NOYCE grant awarded to Concord University by the National Science Foundation
ATHENS, WV (WVNS) — Concord University was awarded the National Science Foundation’s Noyce Grant.
The grant is a Continuing Grant under Track 2 of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program worth $2,317,725 from the National Science Foundation. The grant money will go towards a program called Utilizing Wrap Around Mentorship and Virtual Reality to Prepare and Sustain STEM Teachers in Rural High-need Schools.
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Now more than ever, it is essential that we are investing in West Virginia’s schools in order for our students to succeed inside and outside the classroom. I am pleased the National Science Foundation understands this importance and is giving our teachers the tools they need to successfully teach STEM in rural schools. I look forward to seeing the benefits this funding brings, and I will continue to advocate for research and educational opportunities here in the Mountain State.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)
The program will help increase the amount of capable and highly qualified STEM teachers that can be found in secondary schools in rural Appalachia, and will help add Virtual Reality to classrooms, retain Teaching Fellows in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, use a combination of institutional software to track Teaching Fellow activities, and bring in 16 STEM professionals as Teaching Fellows.
Not only will partnerships with local school districts become stronger, the existence of a partnership with the West Virginia Science Teachers Association will help Concord University and Teaching Fellows after the grant period. Around 600 students each year will be taught by Teaching Fellows of the program, a large impact for a rural area, with long-term positive effects for the economy and employment in the Mountain State.
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Those who have degrees in STEM fields such as math, biology, chemistry, and science, will be eligible to apply to be a Fellow in the MAT program at Concord University. A year of course work, getting a West Virginia Professional Teaching license, and teaching at least five years in a high-need school will be finished by Fellows. They will also get a $15,000 annual stipend for the first give years that they teach in a high-need school, and Fellows applications will be accepted for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years.
The program taught me to understand relationship building with students. Instruction is not only about student understanding, but also student interest. This concept has made me successful in my classrooms. Everything I learned there was very student driven. It’s important for educators to put students first, and I don’t think there’s any better place to learn that than at Concord.
Tracey O’Donnell
Tracey O’Donnell graduated from Concord University with a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in 2018, and she has taught at Montcalm High School since 2017. Some of the classes she teaches includes Forensic Science, Earth Science, Biology, Advanced Biology, Honors Biology, and Chemistry.
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We are beyond excited to get this program started with our first fellows beginning in August. While all teachers and individuals enrolled in programs to become teachers deserve financial support and incentives, this grant makes financial bonuses available to individuals with STEM content degrees to teach in those STEM areas. These areas tend to be difficult for school districts to hire.
Dr. Andrea Campbell |Concord University’s Department of Education Chair and Director of Teacher Education
The MAT program at Concord University is fully online and includes clinical experiences as well as education courses such as student teaching that will help people be ready to teach in specific areas in grades like PreK-Adult, 5-Adult, or 9-Adult.
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