The honor for the three sophomores comes with a $21,900 scholarship for each of their final two years at Elon University.
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Three sophomore mathematics majors – Robin French, Jaime Morin, and Stephanie Stanglin – have been selected to participate in the Elon 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 Elon 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 Elon University and will bolster the number of math and science teachers Elon 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 Elon 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 Elon Noyce Scholars: Crystal Edwards (Mathematics/Teacher Licensure), Emily Liberatore (Science Education/Biology), and Madelyne Rooney (Mathematics/Teaching Licensure)
Learn more about the Noyce Scholars program including due dates for spring 2013 applications.
– Associate Professor Janice Richardson provided information for this article.