The Citadel and The Citadel Graduate College work year-round to positively impact classrooms and shape effective educators for the state of South Carolina and the nation. This Teacher Appreciation Week, we’re looking back at some of the ways The Citadel leads in the education of K-12 students.
1. Confronting the teacher shortage crisis
As school districts across South Carolina and the nation grapple with an ongoing nationwide teacher shortage, faculty at The Citadel’s Zucker Family School of Education are creating solutions to address the crisis.
One new initiative the college is implementing to recruit more cadets to the field of education is the Teaching Scholars Program. The program offers $10,000 in scholarship funding over four years, enhanced academic and field-based student activities as well as an opportunity for international experiential learning. Read more »
2. Collaborating with local schools
Citadel faculty, staff, cadets and students regularly work with Charleston area schools to provide K-12 students unique, fun and educational experiences. In fact, on almost every regular school day of the academic year, Citadel cadets work as volunteers in Lowcountry public schools through several ongoing education and literacy initiatives managed by the college’s Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics.
In another ongoing collaboration, the Zucker Family School of Education works with three schools in the Charleston County School District to bring nationally recognized authors to classrooms. The events are part of The Citadel’s Authors in Schools Literacy Initiative, which aims to grow lifelong readers and writers. The next author to visit the schools will be Carmen Agra Deedy on May 22-24.
Additionally, The Citadel STEM Center of Excellence and the Zucker Family School of Education recently teamed up with a local high school for the Burke Bulldog Breakfast Pitch event. During the event, students pitched business plans related to aeroponic farming. The business plans were formulated after a six-week project-based learning initiative that gave students the opportunity to learn about and research sustainable farming as well as visit The Citadel Sustainability Project’s on-campus container farms.
3. Mentoring future leaders and educators
As part of the college’s mission to develop cadets and students to become principled leaders in all walks of life, The Citadel works to prepare knowledgeable, reflective and ethical professionals in education.
One example is alumnus Brandon Bohrn, who says that without the mentorship he received at The Citadel, he would not have been able to serve as a teacher in Germany.
After graduating from The Citadel with a Bachelor of Arts in German, Bohrn received a Fulbright Scholarship and travelled to Germany to instruct English and American culture courses. Bohrn worked with the students at the Gymnasium Wanne in Wanne-Eickel, Germany for almost two years.
Bohrn is now earning a graduate degree through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s TransAtlantic Masters Program and recently received a DAAD scholarship to conduct research on Turkish diaspora in Germany.
4. Offering advanced degrees and certificates for teachers and administrators
Through advanced degrees and certificates at The Citadel, teachers and administrators can obtain the credentials they need to be effective educators.
Ryan Giles, assistant principal at Moultrie Middle School in the Charleston County School District, completed the Certificate in Elementary Administration Educational Leadership through the Zucker Family School of Education to make his career goals a reality.
The Zucker Family School of education offers nine degrees and two graduate certificates through The Citadel Graduate College.
5. Hosting programs for young students
The Citadel invites thousands of K-12 students to the college’s campus each year for hands-on activities in a variety of subjects.
This summer, the college will host three weeks of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) camps as well as a cybersecurity camp.
Additionally, The Citadel hosts a Summer Reading Program to reach Lowcountry students who are reading below grade level. During the program, Master of Education in Literacy candidates, all of whom are certified teachers, work one-on-one with K-9 students to develop and implement an individualized reading plan. The program has created effective readers and writers for more than 40 years.
6. Establishing a new doctor of education program
The Citadel has joined forces with Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University and Winthrop University to provide a seamless transition for teachers, principals and superintendents wanting to continue their education and improve student outcomes.
Students from each institution’s Education Specialist degree programs at any of the four institutions will graduate with prerequisite courses completed for Clemson’s Doctor of Education program in Education Systems Improvement Studies. Clemson will deliver the Ed.D. Program in several formats—including online and hybrid—at off-campus sites across the state. Read more »
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