MSUTeach receives $1.2 million NSF grant

National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program has awarded Morehead State University a $1.2 million grant, which will provide 34 scholarships, up to $10,000 for up to two years, for junior and senior MSUTeach students.

“Morehead State University has prepared teachers since its inception in 1880s. The Noyce Scholarship funding provides the opportunity for MSU to build on this tradition through our newly approved MSUTeach curriculum," said Dr. Edna O. Schack, co-director of MSUTeach. "Noyce Scholars will benefit from this solid mathematics and science content integrated with effective teaching methods. As part of this rigorous curriculum, MSU Noyce Scholars will practice teaching in carefully planned clinical experiences with our partner districts.”

As a condition of the acceptance of the scholarship, MSU Noyce Scholars agree to serve as a STEM teacher in a high-need local educational agency for two years, for each full-year of a scholarship received, to be fulfilled within eight years after completing the program.

MSU will collaborate with Carter, Fleming, and Rowan County School Districts in Kentucky and the Bronx, New York New World High School.

The grant supports MSU's program "Preparing Secondary Teachers of Mathematics and Science in Rural Districts," aimed at recruiting undergraduate majors in biology, chemistry, earth science, mathematics or physics to prepare them to become secondary science and mathematics teachers. The project is designed to increase the number of undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathmatics) majors becoming secondary STEM teachers in the high-need districts of rural Eastern Kentucky.

"The number of jobs available in STEM-related fields is skyrocketing, along with higher educational requirements to compete in those industries," said U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers. "These scholarships will give MSUTeach students a competitive edge in the rapidly growing STEM fields. I applaud MSU for recognizing a critical need for college students in Eastern Kentucky and providing a pathway for success that will also benefit local high school students in our region."

Schack will be the principal investigator while Dr. Capp Yess and Dr. David Eisenhour will serve as co-principal investigators.

Applications for the scholarships will be available in Fall 2017.  For further information about MSUTeach, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/msuteach/.

Additional information is available by contacting Schack at 606-783-2501 or email at e.schack@moreheadstate.edu.