Grand Valley to sign agreement for teaching fellowship program

Grand Valley State University will sign a memo of understanding with three West Michigan public school districts as part of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship Program. The schools include Grand Rapids Public Schools, Godfrey-Lee Public Schools and Muskegon Public Schools.

The Fellowship Program, aimed at increasing the number of science and mathematics teachers, is open to graduating college seniors, recent graduates and mid-career or second-career professionals with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) who are interested in teaching in Michigan’s high-need, urban secondary schools.

The MOU signing will take place Monday, November 15, at 3:30 p.m. in the Amway Board Room in the DeVos Center on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St.

Those participating in the signing include Thomas J. Haas, president of Grand Valley; Bernard Taylor, superintendent of Grand Rapids Public Schools; David Britten, superintendent of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools; and Colin Armstrong, superintendent of Muskegon Public Schools.

Fellowship applicants selected by the Wilson Foundation and Grand Valley will each receive a $30,000 fellowship in exchange for a three-year teaching commitment. Twenty fellows will be selected for admission to each of the 2011 and 2012 cohorts.

Two information sessions for those interested in applying will be held November 17. The first will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Kennedy Hall (room 122) on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus; the other will be held at 7 p.m. in Mackinac Hall (room D-1-117) on the Allendale Campus.

For more information, visit whttp://www.gvsu.edu/teachingfellowship.