In 2021, Renaissance Academy needed an ELL-certified teacher to serve as its ELL teacher and coordinator, and administration asked Sara to take on the role by adding the endorsement to her certificate. It was a perfect fit. As a reading interventionist, Sara was already working with many English language learners, so the endorsement built naturally on the work she loved.
To find the right path, Sara turned to her friend and former coworker Melissa MacLaren, who was already part of Professional Innovators and helped her get connected to the program.
"At this point in my life, there is no way I would have wanted to go back to school full time to do this, so Professional Innovators was a great program to help me reach this goal."
Because Sara already held a teaching certificate, she was able to take the accelerated route to add her endorsement. She passed the MTTC for ESL and then spent the next three years completing her courses while continuing her work in reading intervention and serving as her school's ELL coordinator.
Even as an experienced, certified teacher with 23 years of experience, Sara found her coursework genuinely valuable. Along the way, she had many "ah-ha" moments, sometimes rediscovering something she already knew, and sometimes learning a brand-new way to approach her instruction.
"I feel like Professional Innovators offers content that I didn't get in my original teaching certification program. It teaches the art of teaching, and that the content and subject knowledge are already there or will come with experience."
About halfway through her courses, Melissa reached out with a new opportunity: would Sara be interested in becoming a program coach? At the time, ten teachers at Renaissance were working toward endorsements or a standard teaching certificate, and Sara would take all ten on as her candidates.
It was her first step into coaching, and she stepped in with confidence. She already knew her candidates as colleagues, she understood the classes they were taking, and she was familiar with the platform from her own coursework. Best of all, she had seen firsthand how much the courses had helped her, even after years in the classroom, and she could share that experience with the teachers she supported.
Sara loves how flexible the program has been, both for her own needs and for the wide variety of candidates she has worked with. She has coached kindergarten teachers all the way through middle school teachers, as well as fellow interventionists and even a librarian.
In courses like small-group instruction and foundations in literacy, a candidate might sometimes ask how the material fits their particular role. Sara has seen the program answer that question beautifully.
"Professional Innovators allows candidates to individualize what the course might mean to them."
Literacy and small-group work look different across the many roles educators hold, but through the course readings and assignments, every candidate Sara has worked with gained something meaningful and made a real change in their instruction.
Sara's message to educators considering an endorsement or joining Professional Innovators is simple and enthusiastic. For Sara, adding an endorsement refreshed areas of her practice that had grown dusty over the years, made her a better educator, and inspired her to coach others through their own journeys.
"It has been such a valuable experience for me, and I've heard that from others as well."
Professional Innovators is incredibly proud of teachers like Sara, who never stop growing and contributing to education.
Interested in applying or know someone who would be interested in being a certified teacher? Join the Professional Innovators network today! There is no application fee to get started.
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