Photo caption: Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellows from Georgia State University and Mercer University stand with Gov. Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal on the steps inside the State Capitol.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal honored Georgia State University’s ongoing commitment to close the achievement gap and provide all students with high-quality teachers this week, recognizing the 2018 class of Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellows at the State Capitol.
Twelve students have enrolled this year in Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development as part of the WW Georgia Teaching Fellowship program:
- Samuel Atta-Darkwah
- Bridget Curren
- Steven Eicholtz
- Benjamin Fullerton
- Aneta Galazka
- Bailey Kirk
- Raymond Lam
- Megan Larisch
- Melody Merritt
- Linzi Prpich
- Brady Smith
- Daniel Thornton
The highly competitive fellowship program recruits both recent graduates and career changers with strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to lead classes in the state’s high-need secondary schools.
Each fellow receives $30,000 to complete a specially designed, cutting-edge master’s degree program based on a year-long classroom experience. In return, fellows commit to teach for three years in the urban and rural Georgia schools that most need strong STEM teachers. Throughout the three-year commitment, fellows receive ongoing support and mentoring.
“With this third cohort, Georgia State will have 33 STEM professionals who have committed to enter teacher preparation for the purpose of teaching in high-need schools in Georgia,” said Christine Thomas, program director for the fellowship at Georgia State. “This group of Wilson Fellows have backgrounds in engineering, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, biology and physics, and we are excited to welcome them to the university.”
Through the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship program, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation will contribute to the University System of Georgia’s initiative to produce 20,000 new teachers by 2020. Woodrow Wilson is administering the program, with in-state coordination by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and support from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.
For more information about the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship, visit https://woodrow.org/news/georgia-teaching-fellows-2018.