Marinna Sprawls

I started my journey in education 24 years ago as an English teacher, which I loved because I got to teach kids to think outside the box and develop critical thinking skills. I taught English for 9 years and during that time earned my national board certification and my master's degree in guidance and counseling. In 2011, I transitioned into counseling and have been at the high school level mainly, with 2 years at middle school, serving as an early college counselor, testing coordinator, and RTI coordinator. For the past 2 years, I've been working specifically as a CTE (career and technology) counselor. In my current role, I ensure that students complete programs of study so they can be college, career, or military ready. My campus offers 22 programs of study, expanding to 24, and I manage almost 200 students who travel to 5 different areas to take courses. I handle data management for industry-based certifications recognized by TEA and industry, and I work closely with teachers and students to make sure everyone has what they need. I'm passionate about helping students who may be late bloomers academically but excel in CTE courses, where they can obtain Level 1 certifications and enter the workforce with good jobs right after graduation. We work with a local community college where all coursework is stackable, so students can continue building credentials from certificates to associate's to bachelor's degrees. My campus is becoming a P-TEC, an early college specifically for career and technology students, which I'm very excited about.