Good morning everyone,
I am originally from Michigan, received my BA in Design/Tech Theatre from WMU and then after a few years of freelance work decided that I really enjoyed teaching. At the time (2005) I was told that I could not be certified in Michigan as a Drama teacher and would have to go back to school essentially to get a second BA degree.
I instead went to England and interned with the RSC and then moved to Colorado where I got my MA in Theatre Ed and secondary license in Drama and English Language Arts (and am also considered HQ in Social Studies). I had no intention of moving back to Michigan, but as fate would have it, my new husband was just accepted to the Teach For America program and was assigned to teach elementary school in Detroit.
At the suggestion of some of my colleagues, I'm here to see if anyone can help me figure out how to transfer my Colorado certification to Michigan. I called the MDE and they said that they still don't certify Drama teachers in the state of Michigan and that my "Language Arts" certification is only good for middle school. Trying to fill out the application there's not even a spot for me to mention that I'm certified in Theatre. They told me to "just apply for whatever you want to be endorsed in and we'll review it" but I'm not sure what would transfer. As much as I would love to teach high school English, I'd rather be teaching theatre, speech, and design (if I can find a place that would support a tech theatre class).
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Thank you!
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Corey Josephson
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