Grant funds teaching credentials

CTC grant awards $24,000 a year
Posted on 03/27/2023

Plumas Charter School was awarded a California Teaching Credential (CTC) grant that will provide funds for five classified employees to obtain their teaching credentials.

The grant awards $24,000 a year to cover the cost of school for up to five staff members until they complete their credential, allowing a maximum of three years to finish.

The teachers will have a choice of attending National University or CalStateTEACH when they enroll in their online classes. The employees planning to complete the program are instructional aides and staff working with short-term-staff permits at PCS. 

Executive director Taletha Washburn said that these support staff play an important role at PCS. “They assist credentialed teachers in creating a positive learning environment to facilitate the personal, social and intellectual development of students. With the grant funding, PCS is able to offer a path to becoming a certificated teacher to those that wish to lead their own class in the future.”

One of the employees planning to enroll in the program is Marlyn Marincas from Quincy. Marincas has been involved with PCS for 11 years.  First, as a parent volunteer when her daughters were in elementary school, and more recently as a substitute teacher. This year, Marincas is teaching a junior-high class as a long-term substitute for a staff member on maternity leave. “I have gotten to know and love the middle-school students. I have been teaching seventh and eighth-grade full-time since the start of the school year and wish to continue to do so. I love being in the classroom and working with students. Accordingly, I am seeking my credential,” she said. 

This will be a third career for Marincas. She started her professional career with a juris doctorate degree from Columbia University School of Law. She then worked as a young attorney for a large New York City firm. From there, she was hired by a client to work in finance and spent most of her professional years in that field. She left finance to raise her children and now that her daughters are headed to college, Marincas is returning to school to add a degree that will enable her to continue to bring her enthusiasm for and love of learning to PCS middle schoolers. “The grant that PCS has obtained is a huge help to a family about to have three out of four of its members in college!” she said.

By Rachel Goings, Public Relations Specialist  [email protected]

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In the photo: Ms. Marlyn is a substitute teacher at PCS and plans to obtain her credential through the CTC grant that PCS was awarded.