Local Student Wins Grant to Teach in the Gambia

ST. MARY'S CITY, MD (05/25/2012)(readMedia)-- Kelly Stoeckle, a Newtown native and recent St. Mary's College of Maryland graduate, was awarded a grant from the H. Thomas Waring World Fund. The endowed fund was founded to support teacher education initiatives in the Gambia, and is particularly meant to support student-teacher interns in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Stoeckle graduated from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 2011 with a psychology major and educational studies minor, then completed the College's MAT program in 2012. She looks forward to teaching at the elementary school level during her year in the Gambia and upon her return.

"While in the Gambia, I plan to give as much as I can to the young children I will be teaching. I hope to bring just as much knowledge and wisdom back home with me to apply to my teaching here [in the United States]," says Stoeckle. "I love being abroad and am very much looking forward to my upcoming trip to the Gambia."

The H. Thomas Waring World Fund enrolls its recipients in St. Mary's College's PEACE program with the University of the Gambia, helping to enable MAT candidates to develop their skills while improving teacher training in the Gambia and fostering a mutually beneficial College-University partnership.

St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. More than 2,000 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland.