Health & Fitness
Looking to Change Careers? You Should Become a Teacher
With the job opportunities available in Florida classrooms, switching your profession to become a teacher provides a rewarding, new career for yourself - and a great service to your community.
The American Board is an education 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to building communities by recruiting teachers locally. The organization offers an online teacher certification program that is accepted by the Florida Department Education (FLDOE) as a route to educator licensure.
The American Board assists career-changers in twelve states with the transition to the classroom. Since the organization’s founding in 2001, thousands of teachers have received their certification through The American Board.
According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Education, there are critical shortages of Special Education teachers in Florida. As a result, The American Board is working diligently to fill local classrooms with role models who are well-suited to address the challenges faced by today’s educators.
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The organization is authorized to certify in Florida for Biology, Chemistry, Elementary Education, General Science, Physics, Mathematics, English Language Arts, Special Education and Reading Certificate, all for the high school and/or junior high levels. With an average age of 39, American Board candidates often pursue teaching positions following a career-change in the fields where they have professional experience and/or hold a Bachelor’s degree (a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university is a requirement of the program).
Vanessa York is an American Board alum from Florida who teaches Biology and Chemistry in a Florida high school. With Florida’s temporary certification program, York was able to decide that she wanted to teach, but when her three years were coming to an end, she needed to obtain her full certification. According to York, the American Board program “was a good fit for [her] because it allowed [her] to continue teaching full-time, [and] not to sit in a classroom for several hours a week on top of the job [she] was already doing. York finds it very rewarding that her “students come back, 2-3 years later and are still thanking [her] for [the] concepts they are still applying today.”
Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With the number of job opportunities currently available in Florida classrooms, York’s success story is achievable for the members of the Brandon community who are considering a career-change to teaching. And with the American Board program, those career-changers can be successfully running their own classrooms and making a difference in their communities within a year.
The American Board will host an information sessions about the program and Florida teacher certification in Brandon
- Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at the Brandon Regional Library
Click on the above link for more information and to register for the event. Sessions are an hour in length and begin at 4:15 pm and 5:15 pm. Advance registration is highly recommended, as space is limited.
There will be more events held in Greater Tampa. Click here to view the upcoming schedule.
Event contact: Lauren Schubel, (772) 812-3434, lschubel@americanboard.org.
