RALEIGH (January 10, 2024) – After North Carolina started this school year with 3,500 teacher vacancies – only because schools hired 1,400 more unlicensed teachers than the year before1 – the state struggles to refill its teacher pipeline.
But a state commission just gave 130 students a generous boost to become teachers.
The NC Teaching Fellows Commission announced it has chosen 130 students across the state who applied during an early-decision window to receive forgivable loans of as much as $10,000 a year to cover tuition, fees or books if they agree to teach elementary education, special education, science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) at a North Carolina public school.
The Teaching Fellows began as a full-scholarship program in 1986 and, through 2011, recruited nearly 11,000 of the state’s brightest students to become teachers. As of 2013-14, more than 5,000 Teaching Fellows were teaching or in school administrative roles in all 100 North Carolina counties.2
But legislators ended state support for the program in 2011, with a seemingly final class graduating in 2015. Then, recognizing their short-sighted blunder, legislators restored the Teaching Fellows in more limited form at just five universities in 2017.3
Fellows can now attend any of eight – and soon 10 – partner institutions:
- Elon University
- Fayetteville State University
- N.C. A&T State University
- NC State University
- Meredith College
- UNC-Charlotte
- UNC-Chapel Hill
- UNC-Pembroke
- And two additional institutions to be named this spring.
“The commission made a strategic decision to implement this early-decision window to increase the number of applicants … and to provide students with the knowledge that they have this award, which will assist them in their college application and decision-making processes,” said Bennett Jones, director of the program.
ONE RECIPIENT, Deondre Johnson, is a senior at Clayton High School who hopes to attend N.C. A&T. Johnson said he wants to teach special education because his 9-year-old brother is a special-needs student.
“It’s just where my heart leads me,” he said, adding that he decided he wanted to teach as a high-school freshman.
“I’ve had role models in school coming up – I just want to be that to somebody,” he said.
As for the low pay North Carolina teachers receive, “It was definitely a thought,” Johnson said.
But he added: “I always wanted to change lives, and the pay was never that big a concern.”
The recipients come from 83 cities and towns and 48 counties across the state. More than one-third of the early-award recipients are minorities, a 2% increase from 2023. Some 72 intend to study elementary education, 39 special education and 19 education in STEM fields.
Applicants who did not receive the early-decision award were deferred to the regular application window, which runs until Feb. 18. Aspiring teachers in the specified fields are encouraged to apply at the Teaching Fellows site. The full list of awardees will be finalized in March.
IN A SEPARATE announcement this morning, the Teaching Fellows Commission awarded $50,000 grants to 20 public school districts across the state to recruit students to the Teaching Fellows and build a pipeline of prospective teachers.
Jones said the grants were aimed at regions with the highest teacher attrition or recruitment challenges – including districts that neighbor districts that offer higher teacher salary supplements.
The awards went to large systems like Charlotte-Mecklenburg, but also small systems like Person and Granville counties, Clinton City, Weldon City, Yadkin County, Haywood and Henderson counties.
