COLLEGE PARK, MD (June, 2015) Two recent graduates of the College of Education, Allison Kipping (B.S. 15) and Jerick Wilson (M.Ed. 14), are the recipients of fellowships from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF).
The KSTF Teaching Fellows Program, the Foundations signature program, awards exceptional teachers with five-year, early-career fellowships, empowering them to become primary agents of educational improvement. These teachers reach thousands of students each year, taking on leadership roles to improve STEM education and strengthen the teaching profession..
KSTF Fellows benefit from one of the most generous and comprehensive professional development programs for science and mathematics teachers. They receive stipends, funding for professional development, grants for teaching materials, and leadership and mentoring opportunities within a close, collaborative community of colleagues.
The fellowships are awarded based on three criteria: the potential to develop the content knowledge needed for teaching, the potential to develop exemplary teaching practices, and the potential to develop the qualities of a teacher leader. Applicants must demonstrate their ability to develop in each of these areas in order to be selected. Once selected, Teaching Fellows focus on growth in these areas over the three phases of the program.
Last year, Ms. Kipping, a double major in Secondary Science Education and Chemistry, was one of five students in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership to join NASA's K-12 STEM Educator Program. Sponsored by the District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium, that program prepares K-12 STEM teachers through hands-on projects at the Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, as well as teaching experiences at the National Air and Space Museum and in D.C. public schools. This fall, she will begin teaching chemistry and physics at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Maryland.
Mr. Wilson matriculated through the MCERT program in Secondary Science Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership. He teaches Physics 1 and AP Physics 1 to students in 10th through 12th grades at T.C. Williams High School in the Alexandria City Public Schools. He also sponsors the Ultimate Frisbee Club and the schools chapter of Students Opposing Slavery, an organization based at President Lincolns Cottage in Washington, D.C., which seeks to raise awareness of human trafficking and empower youth leaders in the anti-trafficking movement.
Click here to learn more about KSTF Teaching Fellowships.
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