Willamette University is a subawardee of a $1.7 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to Pacific University, which will support programs to prepare students to pursue careers in education.
The funding will support Pacific’s Noyce STEM Storytellers program, led by Willamette alum and Pacific University assistant professor of education Jason Niedermeyer BA’01, MAT’05. The program will provide 12 students with full tuition to pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching and four years of coaching, mentorship, and training post-graduation. The goal of the program is to encourage and support STEM students to pursue careers in teaching in high-need schools.
Willamette University Professor of Biology David Craig will contribute to this program by helping recruit Willamette undergraduate students interested in becoming science teachers. These students will participate in a program called “Try Teach,” funded by the subaward from Pacific, where they will try teaching in local schools, while receiving mentorship and support from local teachers and faculty members. By leveraging this grant, Craig is able to provide paid opportunities that will allow Willamette students to explore science teaching.
“This award is the result of my long-term friendship and collaboration with Dr. Niedermeyer,” Craig said. “Our collaboration on this grant started during an expansive conversation we were having about the importance of helping students feel like they are the heroes of their own stories. This grant will help meet our nation’s need to prepare and retain science teachers in high-need schools.”