Undergraduate Pathway

Some students know before they arrive at Bowdoin that they have a calling to teach. Others become inspired after taking an education class here. (We encourage all students to sample at least one of Bowdoin's engaging and diverse education classes!)

Undergraduates who have completed the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars prerequisites can enroll in the program during the spring semester of their junior or senior year.

Every junior or senior who completes BTS receives a $2,500 stipend for the semester and may also be eligible for college-loan forgiveness. To participate, students must have completed the following education classes: 1101, 2203, 3301, and 3302.

Course Expectations for Undergraduates:

Complete a full-time, fourteen-week, student-teaching practicum (students receive course credit for this practicum through ED 3303: Student Teaching Practicum).
Enroll in ED 3304: Bowdoin Teacher Scholars Seminar.
Enroll in an independent study focused on developing teaching portfolios.

Chelsea Whiting-Puckett

Class of: 2022

Location: Portland, Maine

Major(s): Education, English

Chelsea Whiting-Puckett ’22 completed her student practicum teaching English at Casco Bay High School. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, she hopes to remain in Portland and teach English or social studies. "Living and student-teaching in Maine has been an amazing opportunity and I want to stay here and develop my professional career," she said.

Why do you want to be a teacher?

"I believe that educators can disrupt oppressive systems by directly supporting individuals. If education is about justice, then it is about serving people. I hope to be part of a team of educators who create classrooms where students and teachers harness the power of humility and connection to work towards a collective vision of justice for Americans of all identities.

...Perhaps each teacher picks up the pieces that we felt were most broken in our own schooling experiences, and runs with them, tries to fit them back together. For me, that’s serving and supporting LGBTQ+ students and all marginalized students through teaching robust, honest English and social studies courses."

Why did you choose to enroll in BTS as an undergraduate?

"I chose to do Bowdoin Teacher Scholars as an undergrad because I loved my field placements in earlier education courses and really saw student teaching my last semester as a good transition period between being a full-time college student and being a full-time teacher."

Taylor Jorgensen Emery ’22

Class of: 2022

Location: Auburn, Maine

Major(s): Education, English

Taylor Emery graduated from Bowdoin Teacher Scholars in May 2022. She is now teaching sixth-grade social studies and English at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn, her alma mater.

Why do you want to teach English?

"Growing up I liked school a lot, but something I started to struggle with in high school was I lost sight of why I liked school. I was still working really hard, getting good grades, and doing all the right things, but mostly because I wanted to go a to a good college. I lost the fun of it, and the actual enjoyment of the process.

When I got to Bowdoin, I originally wanted to major in English and economics, and I started English courses and economics courses. I liked them both but I realized when I went to English class, I loved it. I enjoyed myself; I had a lot of fun and I loved doing the work for it. Versus economics, where I was like, 'This is interesting,' but I didn't feel the same kind of love or passion for it.

Then I started to think about how to frame my learning in college. I started to think about what I could do with English, and I remembered first having this thought in high school: 'Wouldn't it be fun to be a teacher and teach English?'"

Why did you enroll in BTS as an undergraduate?

"I started to look at Bowdoin's education department, which I knew nothing about, and one of the first things I saw was Bowdoin Teacher Scholars. I had just assumed you had to do certain things and take certain steps after college to do whatever is necessary to become a teacher, which I was okay with, but when I realized that I can spend that time here and jump into this and be in classes and engage in student teaching and be part of a cohort of people doing the same thing, I was like, 'Yeah, this is something I want to do, so why not now?'"

Education