{"id":380,"date":"2016-11-04T16:30:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T16:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abcte.org\/blog\/?p=380"},"modified":"2021-07-09T15:45:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T15:45:49","slug":"how-i-became-a-missouri-teacher-and-changed-lives-including-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanboard.org\/blog\/how-i-became-a-missouri-teacher-and-changed-lives-including-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Became a Missouri Educator (and changed lives, including mine)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Missouri educator Haley Brueck is both an alumna of, and enthusiastic local representative for, the American Board. She has worked with the program for several years and continues to spread awareness to teachers-to-be across the state. She shares her experience in education below.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American Board alumna, Haley Brueck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twenty years ago and five years into my journalism career, I received a call from a former high school teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ever think about teaching journalism?\u201d<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t, but the timing of the call couldn\u2019t be more perfect. I was about to start a family, I was not exactly satisfied with my current employment, and I wanted more time to golf.<\/p>\n

The former teacher continued, \u201cI\u2019m leaving my position as a broadcast journalism teacher and think you\u2019d be great.\u201d I had a journalism degree from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), so I asked, \u201cHow does that allow me to teach?\u201d The simple answer: It doesn\u2019t. But in Florida, I could teach under a temporary certificate as I completed a 2-year teaching certification program. I did just that and received a vocational teaching certificate. I loved<\/em> teaching. I decided to earn my Master\u2019s in Education and then my National Board Certification – the gold standard in teacher certification.<\/p>\n

But when I moved to St. Louis, Missouri to teach journalism and a college\/career prep class, my Master\u2019s of Education degree, my vocational education certificate, and my National Board certification were not sufficient.<\/p>\n

I suddenly found myself in need of a Missouri state teaching certification or I\u2019d be released from my current position as a Missouri educator. I researched my options and found the American Board<\/a> – a Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) approved route to certification. All I needed to be eligible for the program was a bachelor\u2019s degree with an overall GPA minimum of 2.5 (changing to 2.75 on August 31, 2017) in all courses taken from all institutions.<\/p>\n

When you look at the other routes to certification<\/a>\u00a0it is by far the fastest and least expensive option as certification can be achieved in less than a year for under $2,000.<\/p>\n

I now have my Missouri teaching certification from DESE and moonlight working for the American Board to help others find this excellent path to a career in education. It really is the best option for career-changers like me.<\/p>\n

Missouri offers certification in the following subject areas:<\/strong><\/p>\n