The honor for the three sophomores comes with a $21,900 scholarship for each of their final two years at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ.
Three sophomore mathematics majors – Robin French, Jaime Morin, and Stephanie Stanglin – have been selected to participate in the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Noyce Scholars Program.
The Noyce Scholars Program encourages talented science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors to complete a teacher education program and earn teacher licensure in addition to a bachelor’s degree in math or the sciences.
As recipients of this NSF scholarship, the trio will each receive a $21,900 scholarship during both their junior and senior years to pursue teaching licensure in mathematics.
“I have dreamed of being a teacher for several years and being awarded the Noyce Scholarship will help me fulfill this dream,” said Stanglin, who came to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ from Woodstock, Vt. “STEM education is incredibly important, especially for secondary students because it provides them with tools that will help them succeed. I look forward to seeing how being a Noyce Scholar will help me as a future mathematics teacher.
Their program will be supplemented with special experiences, including extra mentoring by university and secondary-school educators during both their undergraduate experiences as well as in their early years of teaching.
“This is a journey I am eager to begin because of my love for working with kids,” said French, a student from Berkeley Heights, N.J., studying in Denmark this semester. “Working as an America Reads tutor last year made me realize teaching is what I really wanted to do and now the Noyce Scholars Program will help me fulfill that goal.”
A $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation is supporting the program at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ and will bolster the number of math and science teachers ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ graduates in the years ahead through a partnership with the Alamance-Burlington School System.
The national Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program provides funds to institutions of higher education “to support scholarships, stipends, and academic programs for undergraduate STEM majors and post-baccalaureate students holding STEM degrees who earn a teaching credential and commit to teaching in high-need K-12 school districts.”
The money supports 50 paid, education-related summer internships during the five-year program for ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ first- and second-year students majoring in math or the physical sciences, including biology, chemistry and physics. The NSF funding also covers scholarships of $21,900 each year for 18 students in three cohorts during both their junior and senior years. In exchange for the scholarships, students agree to work four years in high-need school systems.
“While working with students in the Alamance Burlington School System as a college freshman, I realized that my own struggles as a secondary math student could be used to help inform my own teaching as I study to become a high school math teacher,” said Morin, a native of Chapel Hill, N.C. “Because I have a genuine understanding of how students struggle in math, I know that I can help students after I graduate.”
French, Morin and Stanglin join are joining the first cohort of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Noyce Scholars: Crystal Edwards (Mathematics/Teacher Licensure), Emily Liberatore (Science Education/Biology), and Madelyne Rooney (Mathematics/Teaching Licensure)
Learn more about the including due dates for spring 2013 applications.
– Associate Professor Janice Richardson provided information for this article.