Two Teachers Awarded Conant Fellowships

On Friday, May 19, the Harvard Graduate School of Education will present two outstanding educators in the Boston and Cambridge public school systems with James Bryant Conant Fellowships. The awards, which will be given by HGSE Acting Dean and Lesser Professor Kathleen McCartney and Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn, provide one-year of study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The presentation of the fellowships will begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge.

This year's recipients are Amy Smith, an English teacher Charlestown High School; and Laura Sylvan, a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at the Graham and Parks School in Cambridge.

HGSE awards the Conant Fellowships to support the professional growth of outstanding Boston and Cambridge public school teachers and administrators who have shown commitment to public education and demonstrated leadership potential. As a stipulation of the award, fellows are required to continue in their school systems for one year after receiving their advanced degree. Recipients are chosen by the Conant Fellowship Committee, which includes representatives from HGSE as well as the Boston and Cambridge public school systems.

The fellowships, named after the former Harvard University president who was a dedicated supporter of public education and a strong advocate of school reform, were established in 1986 to commemorate the University's 350th anniversary.

Conant Fellow Biographies

Amy Smith began teaching English at Charlestown High School four years ago, after participating in the MINT program, an initiative of the Massachusetts Department of Education to recruit new teachers. Prior to teaching in Boston, Amy completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. While there, she sought out many opportunities in education including working with an autistic student, teaching English in Mexico, and tutoring immigrants in Middletown. She will be attending HGSE in the teacher leadership strand of the School Leadership Program seeking her master's in education. With this degree, she hopes to initiate new programs based on collaboration; for example, programs that bridge the gap between teachers and organizations in the community which would like to help their students. Of particular interest to her are ways to connect artistic communities with urban schools.

Laura Sylvan has taught at the Graham and Parks School in Cambridge for the past 17 years. For five years she participated in the "Cheche Konnen" project that looked at how language minority children make sense of things in science. She also participated in the "Understanding Earth Science by Design" program held by TERC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving science and math education. During her year at HGSE she will seek a master's in education from the specialized program. Laura previously earned her undergraduate degree in environmental interpretation from Colorado State University and later also received her master's in science education from Boston University.