Pittsburg State University wins grant that will benefit Hispanic teachers

A recently awarded grant will help local teachers who are Hispanic or who teach in districts with large Hispanic populations.

The Joplin Globe reports that the Laura Bush 21st-Century Librarian program awarded Pittsburg State University’s College of Education a $530,281 grant to provide scholarships, mentoring and laptops to 25 teachers from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.  University officials said school districts in those four states have experienced significant growth in their Hispanic populations in the past five years.

The project to be funded by the grant is called Building Bridges Across Cultures.  It will enable 25 future school librarians to earn master’s degrees online with an emphasis in library media.

A 2013 grant to Pittsburg State focused on Native American culture in teaching and provided scholarships to 25 school librarians.