Paola Sztajn and Russell May

DONOR LEGACY Paola Sztajn and Russell May

In honor of their children Joe and Clara May

Paola Sztajn and Russell May are educators and created the Joe and Clara May Scholarship in honor of their children. Paola is a teacher educator and a professor in NC State’s College of Education and also works with the Provost’s Office. She grew up in Brazil, the granddaughter of
immigrants. Russell is a high school teacher in North Carolina’s Wake County Public Schools, and he is originally from a small coal town in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky.

Joe and Clara were born in Brazil and grew up in the United States, bringing a quite diverse cultural mix to their schooling experiences. Having parents who are educators and could advocate for them, Joe and Clara were able to navigate schools in ways that other kids like them — immigrants, Latinx, from historically underdeveloped regions of the country — cannot always do. The goal of the Joe and Clara May Scholarship, therefore, is to encourage the preparation of a more diverse teaching workforce, so that all children can see and experience teachers who look like them, who sound like them and who share and respect life experiences like theirs, increasing their educational success.