Rock Hill, SC – Bianca Gilyard, a senior
at Spring Valley has been awarded the prestigious South Carolina Teaching
Fellowship.
Bianca will join the freshman cohort at Columbia College this fall
where she will be offered numerous professional development opportunities and
involved with communities and businesses through various service projects and partnerships
with local schools.
The state’s
Teaching Fellows Program, operated by the Center for Educator Recruitment,
Retention, and Advancement (CERRA), was established in 1999 by the SC General
Assembly to address the shortage of teachers in our state. The mission of the
program is to recruit talented high school seniors into the teaching profession
and help them develop leadership qualities. Each year, the program provides
Fellowships for up to 210 high school seniors who have exhibited high academic
achievement, a history of service to their school and community, and a desire
to teach in South Carolina.
Applicants for the
program undergo a rigorous selection process that includes an online
application, an interview and presentation in front of a team of three
educators, and a scored response.
Following the rigorous selection process, applicants who are
awarded a Fellowship receive up to $24,000 in yearly scholarships (up to $6000
a year for four years) to attend a Teaching Fellows Institution in South Carolina.
Each Fellow agrees to teach in South Carolina one year for every year he or she
receives the Fellowship.
For more information about the South Carolina Teaching Fellows
Program, visit teachingfellowsc.com.
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About The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement
The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention
and Advancement, established by the Commission on Higher Education in December
1985 and funded by the South Carolina General Assembly, was created out of a
concern for the condition of South Carolina's teacher supply pool and a need
for a centralized teacher recruitment effort.
CERRA's agenda is a comprehensive one in which
the Center sponsors a variety of programs for increasing the number of students
in the education pipeline and recruiting and retaining qualified, caring,
and competent teachers. The Center's primary target groups are middle and
high school students, college students, and adults interested in changing
careers.