Students in Duke’s Program in Education were recently given scholarships from two different awards.
Nine students were awarded scholarships from the North Carolina Governor’s Emerging Teacher Leadership Award, a project developed Iby TeachNC and Governor Roy Cooper's office.
Founded in 2019, the goal of TeachNC is to change how people see educators while enhancing the numbers, caliber, and diversity of educators joining North Carolina's educational landscape.
The scholarship will support students as they transition from college to their teaching careers.
“I chose to pursue teaching as a profession due to my life-long love of learning,” said recipient Nathalia Compres-Perez. “I have seen the difference that a good, supportive teacher can make in students' lives within my own high school career, and I feel like I have a moral obligation to enact the same positive change for others.”
The awardees include two undergraduate students, Maria Shin-An Lin (T ’24) and Nathalia Compres-Perez (T ’24), and seven Masters of Arts in Teaching students, Elena Blackwelder, Ben Drugatz, Aleenih Carter-Kee, Akanke Mason-Hogans, Kimberly Hernandez-Lartigue, Zachary Meredith and Sakura Dozier-Muhammad.
Each of these recipients is either finishing their student teaching internships in local Durham Public Schools classrooms as seniors or is currently completing them as part of their MAT program while actively pursuing their high school teaching licenses. On top of that, they are committed to remaining in North Carolina to teach after completing their studies.
“I want to spend the summer preparing for my first year as a teacher by creating lesson plans and collaborating with other teachers, and I will be able to do so with this scholarship,” said Dozier-Muhammad.
In addition to the TeachNC Award, three students from the Elementary Teacher Preparation Program received the STAR Scholarship.
The Student Teacher Assistance for Retention Scholarship (STAR) aims to bolster the dwindling teacher pipeline by nurturing aspiring educators into skilled professionals. Financial aid is given to college seniors enrolled in educator preparation programs, with a focus on prioritizing diversity in the classroom.
Jessica On, Samia Batchelor and Kristen Rigsby (all T ’24) are recipients of this year’s scholarship.
"With the financial support provided by this scholarship, I will be able to dedicate more time and energy to my student teaching experience, ensuring that I can excel and make the most of this invaluable opportunity. It will enable me to show up as my best self in the classroom,” said On.