KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Professionals seeking to switch careers and become teachers learned how to make it happen during an informational meeting with the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence.
Through the organization's program, candidates can take an online test prep course, and then two exams at a testing center to receive certification to teach in Missouri.
The program costs nearly $2,000 and takes about eight to ten months to complete. Also, the candidate must fulfill 60 hours in the classroom.
Amanda Brown, a teacher certification specialist, said professionals who decide to later pursue education are great role models for high school students.
"Recruiting people that chose other career paths and then later on decided, 'I really wish I would've become a teacher,' those are the people that make the greatest teachers because they're firm in their decision that they really do want to go back to teach and they have a lot to offer because they've been in the business world already usually," said Amanda Brown, American Board's Teacher Certification Specialist.
To qualify for the program, the candidate must have a Bachelor's degree where they obtained a 2.5 g.p.a. or greater, and pass a background check. The program offers certification to teach 5-12th grades, in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Elementary Education, English Language Arts, General Science, History, Math, Physics, Special Education, and a Reading Endorsement.
American Board has been approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education since 2008.
They will be hosting another informational meeting July 26 at the Knox County Community Center.
For more information, here is a link to their website.
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