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I avitericc
21000 kille!-;t Tell Mile
Sotitlitickl, MI 48075-1058
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ooded hrilier.
THE MUSICAL.
ONE WEEK ONLY!
Fisher Theatre • Nov. 27---Dec. 2
Tickets: Fisher Box Office, ticketmaster.com & 800-982-2787
Info: BroadwayinDetroit.com , 313-872-1000 & JekyllAndHydeMusical.com
Groups (12+): GroupstillroadwayinDetrolt.cont (subject line: Jekyll & Hyde) or 313-871-1132
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28
f3POADWAy DE1 ROIT 2012-2013 SEASON
August 16 = 2012
sponsered 6y
•
Passion For Physics
Major fellowship will help Kate Miller
attain her teaching goal.
Marielle Temkin
JN Intern
0
thy 34 people across the
country were accepted
to the Knowles Science
Teaching Foundation (KSTF) this
year, and Kate Miller of Beverly
Hills is one. The 22-year-old is now
working toward her master's of sci-
ence education at the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The University of Michigan gradu-
ate has a passion for physics and
wants to impart her love of the sub-
ject as a high school physics teacher.
"My love of physics started in high
school," Miller said, "when I realized
the connection between gymnas-
tics and physics." She started doing
gymnastics at age 5 and continued
through her undergrad years. "I'm
very sad I'm not doing it anymore,
but my body is probably pretty
happy with me."
Miller heard of KTSF through one
of her supervising professors at U-M.
"He told me it's a great opportunity
for teachers to get experience," she
said. "What initially drew me to
apply is the financial support KTSF
offers its fellows, but once I learned
more about the program through
reading about it and then through
the interview process, I realized
what a strong community the fellows
have and how incredibly valuable
that is."
The fellows receive financial sup-
port for their tuition and a monthly
stipend while working toward a
teaching credential, in addition to
professional support. The foundation
supports high school teachers and
those working toward their teaching
certificates in the math and science
disciplines.
"One of the requirements to main-
tain the fellowship [of $175,000] for
up to five years is that we teach the
majority of our classes in the disci-
pline we were selected for in a high
school in the United States," Miller
said. "So, I need to teach a majority
of physics classes even though I'll be
certified in math, too.
"All of the support offered by the
foundation has been so inspiration-
al;' Miller said, "and being in a com-
munity of science and math teachers
who have a vision of what education
should be like has been amazing.
Kate Miller
"But getting back into the swing
of things [since July] has been hard
because I took a year off between
undergrad and the KTSF. It's great to
be here, but it's definitely been a lot
to jump into."
She chose Penn, she says, because
"its teacher education program
focuses on social justice in urban
schools, something with which I have
little prior experience, so I thought it
would be the best option for me."
Miller, who grew up attending
Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park, is cur-
rently working at a summer school
and will be assigned to student teach
in two classrooms in the fall — a
physics class and a math class.
"Kate is exactly the kind of indi-
vidual for whom this fellowship was
created," said Dr. Nicole Gillespie,
KSTF director for teaching fellow-
ships. "If we want to improve sci-
ence, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) education and
reverse our nation's abysmal teacher
retention rate, we need to support
excellent STEM teachers like Kate so
that they remain in the profession
to become outstanding teachers and
change agents in education."
Miller has such a passion and
drive for teaching physics because
"physics can ignite an innate curios-
ity about the world that adults lose
over time," she said. "Going through
the curiosity process of why things
work as they do and encouraging
that kind of thought, that's really
what I'm looking forward to bringing
to my classroom." El