Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:19 am

The Messenger 10.28.09
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission recently awarded the University of Tennessee at Martin a grant totaling $204,736 through the Diversity in Teaching program to fund the Success in Teacher Education Project (STEP) for 2009-11.
The STEP project is a collaborative effort between UT Martin, Dyersburg State Community College and the Lauderdale County School System to recruit, prepare and retain teachers from underrepresented groups who embrace diversity as an instructional tool.
The program design emphasizes two key areas: intentional recruiting strategies and individualized academic success strategies. The intended outcome of Project STEP is the placement of more underrepresented groups among the teacher ranks in local school systems in rural West Tennessee.
Dr. Mary Lee Hall, UT Martin College of Education and Behavioral Sciences dean, serves as the project director. Youlanda Jones, UT Martin Ripley Center director, and Dr. Kay Patterson, Dyersburg State Community College dean of arts and sciences, are serving as co-project directors.
This is the sixth award THEC has made to UT Martin under the Diversity in Teaching (formerly the Minority Teacher Recruitment) program.
“I am pleased that we have attained a Diversity in Teaching grant to assist underrepresented groups in completing requirements for the undergraduate degree and a teaching license,” Hall said. “The most critical component of Project STEP is the intense mentoring and support provided to the candidates selected for the project. We are very fortunate to have the support of the Lauderdale School System in assisting us with providing the required field experiences and student teaching for the candidates.
“This is a win-win situation for students who complete the associate of science in teaching degree at Dyersburg State Community College and transfer to the K-6 licensure program offered at the UT Martin Ripley Center,” she added.
For more information about the teaching program, contact Dr. Mary Lee Hall at (731) 881-7127.