The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation awarded the second cohort of Mathematics Teaching Fellowships in March 2006. For more information about our fellows, click on a picture.

Kathleen Brumley			Thomas Greene	Danny Hahn
Alex Joujan			Nicole Pack	Conswela Riddick
Jessica Rychlik			Brian Swanagan	Jim Town
Alison Wellings

Photos on this page by Yischon Liaw, 1000 Views Studios

Kathleen Brumley

I was born in Iowa, but grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, mathematics was always my favorite subject. My favorite teachers made classes interesting by bringing their previous industry and/or engineering experience into their classrooms. One teacher piqued my interest in electrical engineering because of the field's heavy dependence on mathematics.

As a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans, I was unsure of whether I wanted to study electrical engineering, technical theatre, or "something else." After many discussions with family and friends, I finally transferred out of Newcomb College, the women's liberal arts and sciences school, into the School of Engineering. I am saddened to say that after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane restructured and eliminated my major of electrical engineering, the entire School of Engineering, and Newcomb College.

I noticed many sharp contrasts between life in Denver and New Orleans. In the suburbs of Denver, I did not notice extensive racial or economic struggles and everyone I knew went to public schools. I was excited by New Orleans' significant racial diversity, dismayed by the amount of poverty, and appalled by an environment where anyone who could send their children to private schools rather than using the public education system did so. This is when I first became aware of how education relates to issues of social justice.

Upon graduating from Tulane Engineering College in 2001, I started work at the medical device company St. Jude Medical (SJM). During my four years of employment there, I slowly realized that I enjoyed the technical side of my work much less than I enjoyed working with others-explaining, learning, and problem solving together.

During this time I volunteered at a local shelter and started exploring my faith through Bible study groups at two churches. I saw the effects of social inequities on the lives of youth and adults at the shelter. I felt called to work actively in my community to promote social equity, something that I could not do as effectively as I wished through part-time volunteer work. Though I enjoyed working at SJM, I eventually decided that through teaching I could have the most significant and meaningful impact on the lives of others and on society in general.

In 2006 I earned my master's degree in education and mathematics teaching credential from the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP). There, my views on social issues were explored, broadened, challenged, and refined. In fall 2006 I will start teaching at East Palo Alto High School, a small charter school serving low-income, inner-city youth. Through a combination of my engineering background, my experience at STEP, and the support from KSTF, I hope to give my students what they need to succeed in life.

Thomas Greene

For the last 23 years I have, as the young kids say, "rocked the house." I was born in Denver, Colorado, weighting a whopping 12 pounds, much to the chagrin of my mother and the delight of Gerber. I dallied away elementary summer days playing wall-ball and ambushing girls with water balloons, while applying myself to school-year ambushing of girls with affectionate chases. Middle school was a cultural renaissance of band, theater, Capri sun juice drinks, and Coolio. I also evolved into ambushing girls with ill composed odes.

In secondary school I developed a true interest in school. In particular, a few good teachers drew me to English, biology and mathematics. I was astounded by how much fun school could be and how much I did not know (but don't worry, young readers, because I now know everything).

College began with misplaced business aspirations. I switched over to mathematics and English, not sure to what I could apply my degrees, but finding satisfaction in each. I met life-long friends and developed a culinary forte with which to woo the women. I graduated, much to the joy of my mother, and matriculated in the University of Washington's applied mathematics graduate program.

However, my graduate experience lacked the launch, the connection. Everyone's felt the connection: when you walk down the street and the colors look brighter, the air smells crisper and you feel, down in your belly, a surge of life. I found that connection in my TA classes. I loved teaching. It is the single most fulfilling activity I've ever undertaken-a big fatty of challenge, fellowship, and fun. This interest brought me to investigate teaching programs, which lead to the Knowles Foundation, and gratefully to this bio. I am currently pursuing my teaching license at the University of Colorado at Denver.

I want to thank my parents for their never ending support, Mr. and Ms. Knowles for their generosity, and Tess Federer, for hanging in with me through all those pancakes.

Danny Hahn

The Usual Suspects is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, this is just going to ruin everything for you, so you should probably stop reading this, go rent the movie, watch it, and then come back and keep reading so that you know what I'm talking about. But really, it's great. Through the whole movie, you're there, listening to this guy's stories, right in front of the truth, and maybe you have these sneaking suspicions that something isn't right, but you don't really see it. Then at the end, the epiphany happens, everything comes together, and you're sitting there thinking to yourself, "How did I not see that?!"

My life has been kind of like that. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, a chemical engineering major with no real love for chemical engineering. Sure, it could be interesting at times; I always loved the way that math and chemistry had a knack for working out, for being justifiable and interconnected. I also loved logical progression and being able to quantify my reasoning. But all through college, what I really loved was visiting my youth group back home over breaks, serving as a camp counselor, and building relationships with young people. I had also dabbled in summer positions as a lab assistant, and found myself wondering how something so technical could hope to hold my interest in the long run.