The following students are the early-decision recipients of the NC Teaching Fellows awards for 2024:
Jaden Aldridge, Greenville
Lilly Alford, Louisburg
Kaitlyn Allen, Raleigh
Andrew Baker, Raleigh
Maisy Baker, Burlington
Abigail Bare, High Point
Millie Barfield, Albemarle
Duane Baugher, Raleigh
Lindsey Beck, Seagrove
Tristan Bellamy, Clarkton
Erykah Berry, Cary
Skyler Beshears, Roxboro
Clarissa Bower, Hillsborough
Cassidy Brake, Cary
Kaitlyn Brennan, Apex
Harmony Brooks, Lumberton
Mia Browder, Franklinville
Shavangelia Brown, Willow Spring
Sofia Burr Reynolds, Raleigh
Sadie Byerly, Lexington
Hailey Byrd, Raleigh
Haley Byrum, Kitty Hawk
Triniti Cabiness, Jamestown
DeJane’ Cade, Charlotte
Gabriel Castillo Calderon, Burlington
Makenna Castor, Raleigh
Samantha Caulder, Rockingham
Lauren Caviness, Bennett
McKinleigh Cochran, Franklin
Kevin Cole, Hickory
Jaiden Collins-Russell, Archdale
William Crodick, Knotts Island
Braxton Cumbo, Havelock
Courtney Davis, Matthews
Haley Davison, Monroe
Katie Dodson, Mount Olive
Souad El Badaoui, Wake Forest
Keith Ellis, Durham
Erica Finch, Clayton
Sophie Francis, Cary
Kenleigh Freeman, Lumberton
Addisen Freeman, Moravian Falls
Brogan Gilbert, Wake Forest
Lily Goodman, Cary
Rachel Greeson, Greensboro
Gwendolyn Griffin, Indian Trail
Sarah Hall, Beulaville
Emmerson Hanson, Olin
Kila Heglar, Salisbury
Maliyah Hill, Havelock
Alana Hodges, Hope Mills
Kelly Holsopple, Apex
Jared Holt, Dunn
Maya Hoover, Charlotte
Lacey Houlden, Greensboro
Luke Hyatt, Wadesboro
Kiya Inman, Pilot Mountain
Morgan Jelovsek, Raleigh
Elayna Jennings, Fuquay-Varina
Deondre Johnson, Clayton
Chloe Johnson, Iron Station
Alice Jones, Shelby
Elizabeth Kluckman, Raleigh
Gianna Kwiatkowski, Garner
Beth Langley, Clayton
Jazmine Leak, Bunnlevel
Gretchen Levine, Chapel Hill
Haley Lewter, Lumberton
Andrea Loera Valdez, Tarboro
Christian Ludford, Cary
Stephanie Maloney, New Hill
Kalei Mauldin, Mount Airy
Cecilia Maxwell, Concord
Avery Mays, Weaverville
Keegan McCann, Morrisville
Isaac McCormick, Mount Airy
Steven Mercer, Trenton
Sarah Neighbors, Four Oaks
Evelyn Ng, Cary
Melany Paiz Hong, Monroe
Christopher Park, Mooresville
Sagar Patel, New Bern
Kennedy Perry, Louisburg
McKenna Peters, Plymouth
Chelsea Pham, Cary
Nyla Polk, Turkey
Kaylann Pond, Shelby
Kyla Powell, Roxboro
Riley Powers, Kings Mountain
Skarlette Pridgen, High Point
Kaitlyn Quinn, Apex
Abigail Ragan, Apex
Zenai Randle, Franklinton
Cassi Ratterree, Charlotte
Elizabeth Reno, New Bern
Karlie Robertson, Dobson
Alexia Rodriguez, Shelby
Brooke Rosenkrantz, Apex
Brennyn Rouse, Newton Grove
Aji Saine Sallah, Cary
Drew San Angelo, Pinehurst
Tae’ah Sanchez, Godwin
Kamryn Savage, Sanford
Madeleine Shaw, Cary
Lyla Sherwood, Wilmington
Keisha Singletary, Fayetteville
Randall Singleton, Newland
McKenna Sink, Mocksville
Courtney Sisk, Valdese
Jamya Smith, High Point
Dorothy Snyder, Mooresville
Ellie Spear, Edenton
Lily Stanton, Apex
Abigail Stubbs, Holly Springs
Addisyn Sullivan, Foxfire
Lauren Tomes, Huntersville
McKenzie Tomlinson, Hampstead
Camilla Torres, Mount Olive
Junior Torres Diaz, St. Pauls
Juan Travis, Charlotte
Magdiel Trejo, Lincolnton
Patrice Wade, Burlington
Lacey Warren, Dunn
Addison Washington, Huntersville
Morgan Watkins, Wake Forest
Coley Welch, Morganton
Ka’Viya White, Tarboro
Leah White, Elkin
Kenna Williams, Stallings
Lily Williams, Clinton4
1 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article278765479.html.
2 https://www.ncforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PSF_TeachingFellowsReport_HRsingles.pdf.
3 https://www.wunc.org/education/2023-04-05/nc-teaching-fellows-return-hbcus-small-mighty-scholarship-grow.
4 https://www.northcarolina.edu/news/nc-teaching-fellows-program-announces-130-award-winners/.
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