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Epic charter school summer program1/1/2024 ![]() Simultaneously, participants will complete the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence program. Following completion of the Boot Camp, participants attain a one-year Provisional Special Education Certificate and will begin serving EPIC students with the support of an EPIC mentor. UTeach involves five-and-a-half weeks of specialized training in the education of special needs students and is a mix of online, collaborative sessions and field experience. They will begin training and employment on Jby participating in EPIC’s state-approved Special Education Boot Camp. UTeach qualifying applicants must have a four-year degree in any major from an accredited college or university, earned a 2.75 cumulative GPA, and be able to pass a state criminal background check. “By creating a more efficient path for those with a passion for teaching to go where they’re needed most, everyone wins, but mostly the students we serve.” “EPIC is all about innovation and, at a time when students with special needs are struggling because of a lack of qualified teachers to serve them, we decided it was time to do something about that,” Banfield said. UTeach allows them to gain that certification so they can share their knowledge with EPIC students.”ĮPIC Superintendent Bart Banfield agrees. “Yes, I have a degree in teaching, but I’m also just wired that way, and I think there are others that are wired that way, too, who just don’t have the certification. “Just because someone doesn’t have a background in education, doesn’t mean they don’t have the skills and aptitude to become great teachers,” Spencer said. UTeach aims to train degreed professionals – but not with education degrees – to become special education teachers via a unique, fast-track teacher certification program. ![]() That’s where EPIC’s new UTeach program comes in and why Spencer believes it will be beneficial for both EPIC and the state. If not, one district’s gain is going to be another’s loss. That is why forward-thinking districts must actively grow the number of teachers they need to serve their school systems. Special education positions are among the most difficult teaching slots to fill and the highest in demand. Oklahoma has a well-documented teacher shortage crisis. “So I earned my alternative certification in special education to be able to better serve them so they didn’t need to have two teachers.” “I had some families with both special education and regular education students in their households,” Spencer said. ![]() After more than 20 years as a regular education teacher, she saw some of the families she served were in a unique situation. EPIC Charter Schools’ 2019 Special Education Teacher of the Year, Terry Spencer, didn’t come to special education in the traditional way. ![]()
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