Colby Community College Biology Instructor and STEM Division Chair Dr. Jeffrey Sekavec recently attended the 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) National Noyce Summit in Washington, D.C., "Preparing and Retaining a Skilled and Compassionate STEM Teacher Workforce for High-Need Schools." He joined the Fort Hays State University delegation as a community college partner.

The Noyce Program seeks to develop teachers from STEM majors and place them in high-need districts. Students receiving Noyce scholarships receive specialized coursework on topics such as teaching using distance learning technologies, leadership, and professional development on issues facing at-risk schools.

“We recently completed our original five-year National Science Foundation Noyce partnership to increase the number of high school STEM teachers in rural areas,” he said. FHSU was awarded a new version from the NSF this summer, CREST—Certified Rural Enhanced STEM Teachers. We are lucky again to be a community college partner therein.”

During the CREST launch in June, Sekavec conducted the portion of the briefing that was on-site at FHSU and on Zoom with several high schools, colleges, and universities from Kansas to Georgia to discuss community college partner roles and responsibilities. He said that a new aspect of the CREST program is funding that allows tuition assistance for select students associated with the program.

For more information about the Noyce Scholars Program, contact Dr. Sekavec at (785) 460-5422 or jeff.sekavec@colbycc.edu.