On March 3 Gov. Deal announced that Georgia will be the first state in the South to join an initiative to increase the amount of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers.
Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Columbus State, Mercer University and Piedmont College have been selected as university sites eligible for the Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship according to Georgia State University news.
Students will receive a $30,000 stipend from the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to use during their Master’s program according to the Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship. However, participants must also commit to teach in a high-need urban or rural school within Georgia for the next three years.
Members of the Georgia State division will take a one-year certification and Masters of Arts in teaching mathematics or science through the College of Education’s department of Middle and Secondary Education.
Patricia Motieram, a respiratory therapy major, said that she encourages the increase of STEM teachers.
“We need more STEM teachers because there are more students wanting to be in those fields. Also, a lot of people are having problems in those classes. More STEM teachers means smaller classes for students,” she said.
The first fellows will be selected in spring 2015 and will begin academic classes in fall 2015. These fellows will be eligible to teach in the fall of 2016.
