First Teaching Fellows cohort celebrates graduation

The first cohort of the Clemson University Teaching Fellows program graduates this Spring.

All cohorts recently met for a research poster presentation, which was also the final meeting of the semester for the student group and the last for the senior cohort. The College of Education provided gift bags for seniors, and the senior cohort collected "thank you" cards for Staci Koonce, the program's advisor. They also heard from special guests, including Dean Kristin Gehsmann.

Before the meeting, we sat down with Dave Cook and Mikie Brown as well as Avery Stoneman and Caroline Mack, two mentor-mentee pairs from the program. The students discussed building the program over four years and how it has evolved from a single cohort of 25 students to a program that now boasts 100.

The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA) selected Clemson University to participate in its teaching fellows program in Fall 2020. The mission of the program is to recruit talented high school seniors into the teaching profession and help them develop leadership qualities.

Fellows in the program receive up to $6,000 per year for four years from the South Carolina General Assembly in forgivable student loans while they complete coursework leading to a teacher license in Clemson's College of Education. Fellows agree to teach in South Carolina public schools one year for every year they are fellows.