APSU Alum Frazee awarded prestigious Teaching Fellowship

Austin Peay State University alumnus Catherine Frazee (’06) was recently named a recipient of a prestigious Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship.

Frazee, a former accountant for more than 15 years, earned her degree in communication arts and a minor in English writing at APSU. She now lives in Indiana and plans to attend Indiana University-Purdue University this summer to begin her fellowship.

The 81 Fellows named this spring will enter innovative teacher preparation programs at four selected Indiana universities and then teach in the state’s high-need urban and rural schools.

The announcement of Fellows comes at the conclusion of a rigorous year-long application and selection process. The new Fellows will be ready to enter their own classrooms in fall 2011. Each Fellow receives a $30,000 stipend to complete a special intensive master’s program at one of the four partner universities. Fellows then make a commitment to teach for at least three years in a high-need urban or rural school in the state of Indiana that has committed, along with the partner university, to provide ongoing professional support and opportunities for continued study.

The Woodrow Wilson Foundation selected Indiana in December 2007 as the first site for its new national fellowship for high school teachers. The program is intended to help overhaul teacher education and encourage exceptionally able teacher candidates to seek long-term careers teaching science, technology and math (the STEM fields) in high-need classrooms.