On behalf of the entire UNCG School of Education community, we would like to thank Mrs. Sarah Cole Jordan ’56 and The Honorable Robert Jordan, III for their gift of $50,000 to support the Sarah Cole Jordan Class of 1956 UNCG Teacher Education Fellows Endowment. The Jordan name is synonymous with this incredible experience, dating to the original founding of the statewide NC Teaching Fellows program. Their support has allowed the SOE to continue to operate the Fellows program as a hallmark of the UNCG School of Education.
The School of Education announced the “return” of the NC Teaching Fellows program to its campus with the UNCG Teacher Education Fellows Program that began in Fall 2015. The Jordans helped fund the first phase of the program through the Sarah Cole Jordan Endowment, along with the Marian Franklin Scholarship, the Jacqueline W. & Jack H. Varner Scholarship, and the J. Barnwell & Mary Blair Allison Scholarship. The campus-based scholarship and enrichment program is aimed at developing teachers as servant leaders within a diverse and global context by way of engagement in activities focused on service, leadership, and diversity and global awareness.
Allison Sharp, a School of Education student and a fourth year Fellow, had two hands-on internships in the classroom her first year and studied abroad her second year. These real-world experiences helped her appreciate diversity, learn to be more culturally aware, and allowed her to expand her knowledge in the field of education beyond UNCG’s campus. “My last two years in this program have taught me the importance of collaboration, communication, and perseverance,” Sharp says. “The program has not only provided me with wonderful friends and mentors but has allowed for me to step up into a leadership role and pass on what others passed on to me.”
Thanks to the continued support of donors such as the Jordans, the UNCG Teacher Education Fellows Program continues to expand, adding more students and activities. The first cohort of Fellows graduated in May 2018, and currently the program is at full capacity and boasts a rigorous curriculum and experiential education and leadership opportunities. Amanda “Liz” Robinson, another SOE student and current Fellow, explains that she has learned how to successfully steward her leadership and has come to crave new experiences and challenges through the opportunities that the Teacher Education Fellows Program has granted her. “One of my favorite things about being a Fellow is experiencing the Ron Clark Academy — it is something that has impacted my teaching philosophy and set my standards for nothing short of excellence,” she says.
The Jordans’ recent gift will be added to the endowment, with the proceeds allowing the program to expand offerings to students, including participation in the UNC World View program for educators, a two-day Global Education Symposium which compliments the curricular focus of the Fellows program. It could also jumpstart the resurrection of the Triad Teaching Fellows Conference, which was originally planned and hosted by UNCG and Elon and provided networking and professional development opportunities for Triad Fellows.
Learn more about the UNCG Teacher Education Fellows Program here.
