Alternative certification is helping the school district grab nontraditional teachers in a variety of fields.
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published August 21, 2003
INVERNESS - There is a teacher shortage. There are college educated people who could teach but don't have teaching credentials.
The Citrus County School District has a program in place that can help these potential educators - the Alternative Certification Program. It has been in effect for a little over a year, and so far has certified three teachers. Seventeen have been in the program for a year, and five started at the beginning of the summer. There are four who have applied and were accepted but haven't started yet.
The program is coordinated by director of planning and development Gail Grimm. "These folks come to us, and they have a degree, but not in education," she said, "We're giving them knowledge and skills in the teacher areas that they don't have."
Grimm recently presented one of the three newly certified teachers, Ryan Selby from Inverness Middle School, to the School Board. The other two are Ed Bailey, a retired physicist who teaches physics part time at Crystal River High School, and Capt. Tim Holme, a Crystal River High School ROTC instructor.
To qualify for the program, the teachers must be hired by the school district with temporary teaching certificates. These last for three years with the stipulation that the teachers will become certified within that time. They can take college courses or enroll in the Alternative Certification Program.
Selby choose the alternative program for a number of reasons, but mainly because he didn't have to travel to a university. "It's extremely helpful to not have to travel," he said. "My wife's a teacher, as well, and took the regular route." Selby teaches science and math at Inverness Middle School but soon will transfer to Lecanto Middle School to teach science. He applied to the program because time was running out for him. He was in his third year of teaching and needed to become certified in order to retain his job.
A science background was not the problem. Selby has a bachelor's degree in psychology/premedical science. He was planning to go to medical school but took a job teaching at Brown School instead. When Brown School closed, he moved to Inverness Middle. It was there he heard about the Alternative Certification Program. It took him from October to June to complete it. "I had to work hard at it," he said. Grimm recommends teachers take two years to finish the program.
Selby appreciated more about the program than just saved travel time. He said he thinks he had to do more work than he would have if he went to a college, although this program offers mentors and tutors.
The mentors, Grimm said, are all retired educators, including Craig Marlett, former Crystal River High principal; Mary Lyons, a former Crystal River High teacher; Fred Conley, who was retired but is working again as assistant director at Withlacoochee Technical Institute; and Jim Pullar, who was a guidance counselor at Citrus Springs Middle School.
"Mary Lyons, my mentor, did an excellent job," Selby said, "and Steve Crandall (Inverness Middle teacher) was my online tutor and was very, very helpful."
The tutors, Grimm said, are National Board Certified teachers.
Another plus of the program is the price - the school system picks up half of the $2,600 tab. "It was very affordable," Selby said.
Grimm is pleased with the advantages the program offers to the school system. "We've picked up really good people by being able to offer this program," she said. "We've really been able to bring in creative people who have a lot to offer."
