In all but a handful of states, a semester of full-time, unpaid student teaching remains a prerequisite to becoming a licensed educator. A new University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) scholarship is helping to mitigate this barrier.
Denise and Larry Nord established the UMD Student Teacher Scholarship in 2025. It has already provided financial support to 10 student teachers during their placements this year.
The community-minded couple had lengthy and successful careers in Duluth. Larry practiced family law and later became an expert mediator and mediation trainer. Denise served as a kindergarten teacher for Stowe Elementary School in Gary-New Duluth, where she saw firsthand the pressures facing the next generation of teachers.
In her 30-year career as an educator, Denise supervised countless student teachers. She vividly recalls one student’s experience. “It was so hard for her. She hardly had any time to sleep because she had to work evenings and weekends to make ends meet. That student is the one that I kept thinking about from the very beginning when we started talking about this scholarship.”
Investing in educators
Aria Hanson is a full-time student teacher in the integrated elementary and special education program. She’s currently student teaching at Piedmont Elementary in Duluth and hopes to find a position at a local school once she graduates.
The scholarship has been instrumental for Hanson, who has been juggling student teaching, part-time work, and her commitment to the UMD tennis team. “I feel honored and grateful to have received this scholarship, as it has allowed me to have a better work-life balance,” she says. “It has also allowed me to focus on my student teaching and reduce financial stress.”
Helping students find that balance has significant ripple effects, according to Denise. “If the student teachers can be healthier, mentally and physically, by having their financial burden lessened, then that will make them better teachers.”
Hanson appreciates that the scholarship recognizes the immense effort student teachers put in during their final 14 weeks in a classroom. “Student teaching is very challenging but also rewarding,” Hanson says. “Scholarships like these allow student teachers to focus on their student teaching while also earning something for all of the hard work and time that they put into it.”
To qualify for the Student Teaching Scholarship, students must be enrolled full-time at UMD in a teacher licensure program in one of three areas: integrated elementary and special education; secondary teaching education; or early childhood education. Students who demonstrate financial need are prioritized.
Larry suggests there is an opportunity to grow the scholarship fund in the future: “There may be more people who will contribute. We may contribute more over time.”
Denise agrees, “We are hoping this article will be a spark for somebody who is reading and thinking, 'Oh, we can be a part of that!’”
Make a difference for a student teacher by contributing to the UMD Student Teaching Scholarship.