Empowering New Teachers

This spring, the Oregon University System awarded Lewis & Clark’s Department of Teacher Education two grants that will provide scholarship support to novice teachers in some of the state’s most challenged schools. 

The Jefferson Teacher Alliance Program, a joint venture between Lewis & Clark and Portland Public Schools, received $163,000 to establish school-based mentorship programs for teachers working in Woodlawn Elementary, Ockley Green and Tubman middle schools, and Jefferson High School. In addition to one-on-one mentoring from graduate school faculty, beginning teachers in the program will receive scholarships to complete coursework necessary for continuing teaching licensure. 

“This program provides our teacher education faculty with an incredible opportunity to return to the front lines of K-12 education,” says Nancy Nagel, chair of Lewis & Clark’s teacher education department. “The knowledge faculty gain through the experience will be brought back to campus to be shared with preservice teachers.”

A second grant provides Lewis & Clark’s teacher education program with an additional $19,400 in scholarship funds for future and novice teachers committed to working in high-need schools in Portland and other Oregon communities.

For more information about either program, contact Sherri Carreker, assistant professor of education, at cer@lclark.edu.

—by Gwenn Stover