Hello Anne! In our latest Noyce grant we have added a pathway for students to move from area high schools directly to SHU or through a nearby community college and then join us as a transfer student in their junior year (our education is a 5 year program whereby students graduate with their MAT). The Noyce program is part of their junior and senior years and then their Masters year. We have recently decided to recruit by holding events at high schools and introduce Noyce there. We have also started to recruit during our admissions events as well as our transfer admissions event. Please feel free to contact me at maurb@sacredheart.edu if you'd like to reach out. 

Hi Cathy,

This is a really important question. We invite mentor teachers to engage in professional learning experiences like books discussions- to read and talk about ways that they can infuse, or notice and name practices they already use as culturally responsive or sustaining practices. For example, if we are reading Emdin’s work on reality pedagogy (which the Scholars read) we would also invite mentor teachers to explore it as well. We would talk about ways we are using asset perspectives when we learn about our students, their families, their communities, and the ways in which we can empower learners to lead in p-12 classrooms. Scholars identified ways in which they saw culturally responsive pedagogy in action in the classrooms they worked and they planned lessons that aligned with what they were reading in Emdin’s book. The Scholars this year talked a lot about the bottom line building trusting relationships with students and communities and knowing and infusing their student’s lives outside school within the classroom to connect and deepen learning as well as empowering students as leaders.

One of the challenges that Scholars noticed had to do with funding and access to equipment, materials, etc. that led to inequities across schools and districts they visited. In response to this, we have designed grant writing into one of the courses to empower students with that skill so that there are more equitable (and invited mentor teachers into that learning as well).

Like many of you, we are continually learning and are deeply committed to creating more equitable experiences for all children- so as we learn more about culturally responsive or anti-racist teaching in STEM we are connecting with educators, schools, and communities into conversations towards change.

Really appreciate this detail and share the reflection that we are continually learning. You're engaged in such important work!

cathy

Thanks! I will check out your video and look to reach out to you in order to see how we might be able to collaborate! Thanks for checking in!

Hello. (just copying Bonnie's response so it gets sent directly to you, Kevin- thanks for your question!) We first identify schools within the districts who have a reputation of being strong in STEM areas and/or have teachers within their school who are interested in working with our students to strengthen their skills in the classroom. We then meet with the teachers who have been recommended and essentially "interview" them and also meet with a building coordinator who can also recommend them. We thereafter choose the appropriate teachers to work with our students whom we already know so that they can be well matched. 

Thank you, Laura!

Our Noyce Scholars are undergraduate STEM majors. Many of them come into SHU wanting to become elementary teachers and have strong STEM identities. Although we host meetings for all students who may be interested in becoming Noyce Scholars, we also work closely with the professors of the STEM courses and as they see students who have a growth mindset, are actively engaged in class and with the professor, they follow up with the candidate. We also work closely with the local community college to encourage transfer students to apply. Our team meets with candidates (and often their family) to guide them through the application process, the commitment they are signing on for and to help them envision what being a Noyce Scholar means.

In addition, our program is a 5-year program combining their Bachelors of Science with a Masters of Arts in Teaching. They begin taking education courses their junior year. They also have summer experiences in STEM education prior to their education courses and placement in schools with their mentor teachers. The experiences in school combined with support that the Scholars get from their mentors is tremendous. 

Hi Cassandra. Yes, we have a Noyce Scholars program focused on preparing elementary STEM teachers. We saw a major gap in STEM prepared teachers at the elementary level and in response designed a STEM major for undergraduates to build content knowledge. Feel free to reach out to Bonnie or I to talk about ways that we designed and launched this exciting initiative at SHU!