Building Opportunities for Nurturing Aspiring STEM Teachers (BONAS Teach) Program

The BONAS-Teach program aims to recruit, prepare, and support aspiring teachers in STEM (science, Pictured_NSF logo_

technology, engineering, and mathematics). Scholars will receive comprehensive financial assistance during their junior and senior year at St. Bonaventure. Scholars receive funding to cover their unmet educational expenses, enabling them to focus on becoming future educators.

BONAS-Teach scholars will have access to unique professional development, teaching, and research opportunities. BONAS-Teach scholars will also be set up with a long-term mentorship experience with St. Bonaventure alumni that will be facilitated in their first year as a scholar and continue through their first years as a new teacher.

As one of the requirements for this scholarship, BONAS-Teach scholars must work for at least two years for each year of scholarship received in a high-need school district.

The BONAS-Teach program was designed to help alleviate the critical shortage of STEM teachers in high-needs school districts, particularly in rural areas and is supported by a $953,000 grant from the National Science Foundation as part of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.

Program eligibility

How to apply

To qualify for the BONAS-Teach program, scholars must:

Be a current U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident.
Be enrolled as a rising junior STEM-Adolescence Education major (biology, chemistry, math, or physics) or Computer Science Education major at SBU.
Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, with no grades in your major course of study lower than a “C”.

As part of the application, students will need to provide:

an unofficial transcript
an academic plan of study for junior and senior years
a current resume
a personal statement
two letters of recommendation

Additionally, students will need to have submitted and completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before applying.

For transfer students: Students interested in applying that are transferring from Jamestown Community College (JCC) or another institution will additionally need to provide proof of acceptance to St. Bonaventure. We also recommend that students meet with an academic advisor in Education and their STEM area from SBU before applying for the scholarship to develop an academic plan of study.

Applications open on Dec. 15, 2025.
The 'Apply Now' button will appear here then.

Program benefits

Scholarship money to cover the cost of attendance.
- Scholarship amount varies based on unmet need.
- Noyce Scholarship plus other grants, scholarships, and awards may not exceed the cost of attendance.
Extracurricular opportunities that provide peer support, professional development, and cultural competency, including:
- Opportunities for teaching, outreach, and leadership leading a weeklong STEM summer camp for local middle school students.
  - Includes stipend and housing.
- Opportunities for professional development, outreach, and leadership as part of the STEM educators club.
- Workshops and activities to enhance cultural competency.
- Summer research opportunities with STEM faculty in your field of study.
  - Includes stipend.
- Financial support for attendance at local and regional conferences.
Opportunities to foster connections and relationships.
- Scholars will be set up with a long-term teacher mentor, drawn from SBU-trained STEM-education alumni, that will support the scholar from student teaching through their first teaching jobs.
- Connect with other BONAS-Teach scholars and BONAS-Teach alumni through a fall semester orientation and spring semester scholars showcase.

Scholarship requirements

BONAS-Teach scholars are required to work in a high-need school district for two years for each year of the scholarship received. This must be fulfilled within eight years after graduating.
- If graduates do not satisfy this teaching requirement within eight years, the scholarship amount will be converted into a loan in accordance with NSF policies.

Additional expectations for BONAS-Teach scholars

Participation in at least one BONAS-Teach scholar summer activity (STEM summer camp or Summer Research Experience).
Participation in the fall and spring BONAS-Teach scholar events.
Engagement with teacher mentor.
Provide feedback on professional growth and development during and after program completion.

Principal Investigator
Dr. Kaitlyn Dykstra
Associate Professor & Chair, Biology
School of Arts & Sciences
kdykstra@sbu.edu

Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Adam Brown
Professor, Elementary Education
School of Education
abrown@sbu.edu

Dean, School of Education
Dr. René Hauser
Associate Professor & Dean
School of Education
rhauser@sbu.edu

Dean, School of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Erin Sadlack
Professor, English & Dean
School of Arts & Sciences
esadlack@sbu.edu

STEM Faculty Advisory Board
Dr. Johanna Schwingel, Associate Professor, Biology
Dr. Alexander Rupprecht, Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Dr. James Pientka, Professor, Physics
Dr. Christine Uhl, Associate Professor, Mathematics
Dr. Chris Bopp, Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Jamestown Community College Team Members
Ms. Amber Kautzman
Interim Dean of Math & Sciences, JCC
amberkautzman@mail.sunyjcc.edu

Dr. Renee Funke
Professor, Teacher Education, JCC
reneefunke@mail.sunyjcc.edu

The term "high-need local educational agency (or high-need LEA)", as defined in section 201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021), means a U.S. local educational agency (e.g., school district) that has at least one school that:

meets at least one of the following criteria:
1. Not less than 20% of the children served by the agency are from low-income families;
2. serves at least 10,000 children from low-income families;
3. is eligible for funding under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program under 20 U.S.C. 7345(b); or
4. is eligible for funding under the Rural and Low-Income School Program under 20 U.S.C. 7351(b);
meets at least one of the following criteria:
1. has a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to teach; or
2. has a high teacher turnover rate or a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensure.

As of 2018, there were over 60 high need school districts in the counties surrounding St. Bonaventure (Cattaraugus, Erie, Allegany, Wyoming and Chautauqua).