STEM Education Champions

Bullseye for Schools, typically used in K-12 school districts, allows for capturing, uploading and storing video observations and instantly communicating feedback. LSU is the first university in the nation to partner with the platform for preservice teacher observations.

Allie Boquet, PhD, an assistant professor of professional practice in special education in the LSU Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education, has been awarded the Empowering Future Educators Through Simulation grant from SchoolSims, making LSU the first university in Louisiana to receive this award.

April Chen, PhD, associate professor in the LSU Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education, is making sure transfer students are set up for success on LSU's campus with GEAUX Transfer, a one-semester peer-mentoring program that pairs new transfer students with senior transfer student mentors, fostering a sense of community and belonging among students who may share similar experiences.

Petra A. Robinson, PhD, Interim Director of the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development in the College of Human Sciences & Education, has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant, totaling more than $550,000. Robinson will serve as Principal Investigator (PI) on the multi-year project, joined by Co-Principal Investigators Bethany Hager (Louisana A+ Schools, CHSE) and Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy, PhD (College of Science), with additional support from Golden Richard, PhD, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Director of LSU's Applied Cybersecurity Lab.

Through a partnership with LSU's T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History, Jennifer Baumgartner, PhD, launched the Louisiana Early Childhood Teacher Oral History Project, where education undergraduate students collect stories and oral histories from Louisiana's early childhood teachers. To date, more than 100 interviews with early childhood teachers who work with children from birth to third grade have been conducted, creating an incredible repository of knowledge for current and future teachers, policy makers and early childhood researchers.

Ayala, a second-year doctoral student in the Lutrill and Pearl Payne School of Education, has been named Associate Editor of the National Association of Special Education Teachers' Special Educator e-Journal.

Ellis, associate professor of science/STEM education and associate director of secondary education initiatives in the LSU Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education, received the 2025 UTeach STEM Educators Association's Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for his work with LSU's GeauxTeach STEM teacher preparation program.

To commemorate Workforce Development Month, LSU College of Human Sciences & Education, in partnership with the LSU Olinde Career Center, will host the first-ever CHSE Career Week from September 17-24, 2025.

The Tiger Teacher Pep Rally will take place on September 16, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Huey P. Long Field House Laura F. Lindsay Ballroom with LSU alumna Haleigh Bryant serving as the spirit leader.