So there I was on the day of my graduation, with no plan, no job, and (of course, worst of all) no money, ready to ship myself back home to Southern California and join the legions of 20-somethings that are realizing that a college degree doesn't always equate to being an functional, independent adult. That was when one of my friends who worked as a teacher came up to me and told me that a math position had opened up in her middle school. I was fairly confident that I had mastered multiplying decimals and reducing fractions (turns out that engineering education was worth something), so all I had to do was convince the school that I could be trusted with their children.

That was how I ended up teaching 6th and 7th grade math at the Shipley School in the suburbs of Philadelphia. What caught me by surprise was how much I enjoyed it. There were days that I found myself thinking, "I can't believe I get paid for this!" as I was having the time of my life jumping between classes, relating with students, and investing in people. Realizing that this was something I wanted to spend my life doing, I applied to the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Looking back, I can see all the little ways that my personal path was pointing toward a life in education. I feel so blessed to be where I am, headed towards a profession that I have, even in a short time, grown to love. My sincere hope is just that I can offer my students my very best.

Alex Joujan

My life began in Zambia (in southern Africa) where I spent half of a decade roaming around and developing a healthy dose of curiosity. When I was five years old, we moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, after I lost my dad in a car accident, in order to be close to my mom's side of the family. Throughout my childhood in Chattanooga, I grew to admire and emulate my mom, who modeled for me hope, perseverance, and Christian faith as she raised four children on her own. In 2000, after being a widow for 12 years, my mom married a wonderful man from New England and moved to New Hampshire. At that point, since I was 17, I decided to stay in Chattanooga to finish high school. I discovered something interesting during my senior year of high school as I looked back on my semi-nomadic life up to that point. Since I was unofficially a resident of New Hampshire, and I also had duel citizenship with Canada and the United States, I realized that I am sort of an African American Southern Canadian Yankee. Interesting... You do the math.

Nicole Pack

I grew up in Chico, a small city in northern California, and attended Pleasant Valley High School, where I enjoyed and excelled in my mathematics classes. I was always more of a “math person,” better at dealing with numbers and puzzles than with reading and writing. I enjoyed that math had concrete answers but also room for creativity in the many ways you came to your solution.    

When I decided to move to San Luis Obispo to attend the California Polytechnic State University, I knew that I wanted to enter a major where I would get to use and improve my math skills. I decided to begin as a general engineering major, eventually switching to industrial engineering. My undergraduate courses were stimulating and fun, with many mathematical undertones and foundations. I found that the courses I enjoyed the most were the operations research courses or any where I had a chance to apply my math skills. I equally enjoyed the mathematics support courses.   

 I did a number of internships over the summers to gain work experience in industrial engineering. However, there was something missing from this preview of my daily life that I was not ready to settle without, and I knew that I was longing for a different career path. Before I graduated, I became involved in private tutoring so that I could practice math on a daily basis, and soon discovered that I loved using my skills to help other people. I helped high school students with their geometry and pre-calculus, and prepared them for the SAT. I graduated in March 2006 with my bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. It was an easy and clear decision for me to pursue post-baccalaureate study to become a mathematics teacher, and I can thank my father for enduring multiple talks in which he offered wonderful advice: follow my heart. 

 I then earned my MAT and teaching credential at the University of Southern California. Soon a wonderful opportunity to teach at a project-based school in San Diego presented itself. I am now in my first year of teaching 11th grade integrated mathematics at High Tech High International.   

 One of my biggest passions outside of school and work is traveling. I love to spend time outside at the lake or beach, and I love live music. In my free time I love to cook with my family or grab coffee with my best friends.

Jessica Rychlik

I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. I attended the Hamburg Central School District where my love of mathematics grew to what it is today. I enjoyed school, playing sports and being involved with school activities. I played softball, soccer and did downhill skiing. I had very supportive parents; they drove me to many sports practices and pushed me to be the best at whatever I chose to do. When I was in school I learned to budget my time and work hard, especially in mathematics since we always had homework. Since math was my favorite subject it was always the homework assignment that got done first. Occasionally I would wait to do it last (save the best for last), but most of the time it was done first.

When I graduated from high school I went to Oswego State University for two years, and then transferred to SUNY's University at Buffalo, where I finished my mathematics degree. While attending the University at Buffalo I was a mathematics tutor for area high school students.

In my last year of college I got two great student teaching placements. I was at Lancaster High School teaching geometry and preparing 10th graders for the New York State Regents exam. I also taught 12th grade students a college problem solving class, this class was for students who weren't strong in math but were going to college and still needed a math credit. My second placement was at Springville Middle School where I was teaching 8th grade algebra.

