A new graduate of Wayne Community College and Wayne Early Middle College High School has been awarded a scholarship designated for future teachers.
Riley Lancaster of Pikeville was awarded a scholarship to participate in the East Carolina University’s Noyce Scholars Program and major in Secondary Mathematics Education.
The program provides $11,000 per year for juniors and seniors pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, science, or engineering along with teacher licensure.
After they complete their education and receive their teaching license, Noyce Scholars agree to teach mathematics or science in a high-need school or district for two years for each year of scholarship funding.
Lancaster will go into East Carolina University’s Mathematics Secondary Education program.
“Becoming a teacher is more than just an aspiration of mine, it is my calling. I want to share my love of mathematics and cultivate knowledge within my students,” Lancaster said. “Just as my previous instructor helped me to discover my fire for teaching, perhaps I can do the same for my students.”
She was North Carolina’s 2019 nominee for the American Mathematical Association for Two Year Colleges’ Wanda Garner Presidential Student Scholarship and was the 2019-2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Nominee for North Carolina.
The National Science Foundation Noyce Grant, named for physicist Dr. Robert Noyce, provides scholarships for ECU students to earn science or mathematics licensure and a degree. Noyce advocated for improving public education in mathematics and science before it was known as STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
The Noyce Scholars Program provides funding to institutions of higher education to provide scholarships, stipends, and programmatic support to recruit and prepare STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers. It seeks to increase the number of K-12 teachers with strong STEM content knowledge who teach in high-need school districts.
Cary Davis, who earned an associate in arts degree from WCC in May 2019, also was named an ECU Noyce Scholar in this selection round.
