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Fall 2003 Issue
| Troops to Teachers |
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By Kris Ann Hegle
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As military servicemembers, they answered the call to serve their country. Now, many former servicemembers and reservists are serving their country by answering a different call - the call to teach.
Because of increased student enrollments and teachers retiring or leaving the classroom, experts estimate more than 2 million teachers will be needed nationwide during the next 10 years. Hardest hit will be low-income urban and rural school districts, which will needmore than 700,000 new teachers during the next decade. However, some districts already are experiencing teacher shortages in math, science, computer science, special education, and English as a second language (esl).
Many former and retired servicemembers possess the skills and character traits needed to become good teachers. Recognizing this, the Department of Defense in 1994 established the Troops to Teachers program to help eligible military personnel transition into careers as public school teachers in high-need schools that serve low-income families. The program, which is overseen and funded by the U.S. Department of Education and managed by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support, helps applicants find teacher certification requirements, programs leading to certification, and employment opportunities, as well as volunteer opportunities as mentors.
More than 4,000 former servicemembers and reservists have received assistance from the program since its inception. Here's how four of them used the transition resources made available through Troops to Teachers and why they chose teaching as a second career.
The right stuff
Lt. Col. Adolfo Vasquez, usa-Ret., procured everything "from toilet paper to airplanes" during the more than 22 years in which he worked as a military logistician. When it came time to retire from the service, Vasquez thought about going to work for a defense contractor as a second career. Then he heard about Troops to Teachers.
Vasquez, who has a developmentally disabled son, was intrigued by the idea of becoming a special education teacher, so he submitted an application to the Troops to Teachers program. To his surprise, he was accepted.
"I really didn't think I had what it took," Vasquez says. "When they reviewed my service record, I was shocked to find out just how much time I'd spent teaching troops, civilians, and civil servants."
Vasquez already had a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering and a master's degree in contract administration, but he still needed to complete 18 hours of course work to be certified to teach special education and math in New Mexico, where he planned to live. To cover the costs of his education, the Troops to Teachers program awarded him a $5,000 stipend, and he was provided with a list of New Mexico public schools that needed bilingual teachers like Vasquez, who speaks English and Spanish.
In January 1995, just five months after he entered the program, Vasquez was hired to work as a math and special education teacher at Bernalillo High School in Bernalillo, N.M., which serves many Native American, Hispanic, and low-income students. Vasquez says he was drawn to the school because it is a proponent of full inclusion, a teaching concept that allows special education students to receive instruction in general education classrooms alongside their peers.
Currently, Vasquez works as the transition coordinator for Bernalillo Public Schools and serves on the New Mexico State Task Force for Transition and School to Work. Both positions give him an opportunity to break down barriers that prevent students with special needs from finding and maintaining employment once they graduate from high school. Interestingly enough, these jobs also require Vasquez to use many of the logistical, organizational, team-building, contracting, and leadership skills he acquired while in the service.
"I feared I didn't have what it takes, but I'm finding out that I have more than what it takes, and that's why I would encourage others," he says.
Drill instructor
Maj. Carol Henry, usaf-Ret., is only 5 feet 2 inches tall, but her students know she's not afraid to go toe-to-toe with them if they show up for class unprepared.
"Some of them call me drill sergeant," says Henry. "I tell them, 'That's drill major.' I am very, very regimented with them in terms of what I expect for standards."
Henry, who spent 20 years as an air transportation officer before retiring in 1994, was considering a second career in real estate when her son suggested she try teaching. She took his advice and contacted Troops to Teachers, which evaluated her college transcripts and determined the classes she needed to take. After receiving her teacher certification, Henry went to work at Enterprise Academy, an alternative high school in Newport News, Va.
Students at the academy come from a variety of economic and racial backgrounds, says Henry. Some have been on long-term suspension or have been expelled from a regular school program. Others are returning to the community after spending time in a state department of corrections facility or alternative setting.
"All of these students are needy in one form or another, and they're looking for guidance," she says.
Henry believes the structure and discipline she acquired during her career in the military have served her well as a teacher. However, she doesn't think teaching is for everyone, and she offers frank advice to those who are considering a career in teaching through Troops to Teachers' mentoring program.
"If you don't like children, don't come here," she says. "If you're not serious about our country's most important resource, educating our children, then don't come here."
After spending seven years in the classroom, Henry has earned the respect not only of her students, but also of her fellow teachers, who elected her to serve as the president of the Newport News Education Association. Currently, Henry is working to get the state to increase teachers' salaries - something she believes is long overdue.
Although Henry thinks teachers should be paid more, she can't imagine having a more rewarding or meaningful career. Most of all, she enjoys the challenge of helping students realize they can learn and succeed.
"I had a teacher help me," she says. "I'll never forget her - Mrs. Flanagan. She saw something in me. If it weren't for her inspiration, I wouldn't have gotten where I am today. I'm trying to do the same thing for some of these young people, to let them know I see something in them, but they have to want it."
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