LEXINGTON, Ky.— Transylvania grad Emmie Wyatt ’14 has been awarded a fellowship that aims to place the brightest teachers in high-need schools.
Wyatt, who was named a 2014 Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellow, plans to attend the University of Cincinnati this fall. The Alexandria, Ky., native will receive a $30,000 stipend for an intensive master’s degree program.
The fellowship helps further the education of teachers with experience in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Wyatt, who majored in math and Spanish at Transylvania, has been a math tutor, a volunteer at an inner-city grade school and a lead campus admissions ambassador.
“This opportunity has allowed me to further my education, not only through higher education but also through my students,” Wyatt said. “I am so excited. I hope I can make a difference in at least one of my students’ lives—as much as my Transy professors had on mine.”
The fellowship participants commit to teach for three years in an Ohio school with a particular need for quality teachers.
The New Jersey-based Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation also administers the program in Indiana, Michigan, Georgia and New Jersey. Wyatt is one of 79 Ohio Fellows this year.
“The Fellows include both accomplished career changers and outstanding recent college graduates, all with previous STEM backgrounds,” according to the foundation. “They complete a rigorous master’s program that includes a full year of practical experience in local classrooms, then commit to teach for three years with ongoing mentoring and support.”
Fellowship president Arthur Levine said: “These Fellows are really impressive people, and they are going to receive some of the strongest teaching preparation available. The campuses and districts working with them are creating new models of teacher education. So not only will this year’s Fellows change countless lives, they are also part of an effort to change the way teachers nationwide learn to help their students succeed.”
Wyatt said she will pass on what she has learned at Transylvania, sparking students’ excitement in math. “The staff and faculty at Transy helped me develop a stronger confidence in myself and pushed me out of my comfort zone to participate in new experiences,” she said. “I believe I will be prepared no matter what comes my way, especially once I begin student teaching this fall.”