Courtesy of Bowie State University
Rising juniors and seniors at Bowie State University interested in teaching high school science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the Prince George’s County Public Schools have an opportunity to receive two years of free tuition.
A five-year, $1.2 million Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant from the National Science Foundation funds this effort to increase the number of science teacher. In the second year of the award, the university is aggressively seeking students to participate and take advantage of the opportunity.
Under the program, Bowie State students who have a strong interest in mathematics, the natural sciences, and technology are trained to enter the education profession and become STEM teachers with the tuition for their junior and senior years paid for by the grant. Over the five years, up to 27 Noyce Scholarships will be awarded to BSU students. Graduates of the program are obligated to teach high school STEM classes for two years in the Prince George’s County Public Schools.
“The need has never been greater than it is today for high school STEM educators,” said Dr. George Ude, chairman of the Natural Sciences Department at Bowie State. “There is a dearth of STEM educators beginning with elementary through high school. We believe this grant is a major step in our ongoing effort to emphasize the importance of STEM education and how it will improve employment options for high school graduates in an economy that is increasingly based on science and technology,” he said.
STEM government employment opportunities are vast in Maryland with 20 military facilities and 60 federal agencies, private sector bio-health and cybersecurity companies, and financial sector data analytics firms located throughout the state.
Statistics show that nationwide schools where most students qualify for a free lunch lack teaching resources for math and have fewer opportunities for hands-on science. Only a quarter of high-poverty high schools offer computer science classes, and only eight percent offer AP computer science. The Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant positions Bowie State to help reverse these statistics.
“We have a strong interdisciplinary team of faculty members comprised of Dr. Elena Klimova, chair of the Department of Mathematics; Dr. Eva Garin, coordinator of the College of Education’s professional development schools program; and Dr. Devyn Gillette, assistant Professor in the Department of Natural Resources,” said Dr. Ude. “We all believe the Noyce Grant will benefit not only Bowie State students, but provide the public schools with teachers trained in STEM.”
