Texas Tech University

28 Texas Tech students awarded Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers

Robert Stein

June 6, 2019

Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers

Texas Tech has the most scholarship recipients out of the 10 universities that had awardees.

Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation announced the second cohort of students receiving the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers, including 28 students attending or planning to attend Texas Tech University. Of the 10 institutions with students receiving awards, Texas Tech had the most recipients.

All scholars are committed to teaching in majority economically disadvantaged Texas public schools or in hard-to-fill subject areas. They will receive an $8,000 scholarship each year, as well as ongoing training, mentorship and networking opportunities facilitated by the foundation. Additionally, Raise Your Hand hosted the first Charles Butt Scholars Symposium, an all-expenses-paid, two-day professional development conference for the scholars at the end of May.

"Texas Tech University's College of Education is proud to be a part of the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers, and we are especially proud to have the most scholars in this cohort out of any of the 10 universities partnered with Raise Your Hand Texas," said Doug Hamman, chair of the Teacher Education Department at Texas Tech. "Our goal has always been to prepare the highest-caliber candidates for teaching, and these scholarship awards confirm that we are on the right track."

At Texas Tech, the funds will aid students in the TechTeach line of teacher preparation programs. Through partnerships with school districts and communities around the state and locally, the clinically intensive programs place Texas Tech students on a school campus for a yearlong residency experience. The students co-teach alongside mentor teachers and receive feedback and coaching from Texas Tech faculty based on the campus. One of the programs, TechTeach Across Rural Texas, helps prepare teachers specifically for rural schools, which often struggle to recruit and retain high-quality educators.

More than 370 candidates submitted a written application for the scholarship. The finalists participated in interviews, group activities and a demonstration teaching lesson before 134 new scholars were selected.

"We are excited to welcome the second round of Charles Butt scholars into our growing network of aspiring teachers," said Shari Albright, president of the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation. "These students are passionate about making a tangible difference for the future of Texas, and they are eager to receive the ongoing mentoring and professional development that will put them in the best position to be the best teachers they can be."

The scholarship is part of Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation's Raising Texas Teachers initiative, a 10-year, $50 million project designed to support university-based teacher preparation programs in addressing the needs of 21st-century students, elevate the status of the teaching profession and inspire top students to pursue teaching.

"We launched the Raising Texas Teachers initiative with the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers and partnerships designed to support universities committed to the continuous improvement of their teacher preparation programs," said Thea Ulrich-Lewis, director of the Raising Texas Teachers initiative for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation. "We also are working to raise the stature of the teaching profession through multimedia profiles and feature stories about the Charles Butt scholars, and we recently began releasing content through the 'Voices on Teaching' campaign, which showcases different voices – business executives, parents, students, celebrities, educators and others – sharing the impact and importance of the teaching profession and specific teachers."

This year's scholarships were awarded to students attending, or planning to attend, one of 10 partner universities selected by Raise Your Hand for their commitment to rigorous teacher preparation.

Here is a list of the Texas Tech scholars:

  • Abigail Lindner
  • Abigail SoRelle
  • Alexus Rodriquez
  • Andrea Serrano
  • Ashley Patrick
  • Bailey Tryon
  • Bernadette Sifuentes
  • Cayley Guess
  • Cheryl Johnson
  • Cyndi Segura
  • Emily Bowman
  • Emily Cisneros
  • Jared McGee
  • Johana Castillo
  • Jordan Springall
  • Juan Camacho
  • Kayla Jules
  • Kristen Meadows
  • Lauren Leitch
  • Lily Callison
  • Macey Waid
  • Magaly Moreno
  • Mariela Rosales
  • Megan Robinson
  • Melissa Nunez
  • Morven McKay
  • Victoria Thackray
  • Waleska Town

More information, along with a complete list of scholars and partner universities can be found on RaisingTexasTeachers.org.

About Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation

Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports programmatic initiatives structured to identify, pilot and scale systemic improvements in public education.