Mercer University Graduate Named Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellow

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Recent Mercer University graduate Elizabeth Knapper has been named one of 79 Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows. The state's fourth class of Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows was announced Monday at the Ohio Statehouse by the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

Knapper, from Fayetteville, Georgia, majored in math and psychology and received her bachelor's degree from the College of Liberal Arts in May.

She will receive a $30,000 stipend while completing the teacher education program at The Ohio State University, which is one of seven participating Ohio universities.

The Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship recruits top-quality teacher candidates to teach math and science in high-need Ohio schools. The Fellows include both accomplished career changers and outstanding recent college graduates, all with previous science, technology, engineering, math and medicine (STEMM) backgrounds. 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.

The 2014 class of teacher candidates brings to 288 the total number of Fellows named in Ohio since the program's 2010 launch. Program administrators project that the Fellows to date will touch the lives of nearly 30,000 students each year.

“These Fellows are really impressive people, and they are going to receive some of the strongest teaching preparation available,” said Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. “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.”

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, based in Princeton, New Jersey, created the Fellowship and administers the program in five states – Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and Georgia.

Mercer is a partner institution in the Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship, which was announced this past March and will begin in fall 2015.

For more on the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowships, visit http://woodrow.org.

About the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation of Princeton, New Jersey identifies and develops leaders to meet the nation's most critical challenges. In 1945, the Foundation was created to meet the challenge of preparing a new generation of college professors. Today Woodrow Wilson offers a suite of fellowships to address national needs, including the education of teachers and school leaders.