The story below is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
The Virginia Department of Education’s Career Switcher Program plays a key role in adding new (and much-needed) teachers to the field.
Editor's Note: Learn more about this program in our podcast education episode, featuring Kimberly Ogden, director of the Virginia Community College System's EducateVA, along with Career Switchers Clara Holland and Lord Botetourt High School Assistant Principal Jimmy Yager.
Not all of those who occupy Virginia’s classrooms knew early on that they wanted to be teachers. Some came to work in education after already having successful careers in other fields. To make the jump from one field to another, they went through the Virginia Department of Education’s Career Switcher Program, which allowed them an alternate route to obtaining a license to teach.
Courtesy of Clara Holland
Clara Holland
To qualify for the program, those looking to switch careers need to have a bachelor’s degree, coursework in the area in which they’d like to teach, at least three years of full-time work experience, a qualifying score on a professional teacher’s assessment and apply for a certified career switcher program at a regional college or university, like the EducateVA Career Switcher program through Virginia Western Community College.
Kimberly Ogden, director of the Virginia Community College System’s EducateVA, says the average participant is around age 42 and has 10 years of work experience. “They come into a classroom unlike the traditionally prepared teacher with another perspective. They’ve perhaps been in the corporate world. They’ve been attorneys, in banking, in marketing,” she explains.
Over the course of an 18-week semester, participants complete seven courses. Ogden stresses it’s quite an intensive preparation program that includes weekend classes and a one-week in-class practicum. At the end of it, participants are issued a career switcher provisional license. After they are hired by a division, EducateVA continues to offer professional development and support during their first year of teaching. If the year is deemed a success, they are awarded their 10-year professional teaching license.
Hollins University doesn’t have a formal career switcher program, but it does cater to those with an undergraduate degree who are looking to get into education. It offers both a master’s in teaching and licensure-only option.
“We have had many adults who have decided to switch careers complete the MAT program,” Teri Wagner, education department chair, explains. “We’ve also found that some adults aren’t necessarily interested in another degree; they just want to take the courses they need to get licensed to teach. Our licensure-only option has been favorable to those students.”
Courtesy of John Turnbull
John Turnbull
Botetourt County Public Schools does have some teachers who it hired through Ogden’s program, but it’s not a regular source of new teachers for the division. “Most of our teachers come to us from other school divisions or out of post-secondary education programs,” Tim McClung, director of human resources, says.
Botetourt native Clara Holland, a 6th grade English teacher at Central Academy Middle School, is one of the few teachers who came to the division through the program. She wouldn’t quite say she switched careers since she studied early childhood education at Virginia Tech and worked at private daycare centers after graduating. Rather, going through the program was more of a natural career progression for her.
She knew she wanted to become a public school teacher after substituting. “My heart was changed once I got into the public school setting. I knew this was something I wanted to pursue,” she says.
After that realization, she had a conversation with the division’s licensure specialist who made her aware of the program.
It took Holland a year to complete the program. “I learned a lot. I feel it was great preparation,” she says.
She just completed her second year of teaching at the middle school.
Roanoke City Public Schools on the other hand draws in more career switchers. It has four individuals who completed the program and started teaching during the 2022-23 school year and nine who are currently in the program and have been hired by the division.
“The teaching colleges have declined in enrollment, so we’re having some difficulty filling certain positions,” Angela Wimberly, director of recruitment and retention for the division, says.
The career switcher program has been a vital tool for helping her get teachers into classrooms, especially in hard to fill positions like math and science.
Courtesy of Sammy Foster
Sammy Foster
“It has allowed us to have people who were not in the education field, but they want to make an impact and always wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “A lot of them are Roanoke natives and are invested in our city. They want to make an impact. This program has allowed them to do that.”
Aside from simply filling positions, the program supplies the division with teachers who can bring new perspectives to the classroom. “They can enrich our learning environments and attract students to the profession they were recently in,” Wimberly says. “It diversifies our teacher workforce so that students can see teachers that look like them.”
Bristol, Tennessee, native John Turnbull landed his first teaching job in mathematics at James Madison Middle School two school years ago after previously working in ministry.
“I’ve always thought about being a teacher, but ended up going another path,” he says regarding the master’s in religion he received.
It was while working as a youth director at a Lexington church that he started considering EducateVA. The idea of going into education also made sense given that his wife, who he married in 2017 and moved to Roanoke with, had become a school counselor at Breckinridge Middle School.
By the time he pursued the program, he was working as a contractor salesman at Ideal Building Supply. He maintained his job while preparing to become a teacher. “The biggest thing for me was how affordable it was,” he says.
After a semester of classes and a week of classroom experience, he was eligible to be hired as a teacher with a provisional license.
“The big thing I learned was managing my time and juggling so many things at once. The rigor of it, the assignments we had to do on top of working a full-time job, was what prepared me best for what I do now,” he says.
Now two years into being an educator, Turnbull says he’s extremely happy with his decision to change careers. “It’s been very rewarding,” he stresses.
Sammy Foster, a Roanoke Valley resident for most of his life, has consistently been around the education field. Both his father and wife are educators. After graduating from Bryan College in Tennessee with a mathematics degree, he went to work for Botetourt’s school division in IT. He later worked at Virginia Tech in a similar capacity. It was there that he decided to finally pursue a career in the classroom.
Courtesy of Ryan Mehalic
Ryan Mehalic
At first, he thought he would have to pursue his master’s to teach. However, he discovered EducateVA.
As a numbers person, a data analysis class he took resonated with him. “Being able to look at how we can use data in the classroom to improve student success but also improve our teaching was most helpful,” he says.
He just finished his second year at Forest Park Academy, one of the division’s alternative high schools. Since entering the classroom, Foster has been surprised by how meaningful his interactions with the students have been.
“I was nervous to begin with, but I love working with these kids. The kids themselves have helped me in ways I never thought they would,” he says, adding that he looks forward to engaging with students again in the fall.
Ryan Mehalic is another city schools career switcher. After receiving a sports management degree from George Mason University, he started working in the parks and recreation field.
The Loudon County native and his wife decided to move to the area around 2016 in search of quieter life.
The move prompted him to reevaluate his career, which he wasn’t enjoying at the time. The idea of becoming a health and physical education teacher seemed like a perfect fit considering his background, so he started the process of switching careers. He went through a similar program as the others but at Shenandoah University.
He ultimately landed at Lucy Addison Middle School at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Despite the school being a challenging environment, he says he’s been able to help many kids who need it. “I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s been a great opportunity,” he says.
A year into his career change, Mehalic feels he made the right decision. In fact, he now wakes up excited to go to work every day. He plans to return to the classroom in the fall.
“If someone is considering this change, I’d definitely recommend it,” he says.
Given the continued decline of education majors, Wimberly anticipates her division will hire more career switchers in the future.
The story above is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!