Educators On The Move
By Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer
Spring 2005
Army wife Berkeley McHugh got tired of the question, "What can you do with an English degree?" so she got her teaching certification. Since that decision in 1985, she has found a teaching position every place she has wanted to teach as she moved with the military.
Many military spouses have found the education field a fine professional fit with the mobile military life. There is always a demand for teachers and child development specialists both on and off base, the teaching schedule offers flexibility that accommodates family life, and teaching skills may be applied in many places outside of traditional schools.
Adopt The Right Mindset
Peggy Frede, Air Force spouse and longtime educator, recommends, "Accept jobs that stretch you professionally. Take the opportunity of a forced move to learn and try new techniques and methods."
"I am an educator," Frede emphasizes. "Notice I didn't say teacher."
It's a mindset that opened her to opportunities outside traditional schools, from managing a retraining program at a computer learning center to teaching technology at a law firm.
Many of the spouses we interviewed pointed to similar flexibility and openness to different opportunities where they could use their education skills.
Army wife Sherri Miller's degree in elementary education opened doors to positions in child development centers. Starting as an assistant director, she was later promoted to a training and curriculum specialist position. She has also taught third grade and kindergarten. When she chose to stay home with her first child and forego fulltime teaching, another opportunity opened up.
"Word got out that I was a certified teacher and I began getting calls to tutor," Miller explained. "I do no advertising, but I have enough students to allow me to stay in touch with my teacher side and to work only a few hours a week."
When McHugh learned that her stay at Ft. Sill would last only six months, she knew she couldn't teach a full year. Instead, she found a position teaching in the Basic Skills Education Program, helping soldiers prepare for their general and technical skills testing.
Since many states require social studies teachers to take a course in the state's history, Army wife Lindsy Pousson couldn't always get certified quickly enough in her chosen field as she moved with the military. Instead, she worked as a tutor and a long-term substitute.
"As a tutor, I have the flexibility to work reduced hours, but the time I do work is spent helping kids, not in piles of paperwork," she says.
Marine spouse and longtime educator Cydnee Gentry says, "You have to have a lot of flexibility and multiple certifications. As the Marines say, 'Semper Gumby, always flexible!'"
Network And Stay In Touch
When asked for the best source of positions, the most frequent response was "other teachers." The examples these educators shared involved both formal and informal networking with colleagues.
Gentry has moved 10 times in 15 years with her Marine husband and has been able to find jobs teaching or working with children with every move. She has been a member of the National Educators Association and the National Association of Young Children.
"Memberships in professional organizations can help with resource and recertification issues," Gentry says.
McHugh has moved 13 times in 22 years and found work everywhere she wanted to teach. She credits informal networking as an invaluable resource.
"Really the best thing I did for myself, and I didn't do it knowingly, was to keep in touch with teachers after I left schools," McHugh maintains. "I have been to Texas twice and to Virginia three times, and each time it was helpful knowing people when I returned."
Army wife Anita Russell has moved seven times in 19 years and found it easy to get work at child development centers as she moved. She considers networking with others in Army Child and Youth Services as a key to her career.
Networking can open up other opportunities for your skills. Kathie's friend Linda, for example, teaches writing at a community college, a position she learned about through a writing friend. Through other teachers at the school, she learned about and was hired to a contract position with the Films for Humanities project, where teachers are hired to break down lengthy films into shorter versions for specific teaching objectives. Linda says the work pays well and can be done at home on her own schedule.
Start Your Search Before You Move
"Most school districts have a website," says Leslie Torres, longtime Army spouse and special education teacher. "They will send you preliminary information. In some cases, I did initial interviews over the phone and had appointments lined up before I arrived in town."
The same is true for child development centers. "Most installations have websites with contact numbers for non-appropriated fund and appropriated fund civilian personnel offices as well as for child and youth services facilities," says Russell. "You can call or e-mail ahead of your move to let them know you are coming and to send a copy of your resume."
Russell also points out that most military child development centers will put you on "leave without pay" when you move, making you an internal rather than an external hire at the new post and possibly accelerating your hiring. Additionally, she points out, you can use your "military spouse preference" for the positions.
Big Challenges, Big Benefits
The spouses we interviewed mentioned three primary challenges to a career in education:
- You can't always move up as you move. School districts often will place you lower on the pay scale, not because you are a new teacher but because you are new to the district. Furthermore, it becomes more difficult to find a suitable position as you gain experience.
- You need to set aside your own retirement funds. That's because you're not able to stay in a school district long enough to be eligible for a pension.
- You must research certification requirements and spend time and money to get certified in each new state. Torres cautions, "Be sure to keep your certification current. It's much easier to get certified if you hold a current certification in another state."
The Department of Defense hopes to provide help with that third challenge. "Spouses to Teachers" is a DoD pilot project designed to assist spouses of active duty military (and most reserves on extended active duty) in their pursuit of K-12 teaching positions in both public and private schools in the U.S. The pilot states are California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Virginia. The program offers information, counseling and guidance to teachers as they move, and provides information on available jobs. It will also offer limited financial assistance to help defray the costs of meeting state certification requirements.
McHugh urged us to highlight one big benefit to this lifestyle, something that applies to other career fields as well as teaching.
"I have had some fabulous opportunities because I moved around and taught at different schools," she said. "I went back to Texas 10 years after I first taught there, and many of my former co-workers were still there, teaching the same subject in the same room. I feel that I had additional opportunities to grow and be challenged because of my new environments."
Frede echoes that sentiment: "I have a variety of great experiences that I wouldn't trade for a 30-year career in any school district."
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©2005, Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer. Kathie and Holly write the "Married to the Military" column for the military Times newspapers. In future issues, they plan to explore careers in health services, financial services, federal government, DoD contractors and network marketing. If you have questions or a story to share about these career fields, contact them at kathie@jumpintolife.net.
