Scholarship Opportunities for Vermont
Language Teachers and Teacher Education Students
at the Middlebury College Language Schools
In an effort to share its internationally known language resources with as many teachers and students as possible, Middlebury College will offer Vermont Language Teacher Fellowships, for Vermont language teachers in secondary schools and for Middlebury College Teacher Education students.
To help current and future language teachers increase their own proficiency, enhance their pedagogical skills, and learn how to use the latest educational technology in the classroom, Middlebury will offer three scholarships to applicants who meet the following criteria:
• One scholarship for a current high school language teacher in Vermont. This person will live on campus, take the Language Pledge and receive course credit. He/she must be currently employed as a language teacher in a Vermont secondary school and wish to engage in further study of the language he/she is currently teaching, or prepare to undertake the teaching of a second foreign language. Awardees of Teacher Fellowships will receive remission of tuition, room and board for a summer Language School. The award is for one summer only, and past recipients of Addison County Teacher Scholarships are not eligible for this program.
• One scholarship for a local (Mt. Abe or MUHS) high school language teacher to participate in the summer language program without credit. This student will not be housed on campus and will sign a modified Language Pledge. Applicants must teach at Mt. Abe or MUHS; be teaching or preparing to teach the language of the School to which they have applied; receive the endorsement of their school principal.
• One scholarship for a Middlebury College Teacher Education student who is in the process of getting certified to teach a foreign language. The student will live on campus, must take the Language Pledge and will receive course credit. The student must receive the endorsement of the Director of the Program in Teacher Education at Middlebury College.
The Middlebury Language Schools
With the Language Pledge and a commitment to the integrated study of language and culture serving as hallmarks for all eight Middlebury Language Schools, generations of language educators have benefited from "the Middlebury approach" -- experimenting, testing, refining, but always demanding the utmost in dedication from themselves and from their students. The result is foreign language education that works.
More than 30,000 students have pursued study at the Language Schools throughout their eighty year history; over 10,000 have earned graduate degrees, and most of these have themselves become language teachers, making Middlebury's national impact on language teaching even more dramatic.
Middlebury, consider language as the bridge that links person to person, culture to culture, nation to nation. In Vermont, as we witness growing linguistic and cultural diversity and burgeoning interest in forging economic links with other countries, it is important that we pay attention to the adequacy of our linguistic resources to meet the challenges. Middlebury's primary goal, in initiating the Vermont Language Teacher Fellowships, is to have a positive impact on language education, to insure that language teachers throughout the state have the opportunity to become as effective as possible, and to nurture teachers as a resource of critical importance to Vermont's educational and economic future.
Application process
1. Request an application form from the Language School of your choice (one may be found in the Language Schools Viewbook).
2. Complete all portions of the application and return them to that Language School by February 15.
3. In addition to the letters of recommendation required for admission, submit a letter from the principal of your school, (or director of the Program in Teacher Edcucation in the case of Middlbury College students) nominating you for a Vermont Language Teacher Fellowship, and explaining how the program contributes both to your personal development and to the goals of the school in which you teach (or will teach).
4. We assume that most applicants will apply for graduate-level study in languages they are already teaching. Applicants who wish to undertake the study of a new language must submit a statement that makes a case for the relevance of this language to their career goals.
5. Once a scholarship applicant has been deemed acceptable for admission, the application will be submitted to the Dean of Language Schools and School Abroad, who will review and select finalists. Selection will be based on:
6. demonstrated commitment to language teaching.
7. evidence of academic ability and language competence.
The Vermont Teachers Fellowship program is competitive, and we recognize that there are more qualified applicants than we are able to assist through this program. Applicants who are not selected to receive a Fellowship, retain their status as admitted students, and may choose to enroll at their own expense, or apply for need-based financial aid through Middlebury's Financial Aid Office.
Credits and Continuing Study
Students enrolled in a Middlebury Language School through the Vermont Teacher Program are not considered degree candidates.
The Vermont Teacher Scholarship program is for one summer only; participants may not reapply for assistance from this program.
Participants may, however, reapply to a Language School for an additional summer of study or for degree candidacy. If a participant is accepted for candidacy, the credits earned through the Vermont Teacher program may be applied to the degree if appropriate.