Chico State awarded $8.5 million to place 60 student teachers in rural districts

CHICO — Back to its Normal School roots, Chico State announced Wednesday it was awarded an $8.5 million grant to launch a new teachers residency program to place 60 aspiring teachers in rural school districts in the north state.

Dubbed the Belong, Engage, Support, Transform Teachers Residency program, it is directed to address teacher shortages in “high-needs” rural school districts, including in Palermo, Thermalito, Los Molinos and Corning, the university stated. The program “will place the next generation of educators at elementary schools in the region.”

The university’s School of Education was awarded the grant by the U. S. Department of Education to fund the program over a five-year period. The student-educators will receive a $50,000 per year living stipend as they work toward earning their teaching credentials and masters degrees in teaching.

The announcement stated teacher residences are an immersive alternative to traditional student teaching and can provide candidates with networking and mentoring opportunities that will “often lead them to staying in the school districts to begin their careers.”

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The program proposal was written by School of Education professors Jennifer Oloff-Lewis, Rebecca Justeson, Mimi Miller and Claudia Bertolone-Smith.

“Chico State has been a destination for aspiring teachers for more than 130 years,” the announcement noted. “Since its founding as a normal school in 1887, the university has trained and supported tens of thousands of teachers with undergraduate and graduate degrees and credentials.”

Candidates interested in the program may apply at the university’s School of Education website or at bit.ly/chicostateBEST.