4 PSRC students to participate in the NC Teaching Fellows Program

Four local students have been selected to participate in the NC Teaching Fellows Program.

St. Pauls High School senior Junior Torres Diaz, Purnell Swett High School senior Harmony Brooks and Lumberton High School seniors Kenleigh Freeman and Haley Lewter are among 130 individuals to receive North Carolina Teaching Fellows awards for the Class of 2024 during its early-decision window.

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.

Junior Torres Diaz plans to complete the program at North Carolina State University and major in Agricultural Education before returning to teach at St. Pauls High School.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” he said.

Torres Diaz said his Agricultural teachers inspire him and he desires to make a similar impact on the lives of his future students.

“They gave me a chance and I want to come back and give kids that chance my teachers gave me,” he said.

Harmony Brooks, Kenleigh Freeman, and Haley Lewter plan to complete the program at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” Harmony Brooks said. “I really loved my kindergarten teacher and I feel like she influenced me.”

Brooks has also worked multiple summers at Camp Grace and spent last summer doing missionary work in the Philippines with plans to do so again this summer.

“I love working with children,” she said.

Brooks plans to become an elementary teacher, principal, and one day a superintendent, she said.

Haley Lewter plans to pursue a career in arts education.

“I want to teach high school theatre arts and inspire other students like me,” she said. “I look forward to getting to do what I love for the rest of my life."

Kenleigh Freeman plans to continue the legacy of educators in her family, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.

“I've always wanted to be a teacher. Education is important to my family,” she said. “I'm really glad that I won and I'm excited about being able to pay for college."

PSRC Superintendent Dr. Freddie Williamson congratulated students for the exciting opportunity.

“The NC Teaching Fellows Program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to engage in as they pursue careers in education. The impact and influence of an educator lasts a lifetime and we are excited for these students to pursue their dreams through this program. Congratulations, students,” Dr. Williamson said.

Those named as fellows may attend any of the program’s eight partner institutions, pending institutional admission: Elon University; Fayetteville State University; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; NC State University; Meredith College; University of North Carolina at Charlotte; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and University of North Carolina at Pembroke. The program will be expanding to two additional institutions in Spring 2024.

In the early-decision window, the commission received 221 completed and screened applications. The commission considered grade point average, leadership and experience, awards and honors, written essays, educator recommendations and video submissions to offer the 130 awards. Standardized test scores from SAT/ACT were optional to align with admission standards from participating colleges and universities. The comprehensive list of the Class of 2024 Teaching Fellows awardees will be finalized in March.

“We are proud to offer Teaching Fellows awards to these deserving students during this inaugural early-decision window,” said Bennett Jones, director of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program. “The commission made a strategic decision to implement this early-decision window to increase the number of applicants to the program and to provide students with the knowledge that they have this award, which will assist them in their college application and decision-making processes. We are excited about the continued growth of the Teaching Fellows Program and are grateful for the support of lawmakers and education policy leaders as we continue to promote the teaching profession across the state.”

The 130 awards in the early-decision window nearly match the 132 awards offered during the entire 2023 application cycle. The early-award recipients hail from 83 different cities and towns, representing 48 counties across the state. Overall, more than one-third of the recipients in the early class of 2024 are minority candidates, a 2% increase from the previous year’s total.

Seventy-two of the recipients intend to study elementary education, 39 will study special education, and 19 will pursue licensure in STEM areas. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission is comprised of four deans from educator preparation programs, a community college president, a beginning teacher, a principal, a member from business and industry and a local school board member. The NC Teacher of the Year, Principal of the Year, Superintendent of the Year, Chair of the State Education Assistance Authority (SEAA) Board of Directors, and Director of the Teaching Fellows Program all serve as ex-officio members of the commission.

For more information about the program, visit myapps.northcarolina.edu/ncteachingfellows/.