Full house, full schedule, full circle

Quitting their full-time jobs to pursue their dream of becoming teachers wasn’t an option for Steven ’25 and Alyssa Spellacy ’25. Beyond the financial pressures of car payments, rent, and raising two kids, there was simply no margin for pause.

The vision of their future careers came into focus when they discovered the School of Education’s Preliminary Teacher Credential: Multiple Subjects program. What began as a leap of faith, substitute teaching by day and credential classes by night, quickly turned into two full-time teaching positions before graduation.

The journey forward

After earning their bachelor's degrees at California State University San Bernardino, the Spellacys considered staying to complete their teaching credentials but were drawn to the University by its counselors.

“We were looking at different programs, and the counselors here were one of the quickest to respond,” Steven said. “They invited us to various recruitment events, were easy to get in contact with, and were so organized in telling us what the requirements were going to be.”

After completing several courses, the couple was ready to enter the classroom and began a 14-week internship that would qualify them for employment in public schools — a benefit that would pay off sooner than they had expected.

“I was in a big pool of applicants for one school, but I was using so much of what I learned in class when communicating with my future administration that they chose me over people who already had their credentials,” Steven said. Alyssa recalled the weight U of R’s name carried, saying the district’s Human Resources office was, “happy to hear we came out of University of Redlands.”

Lessons for life

School of Education faculty didn’t stop at providing letters for the Spellacys. Adjunct faculty Ekko DePriest, Nerni Miller, and Chris Jackson became mentors who offered advice, books, and their personal contact information long after classes ended. One lesson Alyssa carried into her fourth and first-grade classrooms every day was “finding your marigolds,” a friendly reminder to protect her optimism as a new teacher.

"There are people who are going to see your light and try to squash it," she said. "That lesson helped me survive my first year of teaching — just find the good people and protect your joy."

Steven applied a different but equally enduring principle, one at the core of the School of Education — Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an educational framework that optimizes teaching for all learners.

“Something I constantly go back to is making sure that when I teach a lesson, it can be for the lowest and the highest learner in the class,” he said. “It doesn’t matter your level or background, I think, ‘how can I make this lesson inclusive for them? How can I make sure this lesson is impactful, and that everybody has access?”

Coming full circle

Today, the Spellacys can often be found volunteering at U of R recruitment events, recounting their firsthand experience with prospective students.

"You get excited all over again sharing your journey, while helping them plan theirs," Steven said. Alyssa puts it tenderly: "I would love to do it for the rest of our lives because I know how impactful it was for us — I want that for other people.”

Discover the Preliminary Teacher Credential: Multiple Subjects at Redlands.