EAST LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Several Upper Peninsula students have been inducted into the second cohort of Golden Apple Foundation scholars.
The Golden Apple Foundation recruits aspiring educators attending Michigan schools. The Golden Apple Scholars program supports them through mentorship, job placement assistance, and paid professional development.
“A big portion of our work is our Scholar Institutes every summer,” said Caycee Sledge, the Chief Program Officer for Michigan. “We bring in amazing educators from across the state to work on professional expectations, build community, and get them ready for the classroom.”
Scholars commit to five years of teaching in a Michigan school of need, which is a school where 30% of students qualify to receive free or reduced lunches. Sledge says the need for teachers, particularly in schools of need, has been increasing for the last few years.
“In the 2022 – 2023 school year, we had about 1,800 teacher vacancies,” she said. “In the 2023 – 2024 school year, it was 2,400 teacher vacancies. It’s not going in the right direction, so we want to make sure that we’re focusing on getting more students in the pipeline and making sure they feel supported so that when they enter that classroom, they stay.”
This week, the second Michigan cohort of Golden Apple Scholars was inducted into the program at a ceremony at Michigan State University. The cohort is made up of 52 high school seniors and college freshmen and sophomores—up from last year’s 35 inductees—including some from Hancock, Dollar Bay, Newberry, and Sault Ste. Marie.
“We are so excited to grow our footprint in the U.P.,” said Sledge. “We have students coming from rural communities, urban communities that need good teachers. Every child in Michigan deserves to have an exceptional teacher, so we want to make sure that we’re spreading the support across the entire state. We’re really excited about the movement we’ve had in the U.P. and hope to continue to grow.”
Applications from next year’s Golden Apple Scholars program will open at goldenapple.org in the fall. For updates on application availability and deadlines, follow Golden Apple on Facebook.
