaching, and peer mentorship roles.
“It has brought up practices I assumed others understood. I now take more time to explain, model, and coach.”
Budget & Program Growth
The financial foundation of the CMC Mentor Teacher Endorsement Program reflects a deliberate, strategic investment in Colorado’s educator workforce. With each successive year, the program has grown in reach, scale, and impact—while maintaining a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility and direct-to-mentor funding.
| Academic Year | Award | Tuition & Fees | Stipends | License Fees | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AY 2021–22 | $70,850 | $19,072 | $28,000 | $0 | 15 completers; unused funds rolled over |
| AY 2022–23 | $82,800 | $20,555 | $51,300 | $2,070 | 23 completers; full fund utilization |
| AY 2023–24 | $57,623 | $14,800 | $65,000 | $1,800 | 20 completers; CMC supplemented overage |
| AY 2024–25 | $112,680 | $12,480 | $95,000 | $1,800 | 20 completers: minimal unused funds = $1,356.00 |
| AY 2025–26 | $135,540 | $16,240 | $117,500 | $1,800 | 20 completers anticipated |
Stxio Esparza — Leadership Grown from Within
One of the most powerful outcomes of the CMC Mentor Teacher Endorsement Program is when our own graduates return—not just to teach, but to lead. Few exemplify this ripple effect more clearly than Stxio Esparza, a bilingual educator, district lead mentor, and CMC alumna.
Stxio completed her teacher preparation and Mentor Teacher Endorsement through Colorado Mountain College and has since become a champion for equity and access in rural education. Today, she serves as a lead mentor in her district, guiding not only preservice teachers but also novice educators navigating their first years in the classroom. Her bilingualism and deep understanding of culturally responsive practices make her an especially effective coach for diverse communities.
The Transforming Ripple Effect
“The training encouraged me to think critically about equity and inclusion in my teaching and how to support others in doing the same.”
What began as a single, state-funded initiative to improve clinical practice has evolved into a powerful and expanding movement—one rooted in mentorship but rippling outward to redefine leadership, retention, and instructional excellence in rural schools.
In the 2024–25 academic year, Stxio took her leadership even further by test-piloting a virtual mentorship model, supporting teacher candidates in remote and under-resourced rural districts that often lack qualified in-building mentors. Through this innovative approach, she provides high-quality, equity-driven mentorship in places where it is needed most—bridging both geographic and instructional gaps.
Her work demonstrates exactly what the CMC program was designed to achieve: grow teacher leaders from within, support them through endorsement and development, and empower them to transform the very systems they came from. Stxio also serves on our CMC Teacher Education Advisory Council (TEAC).
Stxio is not just paying it forward—she is scaling mentorship in real time, showing that when rural communities invest in their educators, those educators return as catalysts for exponential, community-rooted change.