Some Hillsborough County seniors can breathe a sigh of relief; their college education will be paid for.
It is their reward for their time spent in the Urban Teaching Academy. The program gives students from Hillsborough, Blake and Middleton High Schools hands on experience teaching in the classroom.
As a result, college tuition and books are paid in full in return for coming back to Hillsborough County to teach in inner-city classrooms when they graduate college.
The pilot program had dozens of students enrolled, but not enough money to cover all the senior scholarships. To hold up their end of the bargain, the Hillsborough Education Foundation raised more than $200,000 just in time.
“It was a challenge," Hillsborough Education Foundation President Phil Jones said. "It’s a program that was a great idea, so our task was to work with the school district to let the community know there was a great need and a great cause of getting these kids back in our educational system as teachers."
“It was exactly what I wanted and it promised a scholarship,” Urban Teaching Academy graduate Kayla Rodriguez said of her involvement in the academy.
A total of 29 students were a part of the program’s inaugural class.