Shaping the Classroom of Tomorrow: Mount Partners with TSTT

Evan Merkhofer, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Mount Saint Mary College, and Bettye Perkins, president and CEO of Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers, shake hands after signing the paperwork officially naming the college as a TSTT partner. Jennifer Bready, Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Education and Professor of Mathematics at the college (far right), served as both a driving force behind the new partnership and master of ceremonies at the signing event. 

Photos by Lee Ferris

When the Dominican Sisters founded the Mount 65 years ago, their mission was clear: educate the teachers who would shape the next generation. 

This fall, the college reaffirmed that commitment by inking a transformative partnership with the non-profit organization Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT).

The partnership creates a vital financial and mentorship pathway for diverse and economically challenged high school students to pursue careers in education. As a college partner, the Mount will offer TSTT students eligibility for a minimum 50 percent tuition scholarship upon successful completion of the program.

For Bettye Perkins, president and CEO of TSTT, the mission is personal.

“I grew up in a very small rural community in South Carolina,” Perkins explained at the signing event this past semester. “If it were not for those caring, committed teachers, I really don't know where I would be. They were the ones who believed in me, who helped me to build good character and self-esteem.”

Founded in 1994, TSTT is a career development model that recruits, mentors, and trains students from high school through college. The organization serves more than 800 students across the region, 75 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college.

The collaboration is already resonating with local students like Mikaela Beaubrun, a senior at Roy C. Ketcham High School with dreams of becoming a science teacher.

“I hope to become a middle school teacher and create a classroom where every child feels safe,” Beaubrun said. “That’s why I want to attend Mount Saint Mary College, because of the strong education program and commitment to community engagement.”

According to Evan Merkhofer, Vice President for Academic Affairs, this partnership is a natural evolution of the college’s DNA.

“We need great teachers for our schools, and we educate great teachers here at the Mount,” said Merkhofer. “I’m really excited that we’re able to become part of this partnership and give this opportunity to many students.”