The Chicago Tribune | By Associated Press | June 20, 2009

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new program intended to put more math, science and technology teachers in rural Indiana schools is moving ahead with a first class of nearly 60 teachers.

Fifty-eight applicants were chosen from a pool of more than 300 with backgrounds in math, technology, engineering and science for the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship program.

Eighteen of those fellows will attend Purdue University and 20 each will attend IUPUI and the University of Indianapolis. Ball State University will take a class of fellows next summer.

Each student will receive a $30,000 stipend during the one-year master's program to nurture them and turn them into teachers. In the second year, they'll teach full-time in rural schools.

Lauren Klemme of West Lafayette, a 2002 Purdue graduate who specializes in math, said she was attracted to the program because of the small-town focus.

"I really liked the rural aspect of it," she said. "I spent five years working and living in Chicago, and I never really got into city life, so I would love to teach math at a rural high school."

In addition to the one-year stipends, Purdue will provide the fellows with graduate tuition scholarships.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., and Lilly Endowment Inc. are providing the funding for the fellowship.

The fellowship is only in Indiana, for now. But there are plans to expand the program to other schools and states.

Rural school districts near Tippecanoe County and in southeastern Indiana have already signed on to partner with the fellows and place them in schools once they complete the program.

The novice teachers attending Purdue will participate in STEM Goes Rural, a program created to staff rural secondary schools with teachers who are trained in education and science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.

"Purdue is very committed to science education. This program is something that really embodies Purdue and the passion we have," said Randy Woodson, Purdue's executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Sidney Moon, associate dean in the Purdue College of Education, said once the fellows begin teaching, the foundation will continue to aid them as they start their careers.

"This is a find, educate and assist program," she said.

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