*P.E.R.S.I.S.T. On-line Community
*2013 Major Events *2012 Major Events *2011 Major Events *2010 Major Events
*2009 Major Events *2008 Major Events *2007 Major Events
*P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Brochure

The Burroughs Wellcome-funded
Pre-College Experiences for Reaching Students Interested in Science Teaching
(P.E.R.S.I.S.T.) Project

The P.E.R.S.I.S.T. PLEDGE
(Written and Presented By Dr. Leon Rouson)

I pledge to become competent, compassionate, cooperative, and committed
science or mathematics teacher.

I promise to promote diversity, truth, and opportunity for all students.

I will uphold all of these standards and principles as I prepare to enter a career in
teaching science or mathematics.

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2013 Major Events

The Pre-College Experiences to Recruit Students Into Science Teaching (P.E.R.S.I.S.T.) Project, funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund,
is currently in its 2nd no-cost extention year at North Carolina State University (NCSU) from fall 2012 to summer 2013. The theme for this year is College
PMatriculation: College Requirements for Teaching.

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2012 Major Events

The Pre-College Experiences to Recruit Students Into Science Teaching (P.E.R.S.I.S.T.) Project, funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund,
is completing its fifth year of implementation from summer 2011 to summer 2012. During the fifth year, the project is serving a cohort of 20
students from the NC-MSEN Pre-College Program (PCP) site at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The theme for the fifth year is College
Preparation: Thinking about Teaching as a Career and the Value of Teaching.

P.E.R.S.I.S.T. On-line Community Launched

P.E.R.S.I.S.T. on-line community is officially launched. NCSU P.E.R.S.I.S.T students, parents,
teachers, alumni, and staff can access this virtual learning community by registering on-line.
Individual can register and log in via http://www.ican-network.com/community/persist/login.
php?noaccess=1or http://www.ican-network.com/. Major components of the virtual
community includes communication center (announcements, reminders, discussion boards, chat);
calendar, learning center and resources with reading materials, web links and webinars; opportunities
about teaching; and virtual workspaces for collaboration such as group projects. There is also virtual
room for live student and parent workshop.

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2011 Major Events

2011 P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Fall Leadership Development Program

A group of NCSU P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students attending the 2011 P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Fall Leadership Development
Program at The Eastern 4-H Center in Columbia, NC. The overnight program allowed participated students to
learn about leadership and teamwork skills, as well as to bond with one and other and create possible lifelong
friendship. The overnight program was a success based on the overwhelmingly positive verbal comments we
have received so far. Results of official evaluation will be poster later. Please click here to see a PowerPoint slide
show that includes photos taken at the overnight program.

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2010 Major Events

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. First Fall Leadership Conference was featured in the
The Public School Forum's Friday Report on October 8, 2010

Forum News…

Teaching Fellows Program Collaborates with NC MSEN to Encourage Students to Pursue Science and
Mathematics Teaching Careers

For the past three years, the Public School Forum’s Project Teach initiative has sought to broaden its
outreach efforts beyond identifying and preparing prospective minority Teaching Fellows candidates
within its 24 school system target zone. Danny Bland, the Forum’s Director of Teacher Recruitment and
Coordinator for Project Teach, has reached out to and worked with various college preparatory programs
and institutional initiatives statewide. Partnerships have been forged with programs such as GEAR-UP,
AVID, FTA, the Teacher Cadet Program, and the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC).

The latest collaborative effort culminated on Saturday October 2nd with the NC MSEN PERSIST Scholars Fall Leadership Conference
themed, “Pathways to Teaching”. Mr. Bland assisted Dr. Rita Fuller, NC MSEN Director and Mr. Braska Williams, NC State University
MSEN Site Coordinator in planning the conference for 55 high school students from across the state participating in the PERSIST
Scholars Program. The conference was held at the Friday Institute on NC State University’s Centennial Campus from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Pre-College Experiences to Recruit Students Into Science Teaching is a science and mathematics teacher recruitment program for high
school students with high potential, but who may not have been encouraged to pursue mathematics or science teaching as a career. It is
sponsored by a Burroughs Welcome Fund grant to the North Carolina Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC MSEN) Pre-College
Program. Funding for 70 participants was established four years ago. Five UNC campus sites (Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville
State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, and Winston-Salem State University) started at that time with high school freshmen,
now seniors. North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State universities have identified high school freshmen to begin later this month.

