MACON, Ga. — Fort Valley State University, alongside Georgia State University, has received a $98,000 PROPEL grant to help with the high demand for teachers in the US, according to a release from the university
The PROPEL (Partnership for Residency Opportunities for Paraprofessionals, Educators and Leader) grant is a Teacher Quality Partnership program sponsored by the US Department of Education. The report says it will give teaching assistants the opportunity to attend FVSU and pursue a degree in education.
According to the release, Fort Valley State and Georgia State are also working with nine Georgia school systems: the Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Clayton, Dodge, Gwinnett, Houston, Laurens and Pulaski County systems. In collaboration with those school districts, they'll start training high school students for a future in teaching.
Students will be taught both educational and managerial skills preparing them for a variety of different roles, ranging from teaching in a classroom to managing from a principal’s office.
They say the project will expand Georgia State’s Academy for Future Teachers, giving high schoolers across the state access to STEM-centric learning experiences and encouraging them along the path to teaching.
The Academy for Future Teachers is a three-week program in which Georgia State invites high school students to gain teaching and communication skills and gain practical educational experience.
The release says Fort Valley State will host Georgia State representatives on Tuesday morning to kick off the collaboration between them, the PROPEL program and those nine Georgia school programs.