Champlain College TAP Teacher Earns 2014 Knowles Science Teaching Foundation Fellowship

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Carly Brown

BURLINGTON, VT (08/06/2014)(readMedia)-- Carly Brown, a June 2014 graduate of Champlain College's Teacher Apprenticeship Program (TAP), has received the 2014 Knowles Science Teaching Foundation Teaching Fellowship. She was selected from a pool of more than 180 applicants, and is one of 32 exceptionally talented, early career science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics (STEM) teachers to be awarded a fellowship.

Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) seeks to improve STEM education by building a stable, sustainable cadre of networked leading teachers, who are trained and supported as leaders from the beginning of their careers. The KSTF Teaching Fellows Program-the Foundation's signature program-offers stipends, funds for professional development, grants for teaching materials, and opportunities for leadership development and mentoring for early career STEM teachers through a comprehensive five-year Fellowship.

With an emphasis on inquiry and collaboration, the Teaching Fellows Program empowers participants to advance their teaching practice and student learning, while leading from the classroom.

Brown has committed to teaching science to high school students in the United States and this fall she will begin her first year of teaching at Craftsbury Academy, located in Craftsbury, Vt.

Born in Burlington, Vt., to Amy Huntington and Pat Brown of Williston, Vt., Carly Brown graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Vt. in 2007. She earned a secondary science teaching certificate through the Teacher Apprenticeship Program at Champlain College. Additionally, she earned a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Master of Science in plant biology from the University of Vermont.

Champlain's TAP is designed to attract, support, and develop the most effective teachers and school leaders in the State of Vermont. TAP is accredited by the Vermont Agency of Education and is designed for individuals with a bachelor's degree, strong content knowledge and work experience, who are interested in pursuing a teaching career. TAP is an eight-month full-time internship including coursework and student teaching with a mentor teacher. TAP prepares candidates to become licensed directly through the Vermont Agency of Education, and is part of Champlain College's Online and Continuing Education Division.

Since its inception in 2002, the program has grown to support future teachers and administrators throughout the state of Vermont. Currently over 250 TAP graduates are educating our Vermont students. Over 20 other graduates are teaching in other parts of the United States or overseas. For more information, visit www.tapvt.org or www.champlain.edu/TAP

Applications for 2015 KSTF Teaching Fellowships are now being accepted. Details about the application process can be found at www.kstf.org/apply

Carly Brown's Biography from the KSTF website

As a high school student, Carly loved science. Her interest in the subject led her to earn a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Vermont. After graduating, she spent a year working as an AmeriCorps member. Through her work with the Institute for Applied Ecology as a citizen science coordinator, she brought a native plant and ecosystem restoration curriculum to eight different classrooms. Next, she spent two years in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching biology, physics, chemistry, agriculture and life skills. Upon returning to the States, she earned a Master of Science in the Field Naturalist program at her alma mater.

While completing her graduate studies, Carly interned with The Nature Conservancy, located in North Conway, N.H. During her internship, she evaluated the impact of prescribed fires on insects. She also worked as a lab teaching assistant for various courses involving ecology, biology and botany. Carly has always gained a sense of energy and excitement when discovering something new in science; however, it's been through her experiences with teaching that she realized that her energy and excitement is ten-fold when she's facilitating student discovery.

As a KSTF Teaching Fellow, she expects to gain a strong network of peer teachers with whom she is able to collaborate and learn. She looks forward to bringing new ideas and practices to her school and seeking out professional development opportunities that enhance her classroom.

Carly is passionate about the importance of spending time outdoors and being active. Though life gets busy, she tries to make outdoor adventures a priority: from hiking and climbing, to snorkeling with fishes and taking strolls on local trails.

About KSTF

The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) was established by Janet H. and C. Harry Knowles in 1999 to increase the number of high quality high school science and mathematics teachers and ultimately, improve math and science education in the United States. The KSTF Teaching Fellows Program, the Foundation's signature program, awards exceptional young men and women with five-year early career Fellowships, empowering them to become primary agents of educational improvement. For more information, visit www.kstf.org.

About Champlain College

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers traditional undergraduate and online undergraduate courses, along with online certificate and degree programs and 11 master's degree programs. Champlain offers study abroad programs at its campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2014 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.