Monday, May 23, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
 New fellowship program to fund master's degrees in education

Program gives
students hands on
experiences in state
S secondary schools
By PATRICIA SNIDER
Daily StaffReporter
The University of Michigan is
one of six universities in the state
participating in a new teacher
fellowship program - the W.K.
Kellogg-Woodrow Wilson Michi-
gan Teaching program - that
aims to improve science and math
education in the state by hiring a
diverse set of teachers for urban
and rural classrooms.
Beverly Sanford, spokes-
woman for the Woodrow Wilson
National Fellowship Foundation,
said the 92 program fellows were
selected out of a pool 1,500 appli-
cants. These fellows will receive
a $30,000 educational stipend to
fund an innovative type of mas-
ter's degree in teaching that will
focus on creating a hands-on
experience in exchange for teach-
SOFTBALL
From Page 1
"I was preparing my mid-game
speech," Kentucky coach Rachel
Lawson said about headinginto the
bottom half of the seventh inning.
But Wildcat Megan Aull, the
first batter to face Taylor, sparked
something for Kentucky. She hit a
home run over the right-field wall,
squeezing it just inside the foul
pole to tie the score, 1-1.
Taylor tried to pitch low
against her next few batters to
prevent another long ball, but she
missed the strike zone eight pitch-
es in a row to put two runners on.
A hit-by-pitch followed, loading the
bases for Kentucky with no outs on
the board.
"I'm very impressed with Ken-
tucky," Hutchins said. "We were
going to make them swing if they
were going to beat us."
Rowland must have received
that message.
Taylor rallied back with a
strikeout against pinch hitter Lau-
ren Cumbess, putting new life back
into Alumni Field. But Rowland
- who was 0-2 on the day - con-
nected for a blooper over senior
first baseman Dorian Shaw's head

ing at least three years of math or
science in high-need Michigan
secondary schools.
Sanford said the program was
implemented to recruit strong
candidates from science, tech-
nology, engineering and math
backgrounds, adding that it's
often difficult to recruit people
from these subjects, since there
is more prestige 'associated with
practicing in the fields rather
than teaching the subject in a
classroom.
"There's a shortage of teach-
ers in those fields in Michigan,"
she said. "Especially in rural and
urban schools, it'svery hard to get
people who are well qualified to
commit to those schools ... where
there are a lot of pressures, where
there are not a lot of resources."
According to Sanford, the Uni-
versity was chosen as one of the
schools for the program because
of its strong teacher education
program. Other participating
universities include Eastern
Michigan University, Wayne
State University, Grand Valley
State University, Michigan State
University and Western Michi-
to bring the game-winning run -
and NCAA Super Regional bid - in
for Kentucky.
This will be the Wildcats' first
NCAA Super Regional bid in pro-
gram history.
The game began as a pitcher's
duel, with Riley and Taylor each
not allowing much movement
around the bases. The Wildcats
were able to put two runners on
to threaten the Wolverines, but
Blanchard came up big for Michi-
gan to throw out runners in both
the first and fifth innings.
After the Wolverines' unearned
run put them up 1-0 in the top of
the fourth, sophomore second
baseman Ashley Lane was the only
batter to earn a hit, breaking Riley's
no-hitter in the sixth.
But a lack of base runners, fol-
lowed by a seventh-inning threat
by Kentucky caused the Wolver-
ines' season to come to an unex-
pected halt.
The Wolverines will now say
goodbye to six seniors, including
Shaw and Taylor, whose careers
have made history in the Michigan
softball program.
"We just have to fight every
day," Chidester said after the game.
"You can't take anything for grant-
ed - just got to keep going."

gan University.
Arthur Levine, president of
the Woodrow Wilson National
Fellowship Foundation, said
the main reason the program
was introduced in Michigan is
because of the shortage of math
and science teachers in high-need
districts where student achieve-
ment tends to be lowest.
Levine added that the program
fellows who were ultimately
chosen are highly qualified indi-
viduals with diverse professional
backgrounds, ranging from zoo-
keeper to engineer.
"These people have the capac-
ity to make science very, very
real," Levine said. "If we can
explain to students why mathe-
matics matters, or why you might
study geometry, algebra or calcu-
lus, that's a huge plus."
Dana Linnane, policy commu-
nications manager for the W.F.
Kellogg Foundation, said the
foundation's mission is to support
"vulnerable children" and that
the program is a positive way to
impact Michigan's educational
future in light of recent educa-
tional budget cuts.

"This isn't just a fellowship
program for workforce," she said.
"This is to get high quality teach-
ers in classrooms, to educate kids
in disciplines that they need to
be successful, and that Michigan
needs to be successful... "
Alicia Lane, a University alum
and program fellow, said she
applied for the Fellowship after
working as a civil engineer for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer-
ing and as a volunteer teacher
for ACT and SAT prep,courses
for high schools in Detroit. She
said her experiences in Detroit
made her realize that she enjoyed
teaching.
Lane added that the program
fellows have a wide range of
experiences, and their diversity
contributes to the effectiveness
of the program.
"Diversity is important for any
aspect for anything that you do,"
Lane said. "In an organization,
not only do you need a diversity
of skill, you need to have a diver-
sity of experiences, backgrounds,
origins, nationalities. It only
makes your company, organiza-
tion, your project stronger by

having a variety of tools in your
tool box."
Lane said that she is looking
forward to teaching schools in
high-need areas, though she is
aware that it may not be an easy
feat.
"The ACT and SAT students
that we serve come from all over
the city, and a lot of the times
they are high-need already," Lane
said. "It will be a challenge for
sure, but it's not one that I am
unfamiliar with."
Karen Epstein, a University
alum and Fellow who worked as a
professor for several years, wrote
in an e-mail interview that she
was excited to pursue secondary
education as a career because she
finds the challenge of teaching
high schools students empower-
ing.
"I believe that all schools,
regardless of location, should
provide students with a qual-
ity education," Epstein wrote.
"As a member of society, I can-
not watch this country lose more
children because a poor educa-
tion limits their future options. I
want tobe part of the solution."


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