• Award Guidelines and Application Form
• 2007 Award Winners
• 2006 Award Winners
• Scholarship Committee

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Award Guidelines

Purpose
The goal is to financially assist students currently enrolled in a teacher education program with a mathematics specialty. The award is to be used for tuition, books, labs, and fees necessary to fulfill requirements for a BA or BS degree with teacher certification.

Eligibility
Each applicant must be a Michigan resident and currently enrolled at a Michigan college or university in an elementary or secondary teacher education program with a mathematics specialty. Applicants must be a college/university junior or senior in good academic standing by June 1, 2008, with an overall GPA of 3.00 or higher. In addition, secondary education majors must have successfully completed the colleges/university's required calculus sequence, while elementary education majors must have at least mathematics minor. In determining eligibility, applicants enrolled in the final year of a five-year teacher preparation program will be considered a senior. The classification (junior or senior) for an applicant who has earned a degree in another area and has enrolled in a teacher education program will be determined by his/her July 1 status in the teacher education program.

Award
A check for $1,500 will be paid to the scholarship recipient(s) with their school as the second payee. The term of each scholarship is for one year and shall not be renewable.

Requirements - Applicants must submit:

• Completed Miriam Schaefer Scholarship Appliation Form
• Typewritten essay of your personal goals/philosophy related to the teaching of mathematics, not to exceed one page in length,
• List of extracurricular and/or community activities and interests (not to be included in the essay),
• List of extracurricular activities related to teaching or to the support of student learning,
• Transcripts of grades from all colleges and universities you have attended,
• Official statement from current college transcript office verifying anticipated senior status as of June 1, 2008,
• Three (3) letters of recommendation on official letterhead from persons who can best attest to your potential for becoming a teacher of mathematics at the level you plan to teach. This would include, but not be necessarily limited to, persons such as mathematics and mathematics education professors, education/academic advisors, supervisors of classroom field experience, or a supervisor for a job in which you worked with children/students of any level in an educational, teaching, tutoring, or coaching situation.

Application Deadline
Submit the completed Miriam Schaefer Scholarship Application Form in one envelope, postmarked no later than April 1, 2008 to:

MCTM Scholarship Committee
Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics
3300 Washtenaw Avenue, Suite 220
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4294

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2007 Miriam Schaefer Scholarship Recipients

Toni Vellmure - University of Michigan - Dearborn
Toni Vellmure has been defined as a nontraditional student. She is currently a senior at the University of Michigan- Dearborn, having graduated from Grosse Ile High School in 1988. One of her professors indicates that she has "a special personality, and a certain amount of maturity not typically present in more traditional university students" and that she entered college "not immediately on the heels of high school." She is a single mother raising seven children ranging in age from sixteen to seven year old twins. This past winter she volunteered in a pre-algebra classroom at Lincoln Park Middle School, and this summer she will assist college professors in instructing future college students who have difficulty with mathematics through the Bridge program. Now she is finishing her fourth year at the University of Michigan - Dearborn where she is a member of Pi Mu Epsilon and will earn her Bachelors of Sciences in Mathematics, Bachelors of Arts in Economics, a minor in Statistics, and a secondary teaching certificate. She plans to earn a Master's in Mathematics Education and desires to teach high school in the Metro Detroit area.

According to Toni's beliefs, teaching mathematics in high school should incorporate both a deep understanding of the subject matter and a good understanding of the students in the classroom. She feels that teachers need to be prepared, organized, and possess deep understanding of concepts in order to meet the new state content expectations. Toni believes that teachers need to know where their instruction is heading and how each topic will lead into the next. Most importantly, she believes that the teacher is also a learner. She sees herself learning from her students as they learn from her. One professor states that “she is sensitive to individual differences and has an interest in developing learning activities that allow for differentiation among students with different abilities.

Toni also believes that classrooms need the elements of caring and respect. She feels a caring teacher keeps the students believing in themselves. According to two of her professors, Toni has a thoughtful and mature approach to creating effective mathematics lessons and will be a demanding but caring teacher who will be an asset to the profession. In the words of another professor, "Toni will set high but achievable goals for her students, and she will work on cognitive and affective levels to assure the success of her students."

