Sul Ross State University’s La Frontera Research Initiative (LFRI) for STEM has been awarded a grant for nearly $150,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support education students in rural border communities.

According to the “Creating and Sustaining Noyce Mentors en la Frontera” grant application, “the project aims to serve the national need to build greater understanding of what it means to be an effective STEM teacher leader serving rural, high-need schools, with a specific focus on the Texas-Mexico border and on students from groups which are historically underrepresented in STEM fields.”

The LFRI is charged with conducting education research and implementation of best teaching and learning practices to improve STEM literacy through culturally responsive teaching and learning with technology.

The NSF grant for $149,521 will be used to establish partnerships with Midland College and surrounding high need schools in Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Midland and in rural Southwest Texas communities, and with the non-profit Science Mill Museum.

The project also seeks to strengthen relationships with existing partners like Southwest Texas Junior College and in high-need schools in Presidio, Marfa, Alpine and Uvalde. Advisory boards will be created to define characteristics of a STEM teacher leader, examining existing graduate programs for alignment with these characteristics, and delivering a professional development institute for 15 STEM teachers in collaboration with the Science Mill Museum.

Each participating STEM teacher will also have an opportunity to practice skills developed through the institute while assisting with the delivery of one of three week-long STEM outreach camps around West Texas.For more information, email Dr. Jennifer Miller-Ray, LFRI director, at jennifer.miller@sulross.edu or visit https://srinfo.sulross.edu/lafrontera/eclipses-en-la-frontera/.