Meet the 2011 Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellows
Abrham Alem | San Diego, CA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of California, Santa Barbara, Black Studies, minor in Education
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies
Former Director of Education in the Black Student Union, standing president and co-founder of the East African Student Union, and resident assistant of the Black Scholars Hall; organized a student initiated outreach program mentoring high school students from the inner cities of Los Angeles; fluent in Amharic and Tigrigna.
Aukeem Ballard | Tacoma, WA
• Undergraduate college and major: Lewis & Clark College, Communication, minor in English
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies
Member of the Peer Review Authority, College Honor Board, College Review Board, and Dean search committee; student coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and resident advisor at Lewis & Clark College; also a paralegal intern with the Northwest Justice Project; enjoys conveying the human condition and experience through slam poetry.
Kevin Beckford | Vineland, NJ
• Undergraduate college and major: Yale University, African American Studies, minor in Political Science
• Prospective Certification Area: English or Social Studies/History
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow, and Foreign Language and Areas Studies Fellow at Yale University; also president of the NAACP Chapter at Yale University and assistant to the Yale Intercultural Affairs Council; was formerly employed as a policy research intern for Ugandan Parliament, and plans to volunteer for the United African Alliance Community Center in Arusha, Tanzania, May-June 2011.
Sylvia Boateng | Allentown, PA
• Undergraduate college and major: Swarthmore College, Political Science, minor in African American Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies/History
Richard Rubin Scholar and associate at the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers; interned and mentored with Healthy Youth Peer Education in Allentown, PA; co-Coordinator for Dare 2 Soar at Columbus Elementary School; also co-founded Powerful Young Writers Literary Magazine.
Michael Britt | Ashland, MA
• Undergraduate college and major: Amherst College, Mathematics
• Prospective Certification Area: Mathematics
Institute Scholar for Education Policy for the Institute for Responsible Citizenship at American University; research intern with the U.S. Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions at the Education Policy Office under Senator Edward M. Kennedy; tutored middle and high school students in mathematics, and taught adult courses in preparation for GED testing; summer resident project coordinator and youth counselor for World Impact Oakland, Inc.; also volunteers with the Springfield Homeless Project.
Kristen Bryant | Saylorsburg, PA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Pennsylvania, Urban Studies, minor in African American Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: Elementary Education
Member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Dean’s List student; actively involved with the Lea School as a volunteer for the Philadelphia Freedom Schools; also a committee member and mentor for the Community School Student Partnerships; interned with the Public Defender’s Internship Program in Stroudsburg, PA, and is writing her senior thesis on “Aging Out of the Foster Care System in Philadelphia”.
Kareen Misha Chua | Concord, CA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of California, Santa Barbara, Linguistics, minor in Education
• Prospective Certification Area: English as a Second Language
Dean’s List student; involved in a pre-professional capacity with an English Language Learners classroom, and previously volunteered in an elementary school classroom helping students with math and reading skills; currently employed as a student assistant cataloger in the Special Projects Unit at Davidson Library on campus.
Adrianna Ebron | Baltimore, MD
• Undergraduate college and major: Spelman College, History
• Prospective Certification Area: English or Social Studies/History
Benjamin Gilman Institute for International Education Scholar and Ernestine Baylor-Walker Spelman Institutional Scholarship recipient; has experience as a 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher at Sacramento Country Day School through Breakthrough Sacramento; completed research on contemporary issues of Beijing at the Beijing Foreign Studies University in China.
Matthew Garza | Corpus Christi, TX
• Undergraduate college and major: Brown University, Educational Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies/ History
Received Evelyn Reisman International Teaching and Research Award for summer research in Bamako, Mali on the power of performative traditions to provoke social change; and was awarded an ATT New Media Fellowship to facilitate “problem-posing” and “socially liberating” engagement in the performing and visual arts, to showcase transnational collaboration through multimedia/performance art in West Africa; active with the Breakthrough Collaborative in Texas, Rhode Island, and at the National Office; also taught and interned at M Score English Institute in Seoul, South Korea and taught English in Doumanzana, Mali.
Daniel Gay | Nobleboro, ME
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Southern Maine, Theatre, minor in English Literature
• Prospective Certification Area: Elementary Education
Actively serves as a resident assistant, Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentor, Campus Interactive Theatre Project president and founder, member of the Student Conduct Committee, and member of the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program Advisory Council; enjoys teaching theater to younger children, and used theatrical technique to teach academic content to elementary students through a class called Creative Dramatics.
Graciela Gonzales | Albuquerque, NM
• Undergraduate college and major: Wellesley College, Sociology, minor in Education
• Prospective Certification Area: Elementary Education
Studied urban policy and sustainable development in Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam; researched and analyzed spatial segregation and social mobility in New York, Sao Paulo, Cape Town, and Hanoi; previously a Domestic Policy Council intern at the White House; program coordinator, instructor and Wellesley college volunteer director for Mission Hill After School Program; also trained in modern and classical dance for 15 years .
Paulina Gonzales | Temecula, CA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Pittsburgh, English Literature, minor in History
• Prospective Certification Area: English
Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar; tutors middle-school age resettled Somali-Bantu and Burmese refugees, and serves as business manager for Keep It Real ; also a College After School Team tutor and mentor at Peabody High School.
