Teaching is a\u00a0calling.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s\u00a0how Juan Serna, Ph.D., chair of physics and engineering at The University of Scranton, sees it. Dr. Serna earned an undergraduate degree in his native Colombia and master\u2019s and doctoral degrees from the University of Arkansas before arriving at Scranton in 2015 and preparing a new generation of learners and doers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe, for example, a person who\u2019s a scientist has some kind of obligation to transmit that knowledge to the next generation,\u201d Dr. Serna said.\u00a0\u201cWhen you start teaching a class and you notice that the students are responding and you catch their attention, it is amazing. You feel that you are doing something good and really rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Serna then shifts his attention from the interviewer to the two students in his office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you\u2019re going to feel the same thing when you are teaching students,\u201d he tells them.<\/p>\n
Those two students \u2014\u00a0James Kane,\u00a0of White Plains, New York, and\u00a0Alessandra Bellino,\u00a0of Schwenksville\u00a0\u2014 are set to become Scranton\u2019s 10th and 11th graduates\u00a0of the National Science Foundation\u2019s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.\u00a0Since launching at Scranton in 2022, the program has produced highly qualified STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) teachers who\u00a0participate\u00a0in workshops, mentorship\u00a0sessions\u00a0and other benefits from the program to receive the proper training to work in high-need school districts.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0Kane and Bellino\u00a0are similar in that they are in the Noyce program and are double majors in secondary education and mathematics, they took different routes to this destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreshman year, I came in undecided and really had no idea what I wanted to do,\u201d Kane recalled. \u201cI was taking a couple business\u00a0classes\u00a0but I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0wrap my head around the idea of working in a 9-to-5. So, I\u00a0kind of ruled\u00a0that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kane then set his sights on teaching. His father is an art teacher in a high-need school in the Bronx, New York, where Kane has\u00a0participated\u00a0for years as a youth baseball instructor.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad said, \u2018You\u2019re qualified to lead people in some capacity,\u2019\u201d Kane said. \u201cI have an interest in math, too, so he said, \u2018That\u2019s probably a good route to go.\u2019\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a lot of fun to work with kids and being able to see someone become better at something \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just a rewarding feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bellino said she has always wanted to be a teacher.<\/p>\n
Working in a high-need school, however, was something that entered her radar through Scranton and the Noyce program. It was an eye-opening\u00a0possibility\u00a0for someone who attended Catholic school with a small cohort of classmates.<\/p>\n
The Noyce scholarship, which is a nationwide program, supports efforts to recruit, prepare and\u00a0retain\u00a0excellent teachers in STEM fields from kindergarten through 12th grade.\u00a0It provides scholarships,\u00a0stipends\u00a0and advanced support resources\u00a0while funding\u00a0research on what helps STEM teachers succeed and stay in high-need schools.<\/p>\n
As the Noyce program at Scranton enters its final funded year, with\u00a0a possible extension\u00a0through 2027, its purpose of inspiring and teaching the next generation of STEM students is clear as ever. And its soon-to-be graduates are prepared to make a difference where it matters most.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we really focus on the whole person,\u201d Bellino said, reflecting on the Jesuit values learned at The University of Scranton. \u201cCaring about the person and bringing that into the classroom: not necessarily just being there to teach the student, but being there to take care of the student, as well, if they need something.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Teaching is a\u00a0calling. That\u2019s\u00a0how Juan Serna, Ph.D., chair of physics and engineering at The University of Scranton, sees…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[41358,178,180,179,12041,274],"class_list":["post-81980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-noyce","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-stem","tag-the-university-of-scranton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}