The fellowship is designed to meet the needs of beginning teachers from the onset of the credentialing process through the critical early years of their careers.
AUSTIN, Texas—Lindsay McDowell, a recent graduate of the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, has won a five-year, $175,000 teaching fellowship from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation.
McDowell, who received her bachelor’s of science in mathematics, is one of 34 teachers and soon-to-be teachers of biology, physical science and mathematics to be selected for the 2012 cohort of Teaching Fellows.
“I was ecstatic when I found out I’d been awarded the fellowship,” says McDowell, a native of Seabrook, Texas. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but to have this kind of support, and to be welcomed into this community of people committed to teaching, is amazing.”
McDowell came to college intent on becoming an actuary. She realized she wanted to be a teacher after taking a job as a tutor, and began applying to master’s programs in education during her final year in college.
“The thing I love about teaching is when students don’t understand something and you help them get it,” she says. “Actually, the best part is when they connect the dots on their own.”
During the first year of the fellowship, McDowell will be earning her master’s degree in education at Stanford University. While she completes her degree and certification, she will receive tuition assistance, monthly stipends, and financial support for professional development and leadership training.
When she begins teaching high school mathematics in the fall of 2013 she’ll receive stipends, money for classroom materials, further professional development, and funded training with a mentor teacher. As long as McDowell continues teaching the support will continue through the full five years.
The program is explicitly designed to meet the needs of beginning teachers from the onset of the credentialing process through the critical early years of their careers, when talented STEM teachers are in the greatest danger of leaving the field.
The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) was established by Janet H. and C. Harry Knowles in 1999 to increase the number of high quality high school science and mathematics teachers and ultimately, improve math and science education in the United States.
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