MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee Electric gave $40,000 to Middle Tennessee State University’s College of Education to outfit future teacher classrooms each semester for the next four years.

The College of Education awarded the first $2,500 Spark Awards to two student teachers — Lyric James and Natalie Burridge — which allows these future educators to jump-start their careers without the financial strain of properly setting up their classrooms.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with an outstanding community partner like Middle Tennessee Electric,” said Neporcha Cone, dean of the College of Education. “Driven by a genuine desire to support teachers, MTE, led by their community relations coordinator and MTSU agribusiness education alum Jay Sanders, made a generous contribution to establish the MTE Spark Awards.

“As a former classroom teacher, I understand how challenging it can be to create an inviting and effective learning environment for students,” she continued. “These awards will not only provide valuable resources for new teachers but will also enhance the educational experience for the students who learn in these thoughtfully prepared spaces.”

MTE’s commitment to education applauded

Sanders, a 2008 alumnus, said his organization serves members of the electric cooperative “with more than just electricity.”

“We’re committed to supporting educators and their families in a variety of ways. One way we can partner with educators is through the Spark Award initiative — this program will benefit new teachers and help jump-start their career in the classroom,” he said. “It’s an honor for MTE to partner with MTSU and future educators on this initiative.”

The award was named Spark because the awards help “ignite” teachers’ careers.

The Dec. 12 seminar in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room celebrated education students who completed their semester-long student teaching residencies.

“I truly enjoy being part of the Residency II Final Seminar each semester,” Cone said. “This session is a blend of business and celebration, covering essential topics like licensure, first-year experiences and graduate education opportunities while also marking the culmination of our students’ semester-long student teaching residencies.

“As they prepare for their next steps — graduation and leading their own classrooms — it’s a proud and meaningful moment for the students, their teaching supervisors and the College of Education as a whole.”

‘Grateful to be chosen’

Lyric James, one of the Spark Award recipients and a senior early childhood education major, said she was “overly joyful and very grateful, especially being a first-year teacher.”

“I got my keys the week before school, so I came into nothing,” she continued. “I am just very grateful to be chosen.”

James, 22, taught second grade this past semester at Rutherford County’s Rock Springs Elementary and will continue to do so after graduation.

The La Vergne native said she was most excited to buy cubbies for her classroom with this award, so that her students can store their personal items to “give them that clean, open space.”

Regarding her upcoming December graduation, she said she’s excited to “finally be done and be able to give yourself a round of applause. … It’s a weight off your shoulders.”

Natalie Burridge, a senior elementary education major from Fairview, teared up as she received the award. 

“It’s really surreal … I was emotional because I just didn’t expect that. It like means a lot as educators whenever you built yourself up, and no one helped you — it means a lot,” she said. “I’ve never been handed money at all, and so this amount is insane.”

Burridge, 23, completed her second student teaching placement at Williamson County’s Westwood Elementary, and she continues to be a substitute teacher there with hopes to land a full-time position.

She said she’s most excited to buy flexible seating, which is where students have a variety of seating options in the classroom, “because I know I want the younger grades, and flexible seating is so expensive.”

As a fall graduate, she had to pass an exam that assesses future teachers to measure the skills needed to start their careers.

“As soon as I turned in the (exam) and passed, I was like, I can breathe now,” she said. “I just feel very, very happy and, yeah, overjoyed.”

‘First in the region to develop this concept’

The partnership between MTE and the College of Education originated when Sanders approached Robert White, vice president of communications and member services for Middle Tennessee Electric, with the idea of a grant for new teachers.

Sanders’ wife is currently an educator, and White’s wife is a retired educator, so they’ve seen firsthand the financial burden decorating and properly equipping a classroom can cause for recent college grads.

“I want to thank Jay publicly for your vision, for your heart and for your love for educators,” White said. “On behalf of Middle Tennessee Electric, our president and CEO, Chris Jones, our board of directors and the over 540 teammates of mine, we just want you to know that our purpose is to make the lives of our neighbors better.” 

Once he gained MTE’s support, Sanders went to Trisha Murphy, the development director for the College of Education. The duo worked for “more than a year and a half brainstorming what a potential partnership could look like,” Murphy said.

“We discussed the pros and cons of various initiatives, but both of us were particularly inspired by the teachers who use their own money to supply materials and resources for their classrooms and students,” she continued. 

This award is believed to be the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee.

“As we explored how others help fund teachers in establishing their first classrooms, we realized there were no established best-practice program near us,” Murphy said. “To our knowledge, MTE and MTSU College of Education were essentially the first in the region to develop this concept.”

Added Cone: “We deeply appreciate MTE’s commitment to education and their continued support of our community.”

— Maddy Williams (Maddy.Williams@mtsu.edu)