LSU Geaux Teach received a $50,000 donation from Chase Bank on March 28, but program administrators hope the most recent donation is just a fraction of incoming funds this year.
The University’s Geaux Teach program, a secondary education concentration for students who are pursuing a degree in math, science or humanities, was founded in 2003 and modeled on the UTeach program started at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997, said Sharon Besson, Geaux Teach master teacher.
The program received $1.2 million in 2007 from the National Math and Science Initiative sponsored by ExxonMobil, according to Geaux Teach co-director Frank Neubrander.
Neubrander said if the University makes a $1 million endowment before the grant expires at the end of 2012, the National Math and Science Initiative would match those funds.
David Kirschner, Geaux Teach co-director, estimated that 6 percent of eligible students in the College of Science participate in the Geaux Teach program, the highest proportion in the country.
Besson said the number of student teachers who are teaching this spring is a good measure of the program’s recent growth. Historically, the program has had 10 to 12 student teachers each spring, but this year 27 will graduate, according to Besson.
The degree students earn in the Geaux Teach program has the same requirements for the students’ chosen area of study, Besson said.
“We want to stress that their content degrees are the exact same content degrees they would earn if they were not taking secondary education courses,” Besson said. “It is not watered down. The education courses are added into the additional courses they are required to take for their major.”
Catriona Anderson, a master teacher, said the rigor of the program with the development of leadership skills and expanded range of job opportunities makes Geaux Teach an attractive program regardless of a student’s career aspirations.
“Anyone who is interested in their future and having a role that involves leadership or working with other people, whether that is in a classroom or any other setting, will learn how to do that in this program,” Anderson said.
Chemistry senior Rami Khoury is one student who said Geaux Teach has given him more career options.
Upon graduation, Khoury said he hopes to attend graduate school, but he would use the experience and teaching certification he earned with Geaux Teach if he is not admitted.
Khoury said he hopes to eventually teach at the collegiate level, but he has seen the Geaux Teach program help students determine if they truly want a career in education.
“This program is one of the those that you get more out of if you put more into it,” Khoury said. “It helps expose students to the teacher lifestyle while they are still in college.”
 
 
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Contact Paul Braun at [email protected]