{"id":409,"date":"2016-11-17T22:12:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T22:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abcte.org\/blog\/?p=409"},"modified":"2017-11-20T19:56:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T19:56:18","slug":"how-i-crowdfunded-my-alternative-teacher-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanboard.org\/blog\/how-i-crowdfunded-my-alternative-teacher-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Crowdfunded My Alternative Teacher Certification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natasha Akery always felt there was something important she was meant to do with her career. After exploring multiple avenues, she started to examine her skill set and years of volunteer experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always ended up in some capacity with [helping] high school kids and I\u2019m an avid writer and reader. So while considering all my skills, I thought, \u2018I should try to be a teacher\u2019,\u201d Natasha said on a phone call with the American Board.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/a>
Where Natasha studies for her American Board teacher certification<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When she looked into going back to school, Natasha decided it was not something she could do right now with the time and monetary commitment it would require. She was a full-time mom with two young children, so she began looking into alternative programs and learned about the American Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a free trial with the American Board<\/a> and what was encouraging to me was the subject matter portion showed me I had it in the bag and even the teaching portion wasn\u2019t strange for me because my father was a Special Education teacher for 25 years. I grew up in the classroom and watching him,\u201d Natasha said. \u201cIt seemed like a natural fit and the price point was so affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

After making the decision to pursue her teaching certification for English Language Arts<\/a> with the American Board, Natasha said things just kept falling into place. Friends who were teachers began reaching out to her and suggested she shadow their classrooms, then another friend suggested she begin a GoFundMe<\/a> campaign to cover the cost of enrollment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018who wants to pay for me to become a teacher?\u2019 and apparently a lot of people did! It was super encouraging and friends of mine started sharing my GoFundMe page<\/a> and writing paragraphs about me and how I change people through my writing and working with kids. That was even more confirmation that this was the right thing to do,\u201d Natasha said.<\/p>\n

She hit her GoFundMe goal to pay for enrollment with the American Board in three weeks thanks to donations from family and friends, plus a promise she made in week three to film herself doing the \u201cJuju on that beat<\/a>\u201d dance if she reached her goal. She said it definitely helped incentivize her friends to chip in!<\/p>\n

\n

#jujuonthatbeat<\/a> because I met my @gofundme<\/a> goal of $2000! Now starting @abcte<\/a> English program to become a teacher! pic.twitter.com\/XbjPlWLb3t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nat Akery (@ladyakery) November 1, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n