Project MITTEN (Michigan Initiative to Transform Educational and Equity Networks) is a collaboration led by the Michigan Education Association (MEA) in partnership with Wayne State University's College of Education.  The overarching mission of Project MITTEN is to enhance educators' cultural competency, while recruiting more racialized minority students into the teaching profession.

Next Gen Teachers summer 2024 program dates

• Monday, July 8, 2024 through Friday, July 17, 2024

Next Gen STEM Teachers summer 2024 program dates

• Monday, July 22, 2024 through Wednesday, July 31, 2024

The Next Gen Teachers and Next Gen STEM Teachers Summer Programs are a collaborative project between Wayne State University’s College of Education and the Michigan Education Association (MEA).  Both programs have been made possible thanks to generous funding from the National Education Association, General Motors, and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan.

Project MITTEN encompasses three components

• To develop a robust cultural competency training program for PK-12 educators in four Michigan school districts
• To expand the Next Gen Teachers Summer Program into a two-week on-campus residential college and career readiness program for high school students interested in pursuing a career in education
• To provide mentoring to Next Gen Teachers Summer Program participants by pairing them with trained, culturally competent teachers over the course of the following school year

Project MITTEN is developed and delivered by MEA leaders, Wayne State faculty and staff, and representatives from participating districts, in consultation with a recognized consultant on race (Curtis Lewis, Ph.D.), cultural competency, and teacher-student engagement.

Programs

• Next Gen Teachers Summer Program - Get Prepared to Make a Difference!

  Why participate in the Next Gen Teachers Summer Program?

  • Earn an $800.00 summer stipend for spending during and after the program
  • Eligibility to win a brand new laptop
  • WSU undergraduate application fee waiver

  Gain experience by participating in:

  • Teacher preparation workshops
  • College readiness workshops
  • Cultural competency & urban education workshops
  • WSU campus exploration
  • City of Detroit excursions
  • Activities with WSU College of Education faculty, academic advisors, success coaches, and current students

  Participant Eligibility

  The Next Gen Teachers Summer Program is for students who meet the following criteria:

  • High school students currently completing their Freshman, Sophomore or Junior academic year
  • Have an interest in becoming a certified PK-12 teacher
  • Have earned at least a 2.5 grade point average

  For more information regarding the Next Gen Teachers Summer Program, please contact:

  Jeff Lisiecki,
  Academic Services Officer II
  Email: gc2394@wayne.edu
  Phone: 313-577-1601

• Next Gen STEM Teachers Summer Program

  Topics to be explored

  • Teachers preparation
  • College readiness
  • STEM - Science, Technology, Mathematics, and CTE

  Incentives for participants

  • Free to participate
  • Receive an $800.00 stipend
  • Eligibility to win a laptop
  • Eligibility to participate in year-round mentorship
  • Take advantage of scholarships opportunities for teachers:
    • WSU's Heart of Detroit Tuition Pledge
    • Michigan Future Educator Fellowship
    • TEACH Grant

  Participant eligibility

  • Rising High School Juniors and Seniors
  • 2.5 minimum GPA
  • Interest in attending Wayne State University to become an educator

  For more information regarding the Next Gen STEM Teachers Summer Program, please contact:

  Jeff Lisiecki,
  Academic Services Officer II
  Email: gc2394@wayne.edu
  Phone: 313-577-1601

• Cultural Competency in the Classroom Training

  Through ongoing cultural competency training, educators will be better equipped with inclusive knowledge, skills, and dispositions. They will enhance their understanding and use of culturally relevant and responsive curriculum, trauma-informed pedagogy and classroom practices, differentiated instruction, and funds of knowledge that build upon students' background as teaching resources. As a result, racialized minority students will benefit from multicultural and ethnic studies that offers diverse knowledge and perspectives, affirms their ways of knowing and doing, and considers their abilities from a strengths-based, rather than deficit, perspective.

  C3 Training will involve three distinct workshops

  Workshop #1: Examination of Self Implicit Bias

  This workshop will teach the importance of understanding your own culture and views on the world.  Everyone has some level of bias, it is critical to recognize this to ensure all of your students are valued for what they bring to the world.

