UH was among twenty-nine higher education institutions invited to apply for a grant of up to $2.4 million to address the ongoing shortage of qualified math and science teachers.

TeachHOUSTON, a joint program between the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the College of Education, already hit the ground running this past spring with fourteen students. Another twenty-five to fifty are expected this fall.

Modeled after a similar program at the University of Texas, teachHOUSTON works with math and science majors interested in teaching and exposes these students to classroom teaching as early as their freshman year. They are assigned to mentor teachers in local school districts.

“Their exposure to a school setting from the outset is important to the initiative’s success and sets it apart from other teacher certification programs,” said Jeff Morgan, chair of the Department of Mathematics. “People who want to teach want to teach now. Their passion starts to wane if they have to wait four years.”