From the beginning, one of the goals of PERSIST was to not only encourage the participants to become teachers, but to also prepare them
to take advantage of available scholarship opportunities as seniors. The decision to have a leadership conference was made when Dr. Fuller,
Mr. Williams, and Mr. Bland were discussing ways to best prepare the PERSIST seniors for applying for available teaching scholarships this
fall. The group decided that to simply provide information on scholarships and necessary application steps would not fully accomplish the
goals of the program. Instead, the idea was hatched to pull all of the students together in order to provide a more full-service approach.

“Pathways to Teaching” was about giving the students all of the necessary information to make the transition from high school student, to
college student, to teacher preparation program participants. The day started with words of wisdom and encouragement delivered by 2010-11
NC Teacher of the Year, Ms. Jennifer Facciolini, a 1998 Meredith College Teaching Fellows graduate. The students then rotated through
break-out sessions entitled “Thinking about Teaching” and “College Matriculation: Requirements for Teaching”. These sessions were
presented by Ms. Tamica Stubbs, a recent Burroughs Welcome Fund Science Teacher Award winner, and a panel of freshmen through senior
Teaching Fellows from NC State and North Carolina Central universities. During lunch, the students had the opportunity to visit display booths
featuring Recruitment and Outreach Coordinators from UNC system colleges and schools of education.

Immediately after lunch, break-out sessions gave the students the opportunity to hear short presentations from each of the education recruiters
in attendance regarding requirements for admission and available program offerings. Afternoon sessions focused on “Professional Teaching
Requirements” and “College Affordability”. Dr. Vincent Snipes, Winston-Salem State University, and Dr. Elaine Franklin, Western Carolina
University led the sessions on professional standards and teaching as a profession. The college affordability sessions were co-presented by
the Forum’s Danny Bland and Mrs. Sarita Broadway of the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC).

The PERSIST students, their advisors, and a few parents who attended the sessions, left with a wealth of information and the charge to have
group discussions at their campus MSEN sites during their next regularly scheduled Saturday Academy sessions to debrief the conference.
Evaluations were collected and are now being analyzed to determine participant satisfaction. Dr. Fuller, Mr. Williams, Mr. Bland and other
conference contributors will meet soon to debrief.

To check out some of the pictures taken at the Conference, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/ced.ncsu/PersistScholars?authkey=Gv1sRgCKeZr73mxKjJdw&feat=directlink#.

To read a press release, please visit http://ced.ncsu.edu/news/PERSISTScholars.php.

To download the Conference's program booklet, please click here. (pdf)

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2009 Major Events

Exhibit Booth Presented by NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project at the
2009 North Carolina Science Teachers Association (NCSTA) Conference

NC-MSEN Pre-College Program along with its P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project had an exhibit booth at the 2009 NCSTA Conference in
Greensboro, NC on November 19 and 20. P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students had an opportunity to exhibit their project to science teachers
in North Carolina. They also had opportunities to talk with science teacher to gain insight. The presence of the exhibit booth
allowed an opportunity for students to showcase NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and to reach out to MSEN Pre-College Program Alumni.

Exhibit Booth Presented by NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project at the
2009 North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM) Conference

NC-MSEN Pre-College Program along with its P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project had an exhibit booth at the 2009 NCCTM Conference in
Greensboro, NC on October 29and 30. P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students had an opportunity to exhibit their project to mathematics teachers
in North Carolina. They also had opportunities to talk with mathematics teacher to gain insight. The presence of the exhibit booth
allowed an opportunity for students to showcase NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and to reach out to MSEN Pre-College Program Alumni.

Exhibit Booth Presented by NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project at the 2009 NC State Fair

NC-MSEN Pre-College Program along with its P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Project had an exhibit booth located in the Education Building at the
2009 NC State Fair from October 15 to 25. The exhibit booth provided a great opportunity to showcase NC-MSEN Pre-College
Program to general public across and outside of the State. Interesting hands-on K-8 maths and science activities were demonstrated
to children, parents and teachers. Lesson plans were given out to interested parties. In addition, with our presence at the State Fair,
we could also successfully reach out to MSEN Pre-College Program Alumni. A number of PCP alumni had been found and we
are excited to learn that they are all doing very well and are currently involved in either STEM career or math/science teaching.
All of them have expressed gratitude towards the Program for having positive impacts on them, both personally and professionally.

UNCCH P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Scholars Learning How to Create Podcast

On Friday morning, August 21, 2009, a group of UNCCH P.E.R.S.I.S.T. scholars gathered at the Apple store in the
Southpoint Mall, Durham, NC to learn how to create podcast. They will be creating podcasts and using ipod to share
their podcasts among other fellow scholars and their teacher advisor as their new project for P.E.R.S.I.S.T.

