Florida Fund for Minority Teachers

March 2007

More than 800 students came together at the 11th Annual Recruitment and Retention Conference of the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers (FFMT) that took place March 17-18 at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

Recipients of the FFMT scholarship must attend this event each year, where they practice interviewing and networking skills and attend many informative workshops aimed at producing effective teachers.  Examples of this year’s topics included “Reading, Rappin’, and Having Fun,” “Children Who Hurt Can’t Learn,” and “Keep it Fine with the Arts.”

Holt student and FFMT scholar William Tillman attended this year’s gathering of future educators. “There were lots of workshops; I went to one about teaching students of different cultures that explained that you have to get to know students’ backgrounds and let them know yours to be a good teacher,” said Tillman.  “Vincent Taylor [the keynote speaker] talked about using rap music and rhythm to help improve reading comprehension, and using different songs to help students remember.  Since I’m a music major, I’m thinking about looking into that more; I may want to teach reading now.”

The scholarship is designed to draw members of minority groups into the teaching profession, and provides $2000 per semester during the students’ junior and senior undergraduate years.  The award must be paid back if the student does not teach in the Florida school system for two years after graduation.

Other sources of financial assistance for Holt students include the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), the Holt Tuition Scholarship, EXCEL Transfer Scholarships, and the Florida Public Relations Association scholarship.  More information is available through Terrie Cole at the Holt School office: email tcole@rollins.edu or call (407) 646-2232.