METP Fellows Gather for First Cross-Campus Visit at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. – More than 30 high-caliber college freshmen with aspirations of becoming influential educators gathered at the University of Mississippi April 14-15 for a cross-campus visit between the UM and Mississippi State chapters of the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, or METP.

Established in January 2013, METP is a joint effort led by Ole Miss and MSU faculty to attract top-performing students into teaching by offering the most valuable education scholarship ever offered in Mississippi, one including four years of full tuition and funding for housing, food, technology, travel, study abroad and more.

Hosted by one of the two universities each semester, cross-campus visits are designed to expose fellows to educational leaders and to help gain a deeper understanding of issues facing educators today. The visits also serve as a way to help build community among students who belong to the joint program.

“Cross-campus visits like these are an integral part of this program,” said Ryan Niemeyer, the Ole Miss METP director. “We were very pleased to receive our fellows and friends from MSU and to continue to work together to bring prestige to the teaching profession and bring lasting change to education in our state.”

To kick off the event April 14, fellows met former UM Chancellor Robert Khayat, who spoke with the group about his career and the correlation between implementing controversial change and making progress as educational leaders. Students also received signed copies of his memoir, “The Education of a Lifetime.”

“As a citizen, I want to thank you all for choosing education as your careers because you are going to make a difference in the lives of others,” Khayat said. “For some people, the perception of Mississippi is often that we’re first on the bad lists and 49th on all of the good lists. But whether it’s obesity or diabetes or being unable to read and write and function in a complex society, the answer is education.”

On April 15, the group met with UM Chancellor Dan Jones and later toured the Center for Mathematics and Science Education and Rowan Oak. They also met both National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau and Mississippi Teacher of the Year Josh Lindsey, who spoke to teacher candidates and faculty at an event hosted by the UM School of Education.

“Teachers are leaders; never stray away from remembering that,” Charbonneau told the group. “You will not be able to reach every child you teach, but it’s your job to try every single day. We have to teach every child what it means to self-sufficient in order to be group-sufficient. We have to teach them to be good citizens and learn what it means to put time and effort into their work.”

Admitted in August, UM’s first class of 15 freshmen has a combined average ACT score of 28.5 and an average GPA of 4.0. The class is expected to graduate in May 2017, when each METP graduate will begin teaching in a Mississippi public school.

The service-based scholarship requires a five-year commitment to work in public education in Mississippi. The focus of the program is to train top-performing students to become secondary mathematics and English teachers to meet the growing demand in these fields due to the implementation of Common Core State Standards.

“Being in the first class of this program means we’re helping pave the way for the next group who will follow us,” said Shelby Knighten, a METP fellow at the university from Gautier. “Each time everyone meets, there’s a feeling like we’re gaining knowledge and making connections with people who have made an important impact in education at a variety of levels.”

UM is in the process of finalizing its second cohort of the program.