Justin
Payne is the Project Coordinator for “Supporting Teachers,
Supporting Teaching” (ST2), the College of Education's Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant funded by the
U.S. Department of Education. As Coordinator, Justin's main responsibilities
are to keep up a database for the program and work with UIC
faculty CPS teachers and principals to implement the program.
Before coming to UIC, Justin taught middle school science in
the Baltimore County school system in Maryland. In Maryland,
Justin earned his Master of Arts degree in teaching as part
of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Urban
Teacher Education Program (UTE). As part of UTE, Justin also participated in a program called School-to University
(STU).
Born and raised in Ellettsville, Indiana Justin worked as a
Twenty-first Century Scholarship Representative for AmeriCorp
in Bloomington, Indiana. He worked as an assistant director
of an after-school enrichment program, tutoring elementary students,
while pursuing his Bachelor of Arts in sociology at DePauw University.
Justin views ST2 as an opportunity to further his knowledge
about some of urban educations pressing issues. He hopes this
work will better prepare UIC students for the challenges urban
educators encounter daily.
