By Allison Nocera ’25, Lindsay Sherman, and Caitlin Wilson
For decades, McDaniel College has been preparing teachers for long, fulfilling careers in education throughout Maryland — and especially right here in Carroll County. In fact, greater than 90% of Education graduates from McDaniel are still employed as teachers five years after graduation, far exceeding the state and national averages of around 50%.
Now, a grant from the Maryland State Department of Education has paved the way for a new generation of teachers to enroll in an accelerated Master of Science in Teaching (M.S.T.) program on the Hill.
The Teacher Collaborative Fellowship grant program was established in 2023 and supports the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislation passed in 2021 to support and improve education in Maryland over the next decade. McDaniel, in partnership with Carroll County Public Schools and Carroll County Education Association, is contributing to a major pillar of the Blueprint: produce high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders.
Darrin Naill (left), Montara Clay ’24 (center), and Matthew Hutton ’23 (right) will be wrapping up their yearlong internships in Carroll County Public Schools this spring before graduating with their M.S.T. degrees from McDaniel. The intensive hands-on experiences will leave them well prepared for full-time careers in teaching.
“The goal of the M.S.T. program is to provide an accelerated graduate-level pathway into teaching for recent graduates and career-changers,” says Deborah Piper, the Teacher Collaborative Grant director and M.S.T. program coordinator. “The fellowship includes a yearlong internship in a Carroll County Public School with a highly recommended mentor teacher, combining practical coursework with meaningful experience in the field.”
The fellowship is open to those with a bachelor’s degree (or at least 30 credits) in English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Art, Kinesiology, or Spanish and a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0. In addition to graduate-level coursework completed toward their M.S.T., the fellows complete a full year of classroom experience with increasing responsibility within Carroll County Public Schools. To make the fellowship more accessible, students in the first three cohorts of the fellowship have been awarded up to $23,000 to assist with tuition or living expenses.
“Graduates of the program will meet Maryland State Department of Education requirements to teach and will be in demand in Maryland public schools,” says Piper.
For three of those fellows — Darrin Naill, Montara Clay ’24, and Matthew Hutton ’23 — the experience has been life-changing, and they feel they are well on their way to successful teaching careers.
