Teaching fellows presentation

RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina Teaching Fellows (NCTF) Program Commission has  selected Sampson County Schools along with 19 other North Carolina public school districts to receive a $55,000 recruitment grant in  2024-2025 to promote Teaching Fellows and the teaching profession.

The launch of this grant  initiative is a strategic attempt to create a pipeline of applicants and potential teachers to seek  opportunities to engage in teacher preparation courses, pursue teacher licensure in an approved  educator preparation program, and return to work in districts which continue to face  recruitment and retention challenges. Districts were selected after expressing interest in  expanding or building a grow-your-own teacher program, an initial meeting, and having  identified specific teacher recruitment and retention challenges. 

As a part of the pilot initiative, students will receive professional development support in  conjunction with the NCTF Program as well as benefit from local teacher recruitment  strategies. The initiative will support efforts to build a pipeline component to identify and  train emerging teachers from secondary schools, current employees, or non-traditional  sectors towards gainful employment in the district. The NCTF Program will provide funding  to support the recruitment efforts while districts will actively promote NCTF and the  teaching profession.  

NCTF Director Dr. Bennett Jones stated, “We are proud to offer these supportive grants to  districts who will benefit from these direct recruitment activities and participate in the pilot’s  collective efforts to enhance the NCTF Program while supporting grow-your-own platforms  across the state.” Dr. Jones continued, “One area of focus in the Teaching Fellows statute is  to be proactive, aggressive, and strategic in the recruitment of potential recipients. This  includes targeting regions of the state with the highest teacher attrition rates and teacher  recruitment challenges through active engagement with educators, business leaders, experts  in human resources, elected officials, and other community leaders.”  

“We have continued to see a limited number of applicants to the NCTF Program since its  return in 2018. The commission is appreciative of the changes and expansion of the program  that were included in the last state budget which helped to increase program participation,  and the commission is happy to use our existing funding to launch new recruitment efforts to  bolster enrollments,” Dr. Jones stated. Finally, Dr. Jones concluded, “Our intent is that by  marketing the NCTF program in more rural and remote areas we will expand our outreach to  recruit the best teacher candidates from all over the state. We know that by working with  local districts, who educate and support these students daily, we can engage these students  earlier in their academic careers and promote the teaching profession and the NCTF  Program.”

The grants will support various recruitment activities that district’s will outline in their  approved plan with the NCTF Program. The grant is renewable for three (3) subsequent years  with approved plans and continued available funding. Districts in the pilot will collaborate to  share best practices and effective strategies to enhance teacher recruitment. All pilot  participants will collect and share data for initiative evaluation and to help formulate  recommendations for consideration at the local and state level regarding teacher pipeline  recruitment. Districts may utilize the funding in one or more of the following areas: •

  • Personnel to teach a pre-educator course in high school setting 

  • Professional development for emerging, beginning, and mentor teachers

  • Recruitment activities for people interested in becoming licensed teachers 

The districts selected represent all eight (8) Department of Public Instruction regions and  vary from small to large districts. Specifically, consideration was given to border districts  and districts with specific recruitment challenges such as being close to districts that offer  higher local teacher supplements.  

The Teaching Fellows program is a competitive, merit-based forgivable loan program  providing tuition assistance of up to $10,000 per year for qualified students committed to  teaching elementary education, special education, science, technology, engineering, or math  in a North Carolina public school. The purpose of the program is to recruit, prepare and  support future teachers who attend institutions of higher education in North Carolina. 

The following districts have received pilot recruitment grants for 2024-2025:

  • Brunswick County Schools 

  • Caldwell County Schools 

  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools 

  • Chatham County Schools 

  • Clinton City Schools 

  • Edgecombe County Schools 

  • Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools 

  • Gaston County Schools 

  • Granville County Public Schools 

  • Harnett County Schools 

  • Haywood County Schools 

  • Henderson County Public Schools 

  • Orange County Schools 

  • Perquimans County School System 

  • Person County Schools 

  • Rockingham County Schools 

  • Rowan-Salisbury School System 

  • Sampson County Schools 

  • Wayne County Public Schools 

  • Yadkin County Schools

*Pictured left to right are SCS Superintendent Dr. Jamie King, SCS Director of Teacher Support Brenda Nordin, SCS Executive Director of HR Dr. Wendy Cabral, and NCTF Director Dr. Bennett Jones