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Amanda Robinson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Amanda Robinson has been defined by one of her professors as one of the strongest elementary education students she has ever had in a math class. She graduated from Lansing Christian School in 2004 and is currently a senior at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Amanda has a teaching philosophy that focuses on engaging students in developing a respect for the usefulness of mathematics. To achieve this philosophy, she feels that skills should be connected with broad concepts and applied to real world situations. She feels that "using student exploration as an instructional method allows students to be active contributors in the classroom, to delve into and take responsibility for their own learning". She encourages divergent thinking through open-ended problem solving and plans to set high expectations for student performance. Her goal is to offer meaningful mathematics instruction to alter students' learned resistance. She feels that students' naturally curiosity fits the framework of using mathematics as a tool for exploration.

One of Amanda's professors states that she is "extremely bright, thoughtful and creative; very organized and conscientious; and quite skilled at working productively in collaboration with others. She (possesses) a combination of focus and sensitivity that at once supports and guides others". In the words of a professor, "Amanda has a powerful command of knowledge related to child development and educational psychology." Another professor indicates that she is "courageous and willing to take risks" and also highlights Amanda's understanding that teaching should be "informed by research and theory as well as practice and has taken the initiative to become an informed educator, specifically in the area of mathematics." One area of interest and research has been investigating inquiry-based methods in mathematics to aid in her development of inquiry-based projects for an independent study course for middle school students.

Amanda, according to her professor, is "passionate about mathematics and is excited about making it come alive for her future students so they understand that mathematics has meaning in their everyday lives." This summer Amanda will be teaching mathematics through inquiry to sixth grade students at MASCOT a camp for advanced students. She is also a member of Kappa Delta Pi at the University of Michigan. She was the only student in her class to join the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Amanda defines her teaching philosophy through the following quote by Daniel Mark Childs: "A truly great teacher is perpetually rocking the boat in the cause of furthering the waves of understanding that flood over the walls of defense and denial built up around young people's thirsty minds."

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Gina Zambo, Aquinas College
Gina Zambo, a 2003 graduate of Gabriel Richard High School, will be graduating from Aquinas College with a Bachelor of Arts with a Learning Disabilities Major and Mathematics minor with Elementary Certification. She chose this combination because she felt that there is a deficit in special education mathematics. Gina indicates that "this is the perfect match because I can apply the multi-sensory techniques I have acquired in my learning disabilities classes to make learning mathematics more tactile and exciting." Her professor states, "Gina has a strong personal commitment to excellence in teaching all children, but especially those with learning disabilities".[She] recognized that children with learning disabilities need mathematics teachers with deep subject matter understanding." Her teaching philosophy stems from three beliefs: all students have the right to learn; teachers should provide respectful, caring environments; and teachers should hold high standards and be dedicated to providing students with a strong educational foundation. Gina was selected as a MathARTS (Mathematics! Algebraic Reasoning for Teachers and Students) scholar. She worked in a 6th grade classroom in both general mathematics and special education mathematics. In addition, Gina is close to completing 300 service hours as a Michigan Service Scholar. One professor states that "Gina has a strong personal commitment to excellence in teaching all children, but especially those with learning disabilities." Another professor indicates that Gina "has unusual maturity and perspective about teaching and knows intuitively how to relate to students and establish an optimal learning environment for all students." He adds, "She takes advantage of every opportunity possible to volunteer and work with students outside of the placements required by the certification program of the School of Education."

One of Gina's main goals is to have her students learn to value mathematics while becoming confident in their abilities. She wants to challenge their minds, but also support them throughout the process. Gina, according to one of her professors, "works for understanding."

Gina quotes Poisson, "I have a passion for math, and I want to instill that passion in my students". Her professor supports this passion by noting that her "concern for students is supported by her strong academic preparation, her work ethic and her contagious love of mathematics." She will have the opportunity to show her love of mathematics this coming fall during her internship at Allen Park Middle School where she will have 6th and 8th grade mathematics classes including some special education mathematics classes.

