Marlena Boswell has a bachelor’s degree in English, and a master’s degree and PhD in History. “I realized part way through my graduate studies that not everyone was going to step foot into a college classroom,” she says. She decided she wanted to teach at a high school. A Christel House licensure program called IndyTeach is giving her a pathway to become a teacher.
IndyTeach has been awarded $10,000 by the Meridian Foundation’s Arago Honors, recognizing creative problem-solving solutions by nonprofits in central Indiana. “We loved that IndyTeach is building its own pipeline of new urban teachers," said Donna Oklak, Founder of the Meridian Foundation. "The innovation is that this competency-based model offers paid training. It’s a very attractive alternative.” At IndyTeach, qualified applicants like Marlena are paid while working and learning in the classroom with mentor-teachers. At the end of the school year, Marlena will have experience and her license to teach. Oklak describes IndyTeach as a teacher residency program. “There are so many reasons to applaud IndyTeach at Christel House, including its five-year 90% retention rate of apprentice teachers remaining in the classroom,” she says. “The Meridian Foundation is proud to honor IndyTeach at Christel House." For Marlena, she’s happy she discovered IndyTeach. “Christel House was very appealing,” she says. “I took a leap of faith to try my hand and I’m enjoying it.”