Webster University Awards First WESTbound Success Scholarship

Pictured from left to right: Nancy Hellerud, Julian Z. Schuster, Aiden Scoggin, DJ Kaiser, Anton (Tony) Wallner, Kelly Young, and Joe Sencibaugh.

Webster University received a $1.4 million Noyce grant from the National Science Foundation earlier this year. The project, titled Webster Educating STEM Teachers Bound for Success (WESTbound Success), will provide scholarships to support students preparing to be STEM teachers in high-need schools. 
 
The WESTbound Success team recently held a signing ceremony to welcome the first Webster student, Aiden Scoggin, to the grant program. Scoggin is a double major in mathematics and education and is currently completing his practicum in St. Louis Public Schools.  The ceremony was attended by members of the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs, and the Office of the President. 
 
Webster University President Julian Z. Schuster opened the ceremony with comments, specifically sharing, “The WESTbound Success Project plays an important part of Webster University’s focus on promoting academic excellence in STEM and supporting these efforts through federally funded grants.” 
 
WESTbound Success is Webster University’s fourth grant from the National Science Foundation. In 2021, Webster University received its second STEM grant, a $1.2 million NSF grant, titled Winning Approaches for Talented Transfers in STEM (WATTS) project. 
 
“Our current WESTbound Success project builds on a prior capacity-building grant we received from NSF to build partnerships with St. Louis Community College and Ritenour School District,” explained Professor Emeritus Anton (Tony) Wallner, who serves as the principal investigator for this project. “We are excited to support Aiden Scoggin and future Noyce scholars as they prepare to teach STEM subjects in high-need schools.”   
 
The grant team also includes Webster University Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs DJ Kaiser, Associate Professor of Education Joe Sencibaugh, and Teresa Alvarez, department chair of science and professor of biology at St. Louis Community College, Forest Park. 
 
“I’ve lived my entire life in St. Louis and grew up going to public school where I had some truly amazing teachers,” commented Scoggin, when asked about being chosen as the first WESTbound Success scholarship recipient. “Now I want to give back to the city and help inspire students, just as my teachers inspired me.” 

Scoggin signs paperwork to officially make him the first WESTbound Success Scholarship Recipient.

The WESTbound Success program and scholarships are available to Webster University students with junior and senior standing who double major in a STEM field (biology, chemistry, mathematics, or computer science) and education.  Transfer students from local community colleges are highly encouraged to apply. Upon completion of the WESTbound Success program and their undergraduate program, scholarship recipients will be asked to teach in a high-need school for several years with the goal of inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals and educators. For more information, visit: www.webster.edu/noyce. 
 
This Track 1 Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) through NSF award #2243351. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.