Commitment to Recruit, Educate, and Assist Teachers in Excellence (CREATE)

Mentorship

Faculty mentor: As a scholar, you will be able to select either a STEM professor or an education professor as a mentor. CREATE scholars will meet individually with their faculty mentor at least once each semester, and more often if you need it. In these meetings, your mentor can help you select courses for the following year, prepare for the job market, and review challenging course content as needed. Scholars will submit mid-semester grade reports to their faculty mentor to ensure they can provide academic assistance if needed with study skills and access to tutors, instructor communication, and non-academic support.

Alumnus/a mentor: CREATE scholars will be matched with a STEM/Education NC alumnus/a by STEM discipline and proximity, who have at least four years of teaching experience. Scholars will be expected to email their mentor monthly and visit their mentor’s classroom annually. This relationship will give you a better understanding of STEM teaching in local high schools, will introduce you to potential future colleagues, and will allow you to see content in action.

Making a solid start

Summer orientation program for new scholars (especially recommended for transfer students new to NC): This is designed to be a fun one-week long immersion camp occurring in August before the semester starts. You will receive a stipend for attending this. During this time, we will work on team-building by exploring campus together and discussing academic skills such as time management, how to use faculty as resources, classroom and lab expectations, etc. to help you to continue to thrive.

You will also engage in authentic research with STEM faculty and citizen science as a form of community-engaged experiential learning. In addition, we will plan a fun field trip or two (to, for example, the Field Museum, Brookfield Zoo, etc.).

Monthly cohort meetings

Wellness and Wellbeing: You will have the opportunity to attend faculty led programming specifically focused on your wellness and wellbeing to build capacity for resilience for the profession. Our hope is that will help prepare you as preservice teachers to not just persist through your degree program but throughout your career.

Third Space Conversations: Outside of coursework, you will have an opportunity with your peers to engage in discussions focused on topics including STEM teacher identity development; social capital; critical literacy; and youth participatory action research in STEM.

Movie club: Once every academic year, we will meet to watch a movie featuring STEM and follow that up with a discussion.

Other opportunities

Summer Research, Hands-On Content Learning: It is important for preservice teachers to be exposed to common disciplinary practices in their fields of study if they are going to be effective at engaging their students in standard scientific practices. NC offers paid opportunities for summer research through the Summer Undergraduate scholarship Program (SUSP). In a similar vein, CREATE scholars will have access to additional funding through our grant to apply to conduct research in the labs of STEM faculty members. 

Support in State-Required Licensure Exams: To support equitable access to licensure, candidates will have their first attempt at the required licensing exams paid for by CREATE. This includes the Illinois Content Area Test and any teacher performance assessment.

Attend Noyce conferences: Two scholars will be invited to attend the annual Noyce conference in DC. In addition, there may be opportunities to attend regional Noyce conferences.

Cohort gatherings and induction mentoring

We will provide continued support to you during your first two years of teaching including monthly check-in emails, sharing of instructional materials and NC news, and cohort gatherings at least once a semester to discuss topics you choose. Possibilities include book clubs, on-campus speakers, visits to each other’s schools, professional conferences, or casual meals to check in and share successes and challenges. 

Summer retreat

We will host a one-day retreat over the summer for CREATE alumni that spans across cohorts to maintain the community of cohorts. The summer retreat will allow for more focused time together as a community – we will have time to reflect after the busy school year about what did or did not work. We hope that the retreat will allow you to think through difficult questions with community and mentorship support so that you feel prepared moving forward into the next year. Last, but definitely not least, the retreat will allow for rejuvenation. We hope to focus on how you have been able to use the strategies you developed here to promote self-care and wellbeing, and any ideas you have for changing your approach for the upcoming school year to improve your general wellness. 

How to Apply

How to Apply

Current NCC sophomores:

1. Reach out to Dr. Kempinger for information on the grant program and/or application.
2. Submit CREATE scholarship application materials through the Academic Works scholarship portal.  
3. For students starting in the Fall, the portal will open in January and the application will be due April 1st. For students starting in the Spring, the portal will open in October and the application will be due by November 10th.
4. Submit your FAFSA (school code: 001734).
5. Receive CREATE scholarship decision by April 15th (for Fall start) or Dec 1st (for Spring start)
6. Receive a complete financial aid award package, outlining all awarded scholarships.

Transfer students planning to transfer to NCC and double major in Secondary Education (BA) and Biology Education (BS), Chemistry Education (BS), Environmental Science Education (BS), Math (BA), or Physics Education (BS),

1. Reach out to Dr. Mitra for information on the grant program and/or application.
2. Apply to and be accepted to North Central College. Apply to North Central for admission here. You can also schedule a campus visit.
3. Receive North Central’s admission decision.
4. Submit CREATE scholarship application materials through the Academic Works scholarship portal (if you miss the deadline, reach out to Dr. Mitra ASAP).
5. Submit your FAFSA (school code: 001734).
6. Receive CREATE scholarship decision by April 15th.
7. Receive a complete financial aid award package, outlining all awarded scholarships.

Questions?

If you have any questions about CREATE, please feel free to contact Drs. Lindsay Wexler, Associate Professor of Education (ljwexler@noctrl.edu), Susan Kempinger, Assistant Professor of Physics (sekempinger@noctrl.edu), or Chandreyee Mitra, Associate Professor of Biology (cmitra@noctrl.edu).