Graduate earns competitive fellowship to teach in high-need schools

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Ryan McGuire

Mercer University alumnus Ryan McGuire was recently named to the second class of Woodrow Wilson Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows, a highly competitive program that recruits recent graduates and career changers with strong backgrounds in the STEM fields and prepares them to teach in high-need secondary schools.

McGuire, from Kennesaw, is set to begin a master’s degree program in education at the University of West Chester this fall. He earned his bachelor’s degree, with a major in chemistry and minors in biology and economics, from Mercer in May.

“The opportunity to be a Woodrow Wilson Pennsylvania Teaching Fellow is extremely exciting,” said McGuire. “Teaching has always interested me, and there are so many things that I wish to be able to do for future students. Not only do I hope to educate students on the academic aspects of life, but I also hope to be able to help students learn about all of the different aspects of life. One of the biggest things that I am hoping to learn from the fellowship is how to be supportive to any student. Everyone goes home to different situations, and I am just hoping to be a constant source of support in someone’s life who may not feel supported regularly.”

McGuire is among 28 individuals in the second cohort of Woodrow Wilson Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows who will begin master’s degree programs at Duquesne University, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and West Chester University.

Each Fellow receives $32,000 to complete a specially designed, cutting-edge master’s program based on a yearlong clinical experience — including schools’ current remote and virtual learning arrangements. In return, Fellows commit to teach for three years in high-need Pennsylvania schools.

Continue reading about Ryan McGuire and the fellowship at news.mercer.edu.