REVIEW OVERVIEW By Mike Kilen GCU News Bureau Grand Canyon University has launched an initiative to combat teacher shortages at a crucial time in the state. The Canyon L.E.A.P. to Teach alternative route to licensure welcomed its first cohort of 16 students in late December to fill a need for well-prepared teachers in elementary and secondary school districts. It couldn’t have come at a better time. More than one in four Arizona classrooms face teacher vacancies, a situation made worse by COVID-19, according to a survey by Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association released in December. Since the academic year began, 1,369 teachers have severed employment, nearly 40% citing the pandemic as a reason.