YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Teams with information on the Troops to Teachers program — which has placed more than 5,000 former servicemembers in education jobs since 1994 — will visit Pacific bases and brief servicemembers and their spouses beginning this week.
In addition to information about Troops to Teachers, they’ll be debuting a pilot program, Spouses to Teachers.
The first briefing is scheduled for Monday at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, with the teams winding through installations on mainland Japan, South Korea and Okinawa over the next three weeks.
“A lot of servicemembers may not think about teaching as a career once they leave the military, but day to day in the military, they’re using the same skills that teachers need,” said William McAleer, the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) Far East adviser.
“On a daily basis, they already manage, instruct, inspire and lead, and those are the same tools successful teachers need. Of course, not everybody can or should be a teacher, but a lot of servicemembers already have the same skills they’d need in the classroom.”
McAleer will travel with the information teams, as will representatives from several states who participate in Troops to Teachers.
The morning sessions will focus on overview information for the program, with the afternoons focused on filling out applications and having one-on-one meetings with state experts to review education transcripts, which participants are encouraged to bring with them.
Troops to Teachers, established by the Pentagon in 1994 but transferred to the Department of Education in 1999, aims to help eligible military personnel transition to careers as public school teachers in “high-need” schools.
The program provides both financial assistance to cover teacher certification costs and bonuses for teaching in schools that serve high percentages of low-income families.
In return, participants agree to teach for at least three years in the program, McAleer said.
This year’s briefings feature information on Spouses to Teachers, a pilot program in six states: California, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Texas and Virginia.
“It’s no coincidence the pilot states have large military populations,” McAleer said.
The Spouses to Teachers briefings will focus on state teaching certification requirements, routes to certification, employment potential and job searches, officials said.
In addition to spouses of active-duty servicemembers, spouses of Reserve, National Guard and Individual Ready Reserve members recalled to active duty are eligible.
For more info, visit www.proudtoserveagain.com or www.spousestoteachers.org.
Pacific Schedule
The Troops to Teachers teams will hold sessions on the following schedule:
Japan • Monday: Yokosuka Naval Base, Fleet Activities Center, 8:30 a.m.• Tuesday: Camp Zama, Base education center, 8:30 a.m.• Wednesday: Yokota Air Base, Building 316, 8:30 a.m.• Thursday: Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, Sakura Theater, 8:30 a.m.
Korea • Oct. 11: Osan Air Base, Officers Club, 9 a.m.Oct. 12: Camp Henry, education center, 8:30 a.m.• Oct. 14: Camp Red Cloud, education center, 8:30 a.m.• Oct. 15: Yongsan Garrison, Moyer Recreation Center, 8:30 a.m.
Okinawa • Oct. 18: Kadena Air Base, Kadena High School auditorium, 9 a.m.• Oct. 19: Camp Courtney, base chapel, 8:30 a.m.