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Amanda Smith, Central Michigan University
As a future mathematics educator in secondary education, Amanda Smith believes that to be the best instructor possible, she must have an organized, complete plan for optimum instruction, an understanding and commitment to her students, and an enthusiasm for learning. She graduated from Hartford High School in 2004 and is now a senior at Central Michigan University. She strongly believes in the power of self-discovery and tactile learning. She recognizes the fact that students can learn from each other and independently when provided with the tools necessary to succeed. In her words, Amanda says that "my future classroom will be very focused on giving my students the tools to be successful while facilitating their learning as they discover and begin to appreciate mathematics for themselves." One professor indicates that Amanda "was very good at asking the right questions, and she was very good at helping the other group members formulate their ideas." He also indicates that she "enjoys mathematics" and was "ranked first among all secondary mathematics education majors in his class."

One of Amanda's goals is to clarify how students can relate the concepts of mathematics to their current and future lives. Her mid-tier mathematics instructor states that "Amanda did a nice job making subject matter relevant to the interests of her students. She incorporated a variety of teaching styles to coordinate subject matter and learning styles throughout the course of her mid-tier experience." She adds that her "excellent rapport with students", is a strength Amanda also demonstrated.

In addition to her secondary mathematics degree, she is also pursuing an Athletic Coaching Endorsement from Central Michigan University and has been active in several intramural sports. As a commitment to her students, she wants become actively involved in many aspects of the school environment that could include academic advising and coaching.

Amanda has also cultivated an interest in professional development and wants to continue her development in her content area so she will have a stronger base for teaching. Amanda is a member of Kappa Delta Pi where she is the Vice President, Pi Omega Pi and the Student Michigan Education Association. She feels that enthusiasm for the material and the desire to keep learning will help make her the high-quality teacher she wants to be. She looks forward to a teaching career that she describes as exciting, challenging, and rewarding - one where she can "facilitate mathematical growth for her students."

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Bruce Salter, Aquinas College
Bruce is a 2003 graduate from Ionia High School and is a senior at Aquinas College. He is also a newly wed as of July 27th. He plans to incorporate his honeymoon with his presentation on cycloid like curves at the MAA Math Fest in San Jose, California in early August. He says he has always had the desire to be a great teacher, but his understanding of how he will succeed at this has developed since entering Aquinas. His professors truly opened the world of mathematics to him. As one professor states, "He has spent much of his life dreaming about being a high school math teacher, and will not be dissuaded from this dream." Another professor states, "Bruce has many talents with many careers open to him, I am very happy to see Bruce choose to become a teacher" and then adds, "I picture Bruce as a teacher who will continue to grow in his interest, curiosity, and excitement with mathematics." Bruce has plans to continue to be a life long learner so he can acquire more techniques and methods for teaching others.

Bruce has been an active member of the Aquinas College Math Club and is currently the president. As a member, he presented on the mathematics of Spiro graphs. He has also competed in numerous math competitions and has even helped organize practice sessions. His interest in helping others with mathematics has grown through his work as a tutor for the Aquinas College mathematics department. A professor noted that he seems to be a favorite tutor with many Aquinas students because of his mathematical knowledge and his ability to make connections with the students. Bruce supports and is a member of the Ionia Jaycees. His academic excellence is recognized by his membership in Pi Mu Epsilon.

Bruce feels that students learn the most when they are interested in what is being taught. One of his professors describe Bruce's interest in this way, "Bruce is a consistent student and often in class would ask good questions as he probed connections with other areas of mathematics." He wants to create activities and applications that connect the ideas of mathematics and hopes to motivate students to branch out and pursue their own meanings and connections. To reach this goal, he plans to use rich problem-solving techniques. A friend says, "He [Bruce] has a strong ability to dig into a problem and find all sorts of useful ideas." and continues, "His strong intellectual power, his curiosity and his patience makes him a unique package as a prospective teacher."

His greatest hope is to one day teach mathematics so that students gain an understanding of math in the way they see it best.


