SJRCC PRESS RELEASE April 2008 SJRCC honors largest Educator Preparation Institute St. Johns River Community College recently recognized 36 students, the largest class to date, for completing the teacher certification program. The Educator Preparation Institute was developed in 2006 to streamline the certification process for non-education bachelor's degree holders. The participants completed the coursework required to earn a Florida Professional Teaching Certificate. Participants are awarded a Florida Professional Teaching Certificate upon completing the EPI courses, passing the Florida Teacher Certification Exam and submitting the required paperwork to the Florida Department of Education. No other coursework is required, and the program can be completed in less than a year - on campus or online. The SJRCC EPI program currently includes approximately 200 students. The St. Johns County completers are: Amber Acosta, Brenda Bennett, Karl Birkhimer, Emily Byrd, Ashely Cadieu, Rebekah Fidler, Kirsten Hanson, Liezel Henry, Mark Johnson, Traycee Klein, James Lee, Dawn Mariotti, Merrie Meiselman, Janet Matthews, D.D. Stein, Oksana Willower, Carla Carter Winrow and Edith Xanders. The Clay County completers are: Andrea Adams, Dana Brodsky, Novella Campbell, James Dunlap, Mari Hinds, Bonnie Bishop King, Molly Mason, Myriam Mickel, Christopher Oliver, Robert Rice, Alton Tatum, Dawn Taylor and Jeffery Thacker. The Putnam County completers are: Selma Carrow, Janice Tenney and Henry Smith. Additional completers were Jacqueline Machon of Duval County and Darren Newberg of Bradford County. The guest speaker was Neil Sanders, director of instructional personnel services for the Clay County school district. In order to participate in the EPI program, applicants must have earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university and possess the disposition suitable for becoming a teacher. For more information on SJRCC's EPI program, please call (386) 312-4242. Students recently completed SJRCC's Educator Preparation Institute. The EPI program streamlines the teacher certification process for non-education bachelor's degree holders. First row, from left: Ashely Cadieu, Liezel Henry, Andrea Adams, Traycee Klein, Dana Brodsky, Emily Byrd, Kirsten Hanson, Selma Carrow, Oksana Willower and Alton Tatum. Second row: Robert Rice, Chirstopher Oliver, Mari Hinds, Janice Tenney, Merrie Meiselman, Rebekah Fidler, Jacqueline Macchon, Dawn Mariotti, Edith Xanders and Brenda Bennett. Third row: Darren Newberg, D.D. Stein, Jeffery Thacker, Dawn Taylor, Novella Campbell, Bonnie Bishop King, Janet Matthews, James Dunlap and Myriam Mickel. Not pictured: Amber Acosta, Karl Birkhimer, Mark Johnson, James Lee, Molly Mason, Henry Smith and Carla Carter Winrow. Return to SJRCC home page.