Five Teachers Receive Conant Fellowship

On Monday, June 9, the Harvard Graduate School of Education presented five outstanding educators from the Boston and Cambridge public school systems with James Bryant Conant Fellowships. Each of the recipients will receive one year of study at the Ed School.

Cambridge Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn and Boston Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Ingrid Carney honored the fellows at a Harvard Faculty Club ceremony.

"Congratulations to all the winners of the fellowship," Carney said. "As we went through applications, we were looking for those with a strong commitment to urban education. This is an awesome opportunity to build your capacity. I hope you comeback and stay as long as I have--which is over 30 years."

This year's recipients are Katherine Bourne, a English Language Arts Teacher at the Kennedy-Longfellow school in Cambridge; Patricia Lampron, a teacher leader at Boston's Richard J. Murphy K-8 School; Kathryn Meyer, a kindergarten teacher at Roxbury's Rafael Hernández Two-Way Bilingual School; Eugene Roundtree, a biology and chemistry at Roxbury's Madison Park Technical Vocational High School; and Jalene Tamerat, a seventh grade science teacher, middle school team leader, and science curriculum leader at Boston's Josiah Quincy Upper School.

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.

"You will have a wonderful year next year," Dean Kathleen McCartney said. "We will work you very hard, but know that you've been working hard already."

Roundtree, who will study Education Policy and Management, noted that the opportunity is definitely exciting. "I have butterflies thinking about going back to school," he said.

Recipient biographies

Katherine Bourne has served the Cambridge Public Schools for over twelve years, initially as a library media specialist at the R.F. Kennedy School in Cambridge and, more recently, as an English Language Arts Teacher at the Kennedy-Longfellow school. This past fall she implemented a Humanities curriculum in grade six at Kennedy-Longfellow. A life-long resident of Brookline, Katie has been an educator since she graduated from Yale in 1987. Following in her father's footsteps, she worked at the Park School in Brookline as a librarian. Katie holds two Master's degrees from Simmons College - one in Education and one in Library & Information Science, and holds membership in Beta Phi Mu. To deepen her understanding of literacy and language development, Katie will pursue a Master's degree in Language and Literacy, and hopes to become licensed as a Reading Specialist.

Patricia Lampron is currently a teacher leader at the Richard J. Murphy   K-8 School in Boston where she has been teaching for six years.  She is a life-long resident of Boston, where she attended and graduated from the Boston Public Schools, and earned her Master's degree in Teaching from Emmanuel College.  Tricia's teaching career began at a private elementary school in Boston, and she now serves in a wide-range of teacher leader roles at the Murphy School and in the district.  Her roles include: membership on the school instructional leadership team and math leadership team; serving as district-wide Unit Study Seminar Facilitator for the BPS Math Department and as a district-level Developing Mathematical Ideas facilitator for the district; and facilitating Math Professional Development Sessions for Math teachers in the district.  Tricia is also a member of the Cross Role Cohort team where she works alongside of administrators and interns from HGSE to research and examine theory and practice with the goal of closing the achievement gap at the Murphy School.  However, her greatest and most rewarding accomplishment is being a mother to her four amazing children who bring joy to her life and make her proud every day. Tricia will pursue a Master's in Education through the Principal Licensure Strand of the School Leadership Program.

Kathryn Meyer is a teacher at the Rafael Hernández Two-Way Bilingual School in Roxbury where she has taught Kindergarten for the past four years.  Her work is unique as she teaches her students in Spanish and English, and collaborates across grades to ensure that all students are inspired to be life-long learners.  Katy also tutors first- and second-graders in English and Spanish Reading. Her students learn to paint and sculpt in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and they learn to ice skate with Northeastern University Women's Hockey Team. Katy has visited schools Spain, El Salvador, Mexico and Cuba where she has taught and worked closely with teachers.  In the upcoming year Katy will pursue a Master's degree in Special Studies where she plans to examine the role that education plays in societies worldwide, and the relationship between society and its education system.

Eugene Roundtree is a teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury, MA, where he has taught biology and chemistry for the past four years.   Before arriving to Madison Park, Eugene served as a paraprofessional at the McKinley Middle school for one year. In addition to teaching at Madison, he enjoys volunteering as a big brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay. Originally from Morristown, NJ, Euguene will pursue a Master's degree in the Education Policy and Management Program.

Jalene Tamerat is a 7th grade science teacher, middle school team leader, and science curriculum leader at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston. She received her B.A. in political science and Afro-American studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master of Arts in teaching from Emmanuel College. Jalene is a member of the Greater Boston Principal Residency Network, and is a Teaching Policy Fellow at the Rennie Center for Educational Research and Policy, through which she has sought to explore alternate means of assessing students and evaluating teachers at district and state-wide levels. In the summer of 2006, Jalene was awarded an Earthwatch Fellowship and traveled to Southern India to promote health education for impoverished communities in southern India. The following year, as a Fund for Teachers grant recipient, she traveled to Singapore to observe the country's language and literacy policies in government schools.  Jalene will pursue a Master's degree in Education Policy and Management.