PLAINVIEW — Wayland Baptist University has signed three more Noyce Scholars.
Faculty, parents, coaches, and community representatives looked on recently as Alice Conely, Natalie Hinojosa, and Emily Sigala signed scholarship agreements during a Noyce Signing Party at Van Howeling Education Complex on Wayland’s Plainview campus. They join Dylan Jerden, who signed during the 2022-2023 academic year.
“Together as one family we have come together to witness our new Noyce Scholars sign up for a unique educational experience,” said Dr. Sarah Hartman, Noyce Principal Investigator and Dean of Wayland’s Don A. Williams School of Education.
“It is an honor to celebrate these Noyce Scholars in receiving scholarship monies to pay for the next two years of their undergraduate experiences, as well as witness the direct mentoring they will experience from faculty in the Don A. Williams School of Education as well as the Ken L. Maddox School of Mathematics and Sciences,” Hartman said. “What a blessing we have as we watch them develop into leaders in their fields, while they also engage in research with faculty, present at content conferences, and work with hands-on instruction at Plainview High School.”
The signing party was part of recruiting efforts for the 2023-2024 academic year, Hartman said. The event was designed to celebrate the accomplishments of the Noyce Scholars.
The Robert Noyce grant program is part of the National Science Foundation whose goal is to provide scholarships and education opportunities that specifically support institutions of higher education in recruiting and preparing high school educators for teaching mathematics and science.
Hartman explained that the goal for the Wayland Baptist University’s Noyce grant program — Growing STEM Educators through Science Research on the South Plains of Texas — is to recruit 25 Noyce Scholars by the end of the five-year, $1.3 million dollar grant. Any science or mathematics Education major at Wayland Baptist University who has officially declared their desire to teach science or mathematics at a high school level is eligible to participate in the Noyce grant program. She said efforts are also made to recruit candidates from both South Plains College and Amarillo College.
Conely is pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Life Science grades 7-12), while Hinojosa and Sigala are each pursing a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics grades 7-12).
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