Kellogg Foundation fellowship program to place teachers at Ypsilanti Public Schools

The fellowship is a joint effort by the foundation and Michigan’s colleges, universities and school districts to increase the state’s teaching work force, according to a news release. The program recruits teachers with strong backgrounds in math and science fields and places them in hard-to-staff middle and high schools across the state.

The foundation selected 74 people from a pool of 2,000 for its second year of the program. These individuals included both recent college graduates and career changers. Some of the individuals chosen as fellows have backgrounds as a fighter pilot, a biologist, a pastor and a sea kayak instructor.

Each fellow receives a $30,000 stipend to complete a master’s degree program in exchange for a three-year commitment to teaching in Michigan’s high-need urban and rural secondary schools. Some of the fellows will be attending Eastern Michigan and the University of Michigan to receive their master's degrees.

Partner school districts include Detroit, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Godfrey-Lee, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Wyoming and Ypsilanti. Organizers expect the teachers in the program to work with about 100,000 students during their time of service.

The Kellogg Foundation has pledged $18 million to support the program.

Staff reporter Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.