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2006 Miriam Schaefer Scholarship Recipients

Sarah Bryan
Wayne State University

After graduating from Inter-City Baptist High School, Sarah entered Wayne State University where she is in the 5th year of her program. She will graduate with a Bachelors of Arts in mathematics, a minor in Spanish, and will earn her teacher certification. Sarah chose to pursue a combined degree because she wanted to take as many mathematics classes as possible. She believes that having a strong content base is extremely important for teachers. One of Sarah's employers comments that Sarah has the ability to "pull together from her resources on the spur of the moment" while tutoring and that Sarah reveals a great knowledge of math. Sarah acknowledges that classrooms today are made up of students with different abilities, learning styles, motivations, and interests and hopes to integrate various teaching methods to target those differences. She hopes to help them discover their differences while encouraging them to set goals for themselves. She plans to structure her classroom learning environment to ultimately build confidence in her students' ability to learn and do well in mathematics. Through her tutoring experiences at the Learning Enrichment Center, she has realized that many students do not understand the benefits of mathematics. Because of this, she hopes to connect math to the lives of her students. She feels that the analytical and critical thinking skills developed through mathematics are extremely important and valuable. Aside from mathematics, she has had the opportunity to work with adolescents as a camp counselor and feels that the experiences of working at camp will help her connect to and understand her future students better. Sarah feels that as a new teacher entering the field, she still has much to learn. Therefore, she will take time to review and reflect on the effectiveness of her lessons and will implement the changes she needs.

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Mark Henrion
Northern Michigan University

Mark is a senior at Northern Michigan University majoring in secondary education mathematics with a minor in secondary education physics. He attended Norway High School in Norway, Michigan. While at Norway he played football, basketball, and track and was selected to the Michigan Football's All-State Academic First Team. While at Northern Michigan University, he was an active member in the school community. He was involved in NMU's Student Leader Fellowship Program and was a mentor to an at-risk youth through the Department of Child and Family Services in Marquette, Michigan. He volunteered for Bothwell Middle School's Math Counts program in Marquette and was a volunteer coach for Bothwell Middle School's First LEGO League team sponsored by Northern Michigan University. For the past three semesters he worked as a tutor in Northern Michigan's math tutoring lab. During this time, he took part in the Michigan Autumn Take-Home Challenge. He also attended the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Mathematical Association of America's regional conferences. Mark is currently working as a tutor-counselor at Northern Michigan University's Upward Bound Regional Math and Science program. Mark feels that by working with these students he has had an incredible chance to act as a mentor, supervisor, and friend to these young people. Two years into Mark's education program, he began to understand that teaching is far beyond just knowing the subject matter. He feels that all the content knowledge in the world means nothing if he cannot convey these ideas to his students. He wants to create a class of active thinkers and learners who can reason, set up problems, and perform mental math operations. By constantly giving his classes interesting and unique problems, he hopes to instill all of these qualities in his students. In an effort to make interesting, innovative, and applicable mathematics the cornerstone of his classroom, he will also give his students group projects that allow them to come up with innovative solutions that do not come from a textbook. While establishing himself as an effective and motivated teacher of mathematics, he wants to be a constant, respectful role model for his students. One of Mark's professors views him "as the kind of teacher and role model one would choose for one's own children". Mark is everything we look for in the next generation of mathematics teachers. In addition to teaching mathematics, Mark wants to be an active member of the school community and as a result, hopes to gain a common ground with as many students as possible. He intends to show his students that he cares about them in and out of the classroom. Not only will he care that they learn mathematics, but that they succeed in all walks of life as well.

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Gerard Kwiatkowski
Grand Valley State University

Gerard is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and Spanish with an emphasis in secondary education at Grand Valley State University. He is an alumnus of Hopkins High School class of 2003 in Hopkins, Michigan. Throughout high school and college he has had the opportunity to learn from some amazing teachers that he feels have prepared him well to follow in their footsteps and leave his mark on his students. Gerard is involved in the Latino Student Union at Grand Valley State University and spearheaded a translation effort for some after school family math nights at various Grand Rapids elementary schools. His future career goal is to work in a predominately Spanish-speaking high school teaching mathematics. He has had multiple opportunities to develop his teaching and communication skills through extra curricular programs including Peer Assistance Leadership Students at Hopkins High School, the Mathematics Lab and Upward Bound at Grand Valley State University. One of Gerard's professors comments that his "effort greatly enhanced these events and was a wonderful service to the families of those communities." Gerard feels that one of the greatest rewards of teaching math is the feeling of making a real difference in the student's academics while changing the stigma that mathematics is boring and not for everyone. In his classroom all students will be given the opportunity to excel and this will be accomplished through meaningful teaching methods and assessment. He plans to use a variety of modeling, cooperative learning, guided practice, problem solving, independent practice, as well as individual and group investigations in his lessons. He will focus on conceptual understanding and adaptive reasoning by asking open-ended questions and probing to see if students can relate what they are working on to something else they have seen in the past. Another professor sees Gerard as being "a bright and conscientious student with clear, well-defined goals and the motivational and leadership skills necessary to bring these goals to fruition."

