New program offers assistance for prospective teachers in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If you’re interested in teaching in New Mexico, the Golden Apple Scholars program wants to help.

“We will bring the young people together, we pay them for their time with us, and then they return to their communities in the Summer and teach in summer programming in their own community,” said Alan Mather, the President of the Golden Apple Foundation. “So they have hundreds of additional hours of experience by the time they walk in the classroom.”

Applications are open through May 27. The goal is to recruit 30-50 New Mexico residents from seniors in high school through sophomores in college working to become teachers. Eventually, they hope 10 percent of all newly licensed teachers in the state will have been a part of it. That’s 200 teachers a year.

“We’re going to be piggybacking on what the New Mexico legislature has already put forward to ensure that people go into teaching and get state aid,” explained Mather.

You can view the application and apply by visiting here.