  Workshop #2: Working with Others

  Building on the self-reflective properties of workshop #1, this workshop will teach the importance of understanding and valuing the cultures of students in the classroom.

  Workshop #3: Institutional Change

  How can teachers affect policy at the school/district/state level?  This workshop teaches educators how to use their voices and resources to make long lasting change at the institutional level.

• C3-NGT Mentorship

  Following participation in the Next Gen Teachers Summer Program, students will be paired with teacher mentors who will engage in ongoing discussions about educational, career, and life planning throughout the subsequent school year. This is where the many facets of Project MITTEN combine in full support of our aspiring educators. 

  Becoming a Mentor for PK-12 Educators

  Why should YOU consider becoming a C3-NGT Mentor?

  • Empower the next generation of great K12 educators
  • Improve your communication & supervisory skills
  • Opportunity for self-reflection and personal satisfaction
  • Active participation in your own professional and personal growth
  • Enhanced self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-esteem

  Mentoring for High School Students

  What are some of the benefits of having a Mentor?

  • Enhanced self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-esteem
  • Having a support system as you finish high school and approach college
  • Being encouraged and empowered in personal development
  • Being helped to identify and achieve career goals
  • Developing and maintaining a broader perspective on career options and opportunities
  • Developing interpersonal and communicative skills

  To get involved in the C3-NGT Mentorship program you must participate in the Next Gen Teachers Summer Program. 

  Contact Information

  For questions, more information, or to get involved please contact Jeff Lisiecki (gc2394@wayne.edu)

• Research/Outcomes

  Project MITTEN Goals

  The overarching goal of this proposal is to improve the landscape of the teaching profession by advancing cultural competency within our schools while also recruiting young, underrepresented students into Education majors and eventually the teaching profession. We intend to develop a comprehensive training curriculum to address educators' cultural competency in differing school settings. We will recruit and collaborate with a cadre of MEA member teachers to conduct and eventually institutionalize cultural competency training workshops in all the schools of partner districts.

  Key Activities & Anticipated Outcomes

  C3 Cultural Competency in the Classroom: Training Teachers

  • Anticipated Outcomes: In Year 1, we anticipate recruiting 80 total teachers into the cultural competency training program; with 75% (60 teachers) completing all three workshops; and 80% (48 teachers) demonstrating improvement in cultural competency. We intend to train 160 more teachers in Year 2, and then 320 more teachers in Year 3. By the end of Year 3, we anticipate having engaged over 560 teachers in training.

  C3 Cultural Competency in the Classroom: Training the Trainers

  • Anticipated Outcomes: In Year 1, eight facilitators will lead or co-lead cultural competency workshops in four schools (one school per district). In Year 2, we will double our capacity by recruiting 16 teachers to become facilitators and working with eight schools (two schools per district). In Year 3, we will recruit 16 more teachers as facilitators and work with 16 schools (four schools per district).

  C3-NGT Mentoring: Securing Impactful Mentors

  • Anticipated Outcomes: Following the first year of cultural competency training, we will select 16 teachers to serve as mentors to high school students. We anticipate 75% (12 teachers) to complete all training sessions and become mentors. For Years 2 and 3, we anticipate securing 12 teachers each year to become mentors.

  Next Gen Teachers Summer Program

  • Anticipated Outcomes: For the three-year period, we intend to secure a total of 150 rising high school juniors and seniors to participate in the summer residency program. Each year, we anticipate 90% of summer participants will increase their college-readiness and cultural competency. We also anticipate 67% of summer participants to continue with the mentoring during the school year. Of those participating in the summer and school-year programming, we anticipate 80% will demonstrate continued interest in pursuing the teaching profession.

  Next Gen Teachers Summer Program: Participants Pursuing Teacher Prep Programs

  • Anticipated Outcomes: We anticipate 90% of summer residency participants will accept admission to a college or university, and 70% will pursue Education as their academic major.