Grand Valley seeks Woodrow Wilson Fellows

Applications are now being accepted for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellows Program at Grand Valley State University. The deadline for applications is January 10, 2012.

The Fellowship Program, aimed at increasing the number of science and mathematics teachers, is open to graduating college seniors, recent graduates and mid-career or second-career professionals with degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) who are interested in teaching in Michigan’s high-need, urban secondary schools.

Each Fellow selected by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Grand Valley State will receive a $30,000 Fellowship in exchange for a three-year commitment to teach in a high-need secondary school. Fifteen Fellows will be selected for admission to each of the June 2012 and 2013 Grand Valley State cohorts.

An informational meeting has been scheduled for:
Wednesday, November 16
5-6 p.m.
Kennedy Hall, room 134
Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Grand Valley State is one of six Michigan universities chosen to participate in this innovative program to prepare science and mathematics secondary teachers. “Grand Valley has developed a unique master’s level certification program that is clinically based in schools and addresses Michigan’s need for outstanding mathematics and science teachers,” said Loretta Konecki, project director for the Woodrow Wilson Fellow program at Grand Valley.

CURRENT FELLOWS
There are 12 Woodrow Wilson Fellows in Grand Valley’s current program.

Anne Heyt gave up her 20-year career as a civil engineer to become a Fellow. She is now in a math classroom at Creston High School in Grand Rapids. “The program is set up in a way that allows cohort Fellows to form a unique bond with each other and university staff, which has given me a sense of community that I never had in my previous work or college experiences,” said Heyt. “I hope I will become the type of teacher who can make a difference in the lives of students.”

Robert Slider, who has experience researching the impacts of climate change on plants as part of an international study, left his studies as an arctic ecologist, for his fellowship. Slider is at Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids. “Being placed in a cohort of professional, well-rounded, and highly motivated individuals has kept me excited about this opportunity,” said Slider. “Each person brings in something different and it seems like I pick up a new skill or piece of information with each class we hold together.”

The ten additional Fellows are at Central High School and C. A. Frost Middle School in Grand Rapids, Muskegon High School and Bunker Middle School in Muskegon. Godfrey-Lee has three Fellows placed in the Godfrey Middle and High School.

To arrange interviews with current Fellows, contact Loretta Konecki at (616) 331-6652. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/teachingfellowship.