Lee County secures funds for students looking to attend FSW and FGCU teaching programs

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Lee County schools have secured hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve the education of our children.

The district is bringing in funding for the “Grow Your Own Teacher Program,” which hopes to attract students here in Lee County to become teachers in our community.

More money for the program will allow Lee County schools to give more scholarships to high school students and current Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida SouthWestern students.

The School District of Lee County began the Grow Your Own Teacher scholarship program years ago to help with the national teacher shortage.

The goal is to create a pipeline for teachers who hopefully will stay at local schools in the long run.

The school district will give eight scholarships to high school seniors to attend FGCU and FSW and 12 scholarships to current FGCU and FSW students.

We spoke with one teacher at Sunshine Elementary who is a graduate of the program.

“For me it was sowing into my future and I’m really happy the program is taking off in the way that it is so that others can also benefit and the entire community can reap that harvest,” said Cammiel Canady.

Those selected for the program must agree to teach here in Lee County for at least three years after graduation.

The school district will begin to offer scholarships starting 2020.

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