Time for a career switch? Get information on Saint Martin’s one-year teacher certification program

Nov. 19, 2010

Lacey, Washington — Information sessions begin Dec. 1 for the Saint Martin’s University Secondary Teacher Alternate Route Program (STAR), an intensive one-year program that prepares working professionals to teach in Washington state middle schools and high schools. STAR Program sessions also will be given Jan. 12, Feb. 9 and March 7. All sessions are at 6:30 p.m. at the University’s Norman Worthington Conference Center, 5300 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey.

Designed for individuals who already have an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university and at least one year of professionally oriented work experience, the program provides an efficient means to begin a teaching career in the state, says Program Director Ann Gentle, Ph.D., a faculty member in the University’s College of Education and Professional Psychology.

"Students enter the STAR Program equipped with valuable professional experience, eager to take on the challenges of teaching," she said. "After just one year, they are ready to enter the classroom with teacher certification and two endorsement areas."

Information sessions will address entry requirements, program details, required classes and internships, financial information and Washington’s teacher certification process. 

The university will begin accepting applications for the cohort-style program in January. Individuals accepted will start classes in June 2011.

Pending legislative decisions, conditional loan scholarships of up to $8,000 may be available to those participants who elect to work in a "high needs" academic area, such as math, science, special education or English language learner (ELL), Gentle said.

Further information about the STAR Program is available from the University’s College of Education and Professional Psychology, (360) 438-4333, or from Gentle, (360) 438-4566 or agentle@stmartin.edu.

Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and is the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its five extension campuses located at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base, Olympic College, Centralia College, and Tacoma Community College.