Anna Dowd of Elk Grove, Illinois, who graduated from Hope College in May, has been named one of only 16 Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Teaching Fellows for 2017.
The highly competitive program recruits both recent graduates and career changers with strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the STEM fields — and prepares them specifically to teach in high-need secondary schools. The program is offered at five New Jersey universities: the College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, Rowan University, Rutgers University–Camden, and William Paterson University.
Dowd majored in chemistry at Hope, where her activities included participating in summer research. She will attend William Paterson University.
The Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship focuses on preparing top-quality educators for many of New Jersey’s most underserved public schools. Each Fellow receives $30,000 to complete a specially designed, cutting-edge master’s degree program based on a yearlong classroom experience. In return, Fellows commit to teach for three years in the urban and rural New Jersey schools that most need strong STEM teachers. Throughout the three-year commitment, Fellows receive ongoing support and mentoring.
“To succeed in the future, every New Jersey child needs a strong STEM education, and that education is the result of exemplary teachers leading our classrooms,” said Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. “The New Jersey Teaching Fellowship program ensures the Garden State’s high-need secondary schools have access to the teachers they need, both today and tomorrow, while providing the next generation of STEM teachers with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to succeed in the classroom from day one.”
The Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Teaching Fellowship is funded through the generous support of donors such as the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, M. Brian and Sandy Maher, Overdeck Family Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PSEG Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Schumann Fund for New Jersey, Educational Testing Service, William E. Simon Foundation, Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association, and Jennifer A. Chalsty, with additional funding from a number of other foundations and philanthropists.
This is the fourth year of the New Jersey program. Before the first class of Fellows was announced in 2014, the five selected universities spent more than a year tailoring their teacher preparation programs to meet the Fellowship’s standards for intensive clinical work and rigorous related coursework. As part of the effort, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation partners with a wide range of school districts across the state.
The Woodrow Wilson New Jersey Teaching Fellowship is funded through the generous support of donors such as the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, M. Brian and Sandy Maher, Overdeck Family Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PSEG Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Schumann Fund for New Jersey, Educational Testing Service, William E. Simon Foundation, Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association, and Jennifer A. Chalsty, with additional funding from a number of other foundations and philanthropists.
Founded in 1945, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation identifies and develops the nation’s best minds to meet its most critical challenges. The Foundation supports its Fellows as the next generation of leaders shaping American society. New Jersey is one of five states offering the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship program, along with Georgia, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.