RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The intern chemistry teacher at Hanford High School in Richland is comfortable in her white lab coat working with laboratory beakers.
That’s because the intern, Rama Devagupta, already has a doctoral degree in bioorganic chemistry.
The Tri-City Herald reports she’s one of the professionals who decided to change careers and become a teacher through a Washington program called Alternative Pathways to Teacher Preparation. It helps staff hard-to-fill positions such as math and science, bypassing traditional teacher training.
This year, 173 such interns are in classrooms around Washington, and about 1,000 have gone through the program in the eight years since it started.
