VolsTeach Student receives $1,400 Air Force Association STEM grant for West High School

VolsTeach Student receives $1,400 Air Force Association STEM grant
for West High School

  

Scott Bailey, a VolsTeachapprentice teacher and a microbiology undergraduate student at the Universityof Tennessee, Knoxville, recently submitted a grant application as part of theassignment for his Project-Based Instruction course.  The grant was approved and awarded to WestHigh School by the General Bruce K. Holloway Air Force Association Chapter inthe amount of $1,400. The grant provided by the chapter promotes STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) within local classrooms to enhancestudent learning and education across the United States, and AFA chapters aroundthe world. The chapter provides multiple monetary resources to teachers withinthe area including STEM grants, and teacher of the year awards to outstandingeducators. The chapter says they have more funds available for schools,however, they need for more teachers to apply for grants for their resources.

            The STEMgrant will provide West High School with the ability to purchase gelelectrophoresis equipment for students. The equipment will be utilized in manyDNA & RNA lab activities, and to promote biotechnology across multipleclassrooms. The funds were chosen to go to Dr. Dan Weinand’s classroom andlabroom due to his continuous excellence within his high school classroom, andhis dedication as a mentor teacher to Scott Bailey during the VolsTeachprogram.

            TheVolsTeach program was started in 2010 to promote STEM educators within localhigh school classrooms. VolsTeach is a program targeted for undergraduate math,science, or engineering majors who are interested in expanding theirprofessional skills and exploring a career in Secondary Teaching. Students cangraduate in four years with a degree in math, science or engineering as well asobtain licensure as highly qualified teachers in their respective contentareas. The program emphasizes early and ongoing field-based experiences inlocal elementary, middle, and high school settings. 

Scott Bailey, an apprentice teacherat Fulton High School this semester, will be in the first cohort ofprofessionally licensed educators to finish the VolsTeach program. Baileydescribes the VolsTeach program as a “highly enriching” program, and is greatfor anybody interested in pursuing a teaching career. “The program is wonderfulbecause it allows multiple field experiences in elementary, middle, and highschool settings for students to see if teaching is a career field they want tochoose,” Bailey says, “not to mention the amazing friends and people involvedwith the program.”