MCC Daily Tribune

Professors Barone and Colosimo Partner with SUNY Geneseo Professors to Prepare Future STEM Teachers

The National Science Foundation has awarded SUNY Geneseo and faculty at MCC, including Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Geosciences Jessica Barone and Professor Amanda Colosimo (co-PIs) a Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program grant with an intended award amount of $1,447,654. (The current award is for $801,501 with expected additional funding of $401,588 in 2025 and $244,565 in 2026.)

The award is for five years with a start date of May 1, 2022. The project, “Supporting and Preparing Future STEM Teachers through Scholarships and Teaching Experiences,” establishes a partnership between SUNY Geneseo and Monroe Community College (MCC) to promote the Noyce program to MCC students and help build a pathway to Geneseo for aspiring STEM teachers, including geology, biology, and chemistry. The aim of the project is to attract, recruit, and nurture STEM undergraduates as they earn their BA degrees and meet the requirements for New York State teaching certification. The grant will provide funds to support early teaching experiences for students, including summer internships in informal learning environments, such as museums; intersession in-classroom internships; pre-internship 1-credit courses for both the summer and intersession internships; a STEM Education Creation Team program; mentoring by Master Teachers from the NYS Master Teachers Program; and funds to support a minimum of 18 unique full scholarship recipients during their junior and senior years plus, if needed, additional support for their 9th semester student teaching. Scholars will receive career-related support, mentorship and exposure to topics such as teaching in high-need schools, trauma-informed teaching, and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Other members of the project team are Dr. Dori Farthing (PI, SUNY Geneseo), Dr. Dennis Showers (co-PI, SUNY Geneseo), and Nichelle Allen (STEM teacher at Dansville School District and Geneseo adjunct professor).

Please join me in congratulating Professors Barone and Colosimo on the award and the opportunity to support excellent preparation for future STEM teachers.

Margaret Kaminsky
STEM and Health
03/28/2022