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Mai Bazzi
University of Michigan - Dearborn

Mai graduated from Fordson High School in Dearborn in 2001 and is now a senior at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She transferred from Henry Ford Community College to the University of Michigan in 2004. She is married and has a three year old son. Teaching mathematics has always been a dream of hers. She believes that it is one of her responsibilities as a future teacher to make every student in her classroom recognize that they all have the potential to understand all concepts of mathematics. She feels that effective math teachers do not simply transfer methods for solving math problems; instead they involve the students in the learning process. Her lessons will revolve around student understanding where she will facilitate their learning and help each student understand mathematical concepts in creative and innovative ways. Her plan is to use games such as "Baseball Mathematics" or "Flash Card Challenge" to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division which will make learning meaningful. Her goal as a future teacher of mathematics is to work with the students in deriving their own strategies to solve different mathematical problems. Mai acknowledges that every student learns in ways that are unique and when using their own strategies, they will understand mathematics in ways that makes sense to them. Her classroom environment will be one in which the students will be comfortable sharing their work. She believes that mistakes are avenues for "teachable moments". Mai feels that it is important to include activities in her lessons that are relevant to the students' interests to enable students to see how mathematics is important in our daily lives. She has attained over 75 hours of community service at Riverside Academy in Dearborn tutoring ESL students in math and reading. Mai also tutored family member and neighborhood children in math. An employer of Mai's comments that "the careful attention and patience she displays to her students shows us just how much she really cares about the education these children receive." She has accumulated over 90 hours of community service in Dearborn Public Schools. She also assisted in family fun night at Riverside Academy working with students solving math puzzles and math games. One of Mai's instructors states that "teaching is Mai's passion".

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Amy Brandt
Central Michigan University

Amy is currently attending Central Michigan University and is working toward her Elementary Education certificate with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Reading. She will begin her student teaching in the Fall of 2006. She is a graduate of Plymouth Christian Academy and has dreamed of being a teacher as long as she can remember. Amy wants her future students to explore number in a fun and interactive way. She desires to instill an understanding of the value of mathematics and number in her future students. She plans to accomplish this by incorporating real-life situations and hands-on activities into her classroom to allow students to develop their problem solving and mathematical reasoning skills, while learning to enjoy the discovery of mathematical relationships in a safe environment. She believes that students will be more likely to remember and retain information when they discover it themselves. One of Amy's professors comments that "she is quite knowledgeable about the current state and national standards for teaching and learning mathematics", and she did several pedagogically focused activities including examining the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and reading professional journal articles on the learning and teaching of geometry. Amy is active on campus as a member of the Collegiate Middle Level Association at Central Michigan University and is on the executive team for Campus Crusade for Christ. She has developed her teaching skills outside of the college classroom by substitute teaching, tutoring, and volunteering in local schools. She also values opportunities for further professional development and has attended numerous conferences and seminars including the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning Conference and a pre-service teachers' conference at Central Michigan University. She is excited to join MCTM and learn more about teaching mathematics from other professionals.


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Scholarship Committee

• Darlene Kohrman (Chair)
• Char Beckmann
• Sheila Eisenhauer
• Terri Faitel
• Sue Hollar
• David Johnson
• Rheta Rubenstein
• Ed Silver
• Judy Wheeler

Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 3300 Washtenaw Avenue, Suite 220,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-4200, Phone: 734.477.0421, Fax: 734.677.2270, E-mail: alecia@ucia2.com