Lindsey Brooks, left, and Leigh Stevenson work in a Cooper Science lab at Ball State University on Thursday. / Corey Ohlenkamp/The Star Press
Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellows
Ten fellows are attending Ball State University, including:
• Kevin Shane, Albany, undergraduate degree in physics from Utah Valley University, 2012; master’s degree in physics, BSU, 2014; has been an undergrad researcher, lab instructor and tutor; taught open enrollment English classes in Ukraine.
• Leah Perry, Anderson, undergraduate degree in biology from Ball State University, 2010; master’s degree in biology from Southeast Missouri State University, 2012; has been a teaching assistant, an interpretive naturalist at Mound State Park, a USDA inspector, a veterinary assistant, a zoo farm keeper.
• Michael Knost, Chesterfield, undergraduate degree in biology from Ball State University, 2013; has been a lab research assistant, youth pastor, retail store manager, substitute teacher.
Source: Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
MUNCIE— Leigh Stevenson and Lindsey Brooks are among 45 college graduates and career changers being trained throughout Indiana this summer to teach science and math at some of the state’s highest-need high schools and middle schools.
They understand it will be a challenge.
“With chemistry, a lot of the concepts are abstract,” says Stevenson, a New Castle High School graduate who earned a biochemistry degree from Ball State University this year. “You’re learning about atoms, which you can’t see, and there’s a lot of math thrown in.”
Brooks, a Wapahani High School graduate who earned a biology degree from Ball State in 2009, says, “Let’s be honest; students typically are not interested whatsoever in any science or technology field. The topic of genetics is typically taught with fruit flies and peas. Students are just sitting in class not relating to it.”
Forty-five Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows are attending specially designed, cutting-edge master’s degree programs at Ball State, IUPUI, Purdue University, the University of Indianapolis and Valparaiso University. Ten of the 45 are at BSU.
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