The deadline is drawing near for non-education majors interested in improving the lives of students in Mississippi critical needs schools to apply for the Mississippi Teacher Corps program.
A full scholarship for a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, a $1,000 stipend, teacher certification from the University of Mississippi and a guaranteed $32,000 salary for the first year of teaching are all part of the program.
"Joining the Mississippi Teacher Corps will be the most challenging and rewarding two years of your life," said Ben Guest, program coordinator.
Teacher Corps is for all who have graduated and are interested in teaching. It was started in 1989 in order to bring quality teachers into the critical needs areas in Mississippi such as the Mississippi Delta and the Jackson area.
Ashley Johnson, an Ole Miss alumna and teacher in the program, found the program very rewarding.
"Nothing is as special as making a difference in a child's life," she said.
Teachers are trained for a two-year term in which they are required to teach at a critical needs school in the state of Mississippi. Working with children in grades varying from the seventh-grade to 12th-grade, the new teachers start out observing a second-year teacher for a month and eventually take over by the second month of the program.
Three qualities Guest said applicants for the program should have are: a commitment to service, experience with critical needs children and at least a 3.0 GPA upon graduation from college.
The Mississippi Teacher Corps can take anywhere from 25 to 30 students per year. Students from all over the country apply and this year's group includes students from Harvard, Duke, Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Princeton, Williams College, the University of North Carolina and the University of Mississippi.
The deadline to apply is April 22, and 19 of the 26 available spots have already been filled.
Once the students are selected, they participate in a rigorous summer school training program in Holly Springs where they learn about classroom management and how to put together a lesson plan.
After summer school ends, the new teachers are placed in a critical needs area of Mississippi to teach for their first year. Full pay and benefits are provided along with a bonus given by the employing school system.
Safety may be a concern to some applicants because of the environment of critical needs, but Guest said the program has that covered.
"The safety of our teachers is of the utmost concern," he said. "If there is a safety concern at a particular school we either don't place teachers in that school or move our teachers out."
