‘UK at the Half’: How UK prepares the next generation of teachers
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 3, 2025) — The University of Kentucky College of Education serves as a leader for educator preparation.
To help grow the next generation of teachers, Kentucky recently approved a stipend for aspiring teachers. Now, students receive up to $5,000 during the semester they complete student teaching.
“We are so grateful that the Kentucky General Assembly moved last year to provide these stipends for student teachers from Kentucky. Our college took the step of committing to also funding our students from other states, so that all our student teachers can receive the stipend. This is important because we know many students come from out of state for the high-quality training they receive at UK and choose to stay in Kentucky. They are part of growing our teacher workforce amid a state and national shortage,” said UK College of Education Acting Dean Danelle Stevens-Watkins.
For this “UK at the Half,” Stevens-Watkins discusses the opportunities UK provides to future teachers and how the college is advancing Kentucky by working with schools to grow and sustain the teacher pipeline and to ensure students are prepared to meet schools’ needs.
“UK at the Half” airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by UK Public Relations and Strategic Communications. To hear the “UK at the Half” interview, click on the play button above.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.