$6,000!!!

Wow! I feel like I hit the jackpot! I found out yesterday about this progam, CAA. It's funded by the Department of Defence, and goes through Military One Source.

Aparently, as military spouses, we sometimes have a hard time finding a new job when we transfer duty stations (imigian that!), so they wanted to give us a 'tool' to help us make that transition. You can use the money for any type of job that transitions- Teaching, Medical, Business, etc. It will pay for college courses, licence fees, continuing ed, state certifications, and more.

I have a teaching degree and certificate from New Mexico, which is for K-8 with science, social studies, and math endorsements. However here, I was only awarded 1-6 grade certificate, because I hadn't taken 'their' middle school program classes. Well, I need 3 classes, which would be about $2200.00. Needless to say, it's not on the top of Pave's list of 'things to pay for', especially because I'm not sure that I want to go back to teaching full time (hence the substituting for this year). He also is being stingy and won't let me use his GI Bill, (for good reason-he wants to finish his bachelors degree, so I understand).

I was so wicked excited, that must mean that my days are really boring if I'm to the point that I WANT to go back to college! So far, I have found out that only ONE out of the four colleges here work with the program, and now I have to meet with one of the councilors. By looking at their course catalog, I couldn't tell which classes would make our states Department of Education happy, so they will have to help me figure that out. Once I get that, I can finish it up! Its really so easy! Here are the steps:

Read the fact sheet and agree to the Statement of Understanding

Make sure you understand the dollar limits

Enter your previous education

Enter your career history

Create your career and training plan (this is where you pick the school you want to go to, and classes you are going to take)

You then have to send it off through a message within the program to get 'approval'

Here is the website! Military One Source- My Career Advancement Account