Jasmine Hendricks | Chicago, IL
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Chicago, Sociology
• Prospective Certification Area: Elementary Education
Studied abroad in Southern Mexico and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in German; serves as a tutor at North Kenwood/Oakland Charter School in Chicago, and previously interned at the Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic through the Summer Links Program.
Gabriela Hernandez | San Francisco, CA
• Undergraduate college and major: Williams College, Art History, minor in African American Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies or Foreign Language
Interned with the Breakthrough Collaborative; tutored at Williamstown Elementary School; acted as class dean, as well as a Spanish and dance teacher for Breakthrough San Francisco UHS; also served as a public relations intern at Williams College Museum of Art, and an artists gallery intern at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Mary Anne Klement | Westbrook, ME
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Southern Maine, English
• Prospective Certification Area: English/Language Arts or Elementary Education
Dean’s List student; volunteers in son’s elementary school classroom; loves books, is fascinated by electronic media, and looks forward to enriching the student experience with these tools; also an active member and 2010 most valuable player of the Maine Roller Derby.
Nathan Kono | Hanover, NH
• Undergraduate college and major: Boston College, Mathematics, minor in music
• Prospective Certification Area: Mathematics
Resident assistant at Boston College for two years; prepared rising seniors for advanced placement Calculus courses at Andover Academy; also served as a substitute math teacher at Hanover High School; worked with the Ailey Camp in Boston – a dance camp for students in impoverished neighborhoods; ran in the Boston Marathon and half-marathon.
Emily Lee | Seattle, WA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Washington, English
• Prospective Certification Area: English/Language Arts
Studied Explorations in Social Justice in Bangalore, India; fluent in Mandarin and conversational in Cantonese; interned at Washington Global Health Alliance, and served as a communications assistant and intern for University of Washington’s (UW) Department of Global Health; an active classroom volunteer and community supporter for Cleveland High School in Seattle, as well as a mentor for the Dream Project – a high school outreach program – at UW in Seattle.
Jessica Mejia | Tucson, AZ
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Arizona, History, minor in Hispanic Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies/History
Student coordinator for the Chicano Hispano Student Affairs and MERITS student coordinator; regular volunteer at Liberty Elementary School, and former Mentor of the Year with Project SOAR; also an avid dancer from ballroom to African style.
Oscar Moreno | Lynwood, CA
• Undergraduate college and major: Williams College, American Studies, minor in Latin American History
• Prospective Certification Area: Mathematics
English tutor for Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain; camp counselor and tutor at Williamstown Youth Center, as well as a tutor for area schools; acted as an interpreter and consultant for Williams College VISTA.
Jalil Muhammad | Rahway, NJ
• Undergraduate college and major: Howard University, History, minor in Secondary Education
• Prospective Certification Area: Social Studies/History
Member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Dean’s List student; law intern with Union County Council, and also interned as a research assistant at Abundant Life Clinic; active Executive Board Member for Rahway Local Organizing Committee; previously tutored at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science, and currently tutors at the Oak Hill Youth Detention Center.
Aliah Singletary | Newark, NJ
• Undergraduate college and major: Montclair State University, Communication
• Prospective Certification Area: English
Interned at the U.S. Senate Office in Newark; volunteered at a Montclair school and also spoke on college day about the importance of an education; actively coordinates soup kitchen events and clothing drives.
James Spears | Zelienople, PA
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Pittsburgh, English Literature, minor in History
• Prospective Certification Area: English
Peer tutor and intern for the University of Pittsburgh Writing Center; undergraduate teaching assistant; recently presented “Sailing in the Sciences: The Trouble Tutors Face When Speaking to Students from Foreign Fields,” at the International Writing Centers Association-National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing conference.
Miriam Tesfamikael | Columbia, MO
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Chicago, Public Policy: Education Reform
• Prospective Certification Area: Elementary Education
Dean’s List student; after school program assistant for elementary school students with the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club, and former assistant for Carter G. Woodson Middle School; Summer Links intern for Chicago International Charter School; community service member for Performing Arts for Effective Civic Education; played varsity women’s basketball for the University of Chicago, and is an active volunteer basketball coach and coordinator for National Coaching Fellows.
Carmelo Torres, Jr. | Elkridge, MD
• Undergraduate college and major: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Art, minor in Art History
• Prospective Certification Area: Art Education
Art instructor at Howard Community College, teaching “manga for students,” Japanese comic drawing and writing; freelance graphic designer and illustrator; served four years in the United States Marine Corps and was awarded the Navy Marine Corps Medal of Heroism for saving a fellow Marine’s life.
Kayla Vinson | Atlanta, GA
• Undergraduate college and major: Yale University, Sociology, minor in African American Studies
• Prospective Certification Area: History
Researched the public school experiences of males of color as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow; also a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar, Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program participant at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a public school intern in New Haven, CT; has also served as an Urban Education Institute Research intern and participated in Children’s Defense Fund Young Adult Leadership Training; a member of the Cornell Women’s Club Soccer Team, and vice president of the Phenomenon Step Team.