Second Annual P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Banquet - Celebrating the Success of P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Scholars

On Saturday, June 28, 2008, NC-MSEN PCP hosted their Second Annual P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Banquet
at The William And Ida Friday Center For Continuing Education in Chapel Hill, NC. There were approximately 100 guests including P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Scholars, teacher advisors, parents, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction representative, PCP Coordinators and staff, PCP Alumnus, and
NC-MSEN staff. Please click here and check out a PowerPoint slide show filled with
pictures taken at the Banquet and a press release to be posted soon.

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2008 Major Events

UNCC P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Students Presenting at the 2008 GIS Day

Some of the UNCC summer P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students who participated at the 2008 GIS Quest this past summer
had the opportunity to present at the 2008 GIS Day in downtown Charlotte on November 19, 2008. The students
even created two of their very own songs to go with the presentation. The presentation was featured on Channel 14
evening news. Charlotte Mecklenburg CMS has put the presentation on-line along with the songs the students created.
Brandon Scott (Charlotte Mecklenburg School System), Joe Nortey (Gaston County School System), Bobby Lee
(home school), and a few other UNCC P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students were involved in the presentation. To listen to the songs,
please click below by the title of the songs.

Song 1: Jules Is A Beast
Song 2: Get Serious

2008 NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Fall Leadership Program

There were over 50 people attending the 2008 NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T.
Fall Leadership Program at Eastern 4-H Center in Columbia, NC. This year besides all the
challenging yet fun activities that help our P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Scholars build leadership, teamwork,
teambuilding, listening, creativity skills, as well as perseverance ability, we also had our first
P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Idol Talent Show. The entire event was a total success. From the evaluation
we received after the event, every student indicated that he/she had not only learned
a lot by participating in all activities but also a wonderful time making friends and enjoying the
nature. The survey responses were overwhelmingly positive. To take a visual tour of the
event over the weekend, please click here to see a PowerPoint slide show (from the top choose
"slide show" and then "view show").

**Please also check out the videos taken at the Leadership Program by ECSU.

First Annual P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Banquet - Celebrating the Success of P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Scholars

On Saturday, June 28, 2008, NC-MSEN PCP hosted their First Annual P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Banquet at The William And Ida
Friday Center For Continuing Education in Chapel Hill, NC. There were approximately 100 guests including P.E.R.S.I.S.T.
Scholars, P.E.R.S.I.S.T. teacher advisors, P.E.R.S.I.S.T. PCP Coordinators, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund representative,
The UNC General Administration, and NC-MSEN staff. Please click here and check out a PowerPoint slide show filled with
pictures taken at the Banquet and a press release.

UNC Charlotte (UNCC) NC-MSEN PCP and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Student was Featured in the Charlotte Observer
"Teen Advocates, Future Politicians"

David McKee, one of the UNCC NC-MSEN PCP students who also participates in the
P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Program expressed his interest in becoming a U.S. Senator. To view his
video blog, please visit http://videos.charlotte.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1763848.
David is the one at the end of the video.

Congratulations to Several UNC Charlotte (UNCC) NC-MSEN PCP and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Students for Participating
and Winning at the Regional Science Fair

Several UNC Charlotte NC-MSEN PCP and P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students participated and won in the Regional Science Fair held at UNCC
on February 23, 2008. Amber Roberts, Laura Lee, Avis Hall, and Matthew Moore, all are UNCC PCP students who participate in the
Research Experience (formerly PREP) for 11th and 12th grade, were placed in the Regional Science Fair. Amid the four students, both
Amber Roberts and Laura Lee will move onto the INTEL Competition in Atlanta. Amber will compete individually while Laura will
compete with a partner. In addition, two of UNCC P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students, Brandon Scott and Bobby Lee were also placed in the
Regional Science Fair. All of the students aforementioned will participate in the State Science Fair on March 15, 2008. Please click
the following link to read about their press release.

UNCC PSP Press Release

NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. 2007 Major Events

Seven of Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) P.E.R.S.I.S.T. students attended the "Future Teachers Conference" held at
UNC Charlotte (UNCC) on Saturday, November 17, 2007. Students not only had a wonderful opportunity touring the College
of Education at UNCC but also gained a wealth of "inside" information about being a teacher. Below are some of the snapshots
provided by WSSU PCP taken at the conference.

2007 NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T. Fall Leadership Program

There were approximately 50 people attending the 2007 NC-MSEN PCP P.E.R.S.I.S.T.
Fall Leadership Program at Penn 4-H Center in Reidsville, NC. The event was a total success.
From the evaluation we received after the event, we did not have a single student indicated anything
negative about the event activities. The survey responses were overwhelmingly positive. To take a
visual tour back to the event on that day, please click here to see a PowerPoint slide show by
clicking "slide show" and then "view show" at the top of the screen.