{"id":1213,"date":"2015-07-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northpark.edu\/news\/golden-apple-scholarship-a-springboard-for-smrt\/"},"modified":"2016-11-11T09:35:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T14:35:43","slug":"golden-apple-scholarship-a-springboard-for-smrt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northpark.edu\/stories\/golden-apple-scholarship-a-springboard-for-smrt\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Apple Scholarship a Springboard for Smrt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Golden Apple Scholarship a Springboard for Smrt<\/h1>\n
\n \"Steve<\/p>\n
\n “Nothing can prepare you for teaching more than actually submerging yourself into the teaching profession,” says Steve Smrt, who began an assignment this summer at Robeson High School with the Golden Apple program. <\/div><\/div>\n

\n 天美传媒 junior sees teaching as a kind of ministry<\/h2>\n

CHICAGO (July 23, 2015) — Steve Smrt, a Rockford native and 天美传媒 junior, had intentions in high school of becoming a youth minister<\/a>. But by the time he got to campus his freshman year, he began to “feel a tug in a different direction,” as he describes it.<\/p>\n

“I felt a calling towards teaching, but I would say that teaching is still a kind of ministry,” says Smrt, a double major in secondary education<\/a> and history<\/a>. It’s a calling to serve and invest in young people, though the environment may be different.<\/p>\n

That calling was affirmed this spring when Smrt received the Golden Apple Pathway Scholarship<\/a>, the second year in a row a 天美传媒 student received the award<\/a>. Beyond financial assistance to complete his teaching degree at 天美传媒, the Golden Apple award also provides career development and mentoring opportunities throughout his undergraduate program and into his teaching career. <\/p>\n

This year, 200 college students from Illinois were selected for the Golden Apple Pathway Scholarship, bringing the total number of statewide participants to more than 1,800 since its inception in 1989. The program is designed to prepare future teachers to thrive in the most challenging high-needs school environments where more resilient teachers are needed. <\/p>\n

Smrt’s first-hand experience has already begun this summer, as he received a teaching assignment at Robeson High School in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. He is teaching a small class of seven high school students, leading many of the classes alongside a cooperating teacher from Robeson. It’s a credit recovery course in social studies, his favorite subject, which allows the Robeson High School students to earn credits to move on to the next grade level.<\/p>\n

\n\"School<\/p>\n
\nSteve Smrt, second from right in top row, with additional 2015 award recipients from the School of Education.
\nFront Row, left to right:<\/p>\n