Waukesha native lands teaching fellowship
The daughter of a teacher and a school board member, Kaitlyn O’Bryan of Waukesha has been awarded a fellowship from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation worth $175,000 over five years.
The foundation awarded fellowships to 34 beginning teachers in 19 states. The fellowship program is aimed at those who are on the verge of their teaching certificate. The goal is to help new teachers get established in the profession, while also limiting the number of people who leave the field. As a result, the fellowship represents a commitment by O’Bryan to teaching math once she finishes her teacher preparation course work at the University of Minnesota
“The world needs more collaborative problem solvers,” O’Bryan said.
O’Bryan said the fellowship will provide tuition support, opportunities for professional development and grants for teaching materials.
As an undergraduate at Gustavus Adolphus College, O’Bryan majored in math and studio art. She acknowledges the combination could seem a bit odd at first.
“It really comes down to problem solving,” she said, “whether it’s numerical in math or visual in art.”
After she finishes graduate school, O’Bryan isn’t sure where her next step will take her. She said she loves the Midwest, but doesn’t know if she will end up in Minnesota or her home state of Wisconsin.
However, O’Bryan is sure that teaching is what she wants to do. After spending a year and a half as a business analyst, she realized that teaching math was her greatest passion and the greatest need for her skills.
O'Bryan's mother, Linda, is a principal in the Muskego-Norway School District, and her father, Kurt, served on the Waukesha School Board.
Kaitlyn O'Bryan
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