Eight science majors in the Class of 2009 are ready to teach in North Carolina public schools, thanks to UNC BEST, an innovative collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education.
The program – Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching – is designed to combat a shortage of science and math teachers. It allows students to earn North Carolina teaching licenses while majoring in science or math. Previously, students had to continue in college to earn teaching licenses after receiving their degrees.
Jenny Holt, a graduate of North Stanly High School in New London, N.C., hopes to teach ninth- and 10th-grade biology. She could have graduated with a biology degree last December but stayed another semester to complete UNC-BEST classes in the School of Education.
After student-teaching at Orange High School in Hillsborough this spring, Holt said, “I feel like I’ve been able to make a positive impact on the students in my classroom. The extensive knowledge of biology that I’ve obtained at UNC leaves me feeling well prepared with the content, and the training I’ve had with UNC-BEST has given me the confidence to teach classes in a student-centered, interactive way.”
Monica Kim, a 2005 graduate of East Chapel Hill High School, changed courses along her way toward a degree in biology. “After I came to Carolina, I saw that America is in more need of science and math teachers instead of doctors and lawyers,” she said. “I wanted to serve people, and I thought that this particular fast-track program was a great way to do that.” She hopes to teach biology.
Devon Lategan will earn a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry. A graduate of Chapel Hill High School, he will be licensed to teach biology, chemistry, physics and Earth science. He hopes to land a job in the Triangle.
“Teaching was always an interest of mine, but I never seriously considered pursuing it in college. My junior year, I was still undecided about the career I wanted to pursue. When I saw the UNC-BEST program, I really felt like it was speaking to me and that it was a perfect program for my interests.”
UNC-BEST student Benjamin Lin and his twin brother, Clement, will earn bachelor’s degrees in biology. Their older brother, Andrew, will earn his pharmacy degree.
The three graduates of Providence High School in Charlotte look forward to bright prospects, with Benjamin hoping to teach ninth-grade science. Andrew will be a resident pharmacist in a Charlotte hospital. Clement has an internship with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Duke University.
Benjamin wants to give back to a discipline in which his family strongly believes: education. “Teaching looked like a great opportunity to make a difference,” he said. “I believe that an education will change the lives of students for the better.”
Aaron Foreman, 27, of Durham, didn’t go to college after graduating from Hillside High in 1999. He worked in real estate and restaurants. He fixed up houses being renovated for sale. He got married. He tended bar in a pub and cooked in a bed and breakfast in England.
After returning to Durham, “I decided to go to college, because I didn’t feel like my foundation was set and stable enough in real estate,” he said.
And by this time, he had a little boy to help support. He started with classes at Durham Technical Community College in 2005 and entered a program called C-STEP: Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program. Funded by the Jack Kent Cook Foundation, C-STEP identifies talented low- to moderate-income students and guarantees their eventual transfer admission to Carolina if they earn an appropriate associate degree at one of the three partner colleges, including Durham Tech.
Foreman worked construction while attending the community college. Work was no longer an option once he transferred to Carolina, he said. He has funded his way through with loans and earlier real estate investments, but he also won a scholarship from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in Research Triangle Park. The award – $6,000 for his senior year– also will pay him a $5,000 annual salary supplement for his first five years of teaching; it requires him to teach in North Carolina.
He is completing his bachelor’s degree in biology and awaiting the birth of his second child. He hopes to relate well to students, especially those of the same mindset that he had before college: “I was a terrible student in high school. I didn’t behave poorly, I just didn’t work.” Now, after four straight years in college, he’ll be the teacher.
In college, he said, “I had some good teachers and started thinking about my time in high school. I started to realize the difference a teacher could make. The teacher defines the whole experience of students.”
Chase Martin, a physics major and graduate of Hopewell High School, hopes to teach 11th- and 12th-grade physics, as well as algebra, in the Charlotte area. He said he enrolled in UNC-BEST for two reasons. “First, it allowed me to get into the classroom and teaching faster than any other options, which is great, because I’m very eager to get started. Second, it was financially much more rewarding. The master’s of arts in teaching program would have meant one less year of pay and one more year of school.”
While he student-taught at Northern High School in Durham, Martin used his considerable skill at juggling to teach a concept in math. He has been tutoring friends since high school, when he first discovered his knack for teaching. “What got me the most excited was when I was working with someone who didn’t understand a concept” and having the person come to understanding through his instruction.”
Erin Burns, who graduated from South Guilford High School in High Point, will earn a biology degree with a minor in entrepreneurship. She did her student teaching this spring at Carrboro High School. Her goals: to teach middle or high school science and eventually earn master’s and doctoral degrees in education – milestones that she can reach sooner because of her UNC-BEST courses.
“I think lack of education is the root of almost all societal issues, so becoming a science teacher allows me to be a small part of helping address numerous other larger issues,” she said.
Biology major Josh Lawrence hopes to teach high school science in the Triangle. A graduate of South Brunswick High School in Southport, he gives the school high marks. “I decided to become a UNC-BEST student for a couple of reasons,” he said. “First, I love biology, and the reason I do is because of the teachers that I had in high school. Furthermore, I have known for a couple of years that I wanted to teach high school to make an impact on the lives of teenagers, just like my teachers did for me when I was in high school.”
