For a time, Taura Rush thought becoming a teacher was out of reach. The Arizona Teachers Academy scholarship at Arizona State University — and access to an online degree program — changed that.
In 2020, after leaving an abusive marriage, Rush, 34, returned to her family in the small town of Joseph City, Arizona. The single mother of two took a job as a school paraprofessional and, to make ends meet, also worked as the maintenance person on the same campus.