Education grad students receive national summer fellowships

Four graduate students in the College of Education’s Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education have received summer fellowships to participate in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s prestigious Teacher Seminar Program.

The award recipients are Lia Smith (M.A.T., secondary English), Gabriel Piza (M.A.T., middle grades science), Alicia Reid (Ph.D., curriculum and instruction) and Kathryn Wagner (Ph.D., curriculum and instruction); they are full-time teachers in Gaston County and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. The students were mentored through the grant application process as part of a teacher leadership capstone course.

The fellows will each attend a summer seminar at NYU, UCLA or Columbia University.

According to Associate Professor Spencer Salas, “Our coursework focuses not only on the 16 class meetings per semester but also on how those meeting might create a platform for lifelong learning. My colleagues and I are excited for our degree candidates and the achievement this national fellowship represents for them and our regional partners.”

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education. The institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Organization of American Historians.