The summer after I received my bachelor's degree in mathematics, I taught mathematics at the Gow School in South Wales, New York. This is an amazing school offering a specially designed curriculum for students who have experienced academic difficulties or have language based learning disabilities, including dyslexia, central auditory processing disorder, ADHD and ADD.

Since I finished my undergraduate degree, I have been teaching mathematics at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, New York. I teach three Algebra I classes and two geometry classes which focus on geometric proofs. I love my job. I enjoy going to school everyday and I would never change my career in a million years. In the summer of 2007 I will earn a master's degree in mathematics education from the University at Buffalo.

Brian Swanagan

Like most people, I have wanted to be everything possible since I was young: an astronomer, geologist, doctor, writer, mathematician, philosopher, athlete, etc. Yet every time I learned something related to any of these, I wanted to go and tell someone about what I had learned and describe to them my thoughts about it. In middle school, my love for mathematics grew extraordinarily thanks to a math competition that my teacher encouraged me to participate in. I have always been competitive, and struggling to be the best at one of my favorite subjects excited me.

In high school, I became extremely involved in math competitions, and learning the required skills and knowledge to compete well. I spent hours teaching myself a variety of topics. Yet winning is a team effort. For that reason, I began to assist my team members in their mathematics knowledge. Before long, a number of students came to ask me questions that interested them in mathematics both inside and outside the classroom because it turned out that I had a knack for explaining ideas and giving them meaning rather than just being facts for facts sake without a real purpose or use. I met a number of exciting people over the last seven years with not only a talent for mathematics but also for teaching it to others. And still, every time I learned something, I felt the NEED to tell someone else about it, to teach it. I even taught all my siblings how to convert numbers into binary and back. Most importantly, I feel that I have chosen the occupation that provides the most enjoyment for me. I am currently pursuing my mathematics teaching license at the University of Georgia.

I participate in a number of activities, not all of which are related to teaching. I love nearly all sports - in particular, football, basketball, soccer, and tae kwon do. I currently have a yellow belt in tae kwon do. When I learn something new in any one of them, however, I still feel compelled to teach someone what I have learned. I also participate heavily in Bible studies and began to lead my own study while I was an undergraduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I enjoy working with all types of people and am accustomed to varied personalities thanks to my four siblings and two parents who both work as managers, and who also know a great deal about animals, plants, and science in general. I unquestionably owe much of my creativity and motivation to overcome obstacles to them.

Jim Town

I grew up in Sea Isle City, on the New Jersey shore. In middle school I had a great math teacher and the lessons I learned helped me overcome a few bad math teachers. The way my middle school teacher taught class caused me look at each problem as a puzzle to be solved. I went to Ocean City High School and was often sought out by classmates during study hall to explain math problems. I think I was able to explain in a way that made sense to them without making them feel dumb. In high school I was in the school musical (South Pacific), played football and ran track.

 After graduation, I worked as an electronics engineer for a couple of years at Ktech Telecom, Inc., and really enjoyed the problem-solving aspects of the job. It was fun, but fun without personal fulfillment only gets you so far. I once again felt the call of teaching. Since California had a math teacher shortage, I thought I could easily get a job. I left engineering and applied for any job that was open in math and science, but none materialized. To support myself I became a substitute teacher. This is where I realized I wanted to focus on high school math. I chose high school because students any younger than 9th grade are just too crazy for me, and math because I feel that great math teachers are important. Anybody could be the cool physics teacher; I wanted to be the cool math teacher. My wife and I moved to Vermont so I could get my master's degree in education and teaching credential from the University of Vermont (which has a great education program). In spring 2006 I finished my student teaching at Mt. Abraham Union High School and loved every minute of it.
  

In 2006-2007, I had the opportunity to be the math department at a small private school in Palo Alto, Palo Alto Preparatory. It was great for me to have some autonomy and try out some of my educational theories in a controlled setting. Alas, it is hard to live in Palo Alto on a teacher's salary and I've always known I wanted to teach at a public school so here I am in Ventura, CA teaching at Hueneme High School. I'll be teaching mostly ninth graders using the Interactive Math Program (IMP) and can't wait...

Alison Wellings

Growing up I was fortunate to have parents who enjoy traveling, and my father's career enabled my family to move frequently. As a result I attended elementary school in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, middle school in Cambridge, Ontario, and high school in Greenville, South Carolina. Although I didn't always enjoy the change of location as a child, looking back I am glad that I was given the opportunity to live in different cities, cultures, and climates.

Although I always knew that I wanted to become a teacher, it wasn't until I was a student at Mauldin High School in Greenville County that I really decided what subject I wanted to teach. After taking Pre-Calculus I recognized that I had a talent for mathematics, and by the end of my AP calculus class I knew that I wanted to major in mathematics at the University of South Carolina, while also pursuing a minor in education. At USC I worked with various elementary level classes, high school students, and college students; ultimately leading me to decide that I was best suited for teaching at the secondary level.