Alumna, Cassidy Richard '16 receives Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of 43 WW Indiana Teaching Fellows for 2016. Among them is Calvin College alumni Cassidy Richard (B.S. Biology 2016).

The highly competitive program recruits both recent graduates and career changers with strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math—the STEM fields—and prepares them specifically to teach in high-need secondary schools.

Each Fellow receives $32,000 to complete a specially designed, cutting-edge master’s degree program based on a year-long classroom experience. In return, Fellows commit to teach for three years in the urban and rural Indiana schools that most need strong STEM teachers. Throughout the three-year commitment, Fellows receive ongoing support and mentoring.

Cassidy Richard of South Bend, IN will attend Ball State University. Cassidy received her undergraduate degree in biology in 2016. While at Calvin she did undergraduate research at the Flat Iron Lake preserve with professor David Warners and studied the effect of prescribed burns in tallgrass prairies. Her many qualifications include work with bacteriophage and control of invasive species. While at Calvin she was sustainability coordinator in the  residence hall, educational leader at the ecosystem preserve and co-leader of an environmental student organization. In the community Cassidy worked as a zoo interpreter; STEM specialist and Boys and Girls Club leader. She was the recipient of multiple scholarships including a National Science Foundation scholarship in scientific computing.