How to apply to teach for Project InspireMinimum requirements• Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0• U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status• Four-year STEM degree from an accredited university (official list of degrees at ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list.pdf)• Commitment to teach four years beyond the residency year in a high-need positionBenefits• Full tuition provided for a master's degree in curriculum and instruction• Residency year living stipend of $22,100 from AmeriCorps and National Science Foundation• Teaching stipend of $10,000 per year for graduates fulfilling the commitment to serve in high-need positions• Access to Urban Teacher Residency United, a national network of 22 residenciesLearn more and apply online at projectinspiretn.org
Project Inspire, a program that puts science and math teachers into low-performing Hamilton County public schools, has received a $3 million shot in the arm from the National Science Foundation.
The two-year grant means 24 additional teachers will commit to teach here.
In return, each of the teachers - who already have bachelor's degrees in science - will get a stipend of more than $20,000 to earn a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Tennessee Technological University in Cooke-ville, Tenn. - which won't charge participants any tuition.
Those who take part in the program will earn their master's degrees here. They'll teach from Monday through Thursday in Hamilton County, then take college classes on Tuesday evenings and Fridays taught here by Tennessee Tech professors as well as Hamilton County teachers.
"You don't have to go to Cookeville," said Christa Payne, of the Public Education Foundation, the Chattanooga-based nonprofit organization that administers Project Inspire along with the Hamilton County Department of Education and Tennessee Tech.
Project Inspire announced the grant Thursday. The program seeks 12 teacher residents for the 2015-16 school year and another 12 for the 2016-17 school year.
"What we really need right now, quite honestly, is chemistry and physics [teachers]," Payne said.
After teachers have earned their master's degrees in the first year, they'll each get a $10,000 stipend through Project Inspire each year of the four years that they teach in low-performing Hamilton County schools.
Project Inspire now has 43 teacher residents in Hamilton County schools, Payne said.
One of them is David Russell, a Chattanooga Valley native who graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in hydrology. He decided to take part in Project Inspire after serving two years in a campus ministry program followed by two years monitoring groundwater for a firm in Atlanta.
"It's a great program to be in," said Russell, 28, who teaches seventh-grade math at Dalewood Middle School on Shallowford Road alongside his mentor, math teacher Michael McKamey.
"I'm getting classroom experience," Russell said.
His chief concern going into the program, he said, was classroom management.
"I'm learning how to get them back focused to where they need to be," Russell said.
He said there's mutual respect between students and teachers.
"My job is teaching. Your job is learning" is how he described the understanding.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.