Math & Science Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education

Fellow: Bryan Freyberg, M.S. graduate fellow in Mathematics and Statistics
Teacher: Kevin Brenner, Cloquet High School, 10-12 grade Math

Before I began this fellowship, I was teaching in a local high school. I loved the niche I had made for myself there and was content to stay for the long haul until I heard about the GK-12 grant. For me the grant meant trading the security of a great teaching job for a chance to fulfill my own yearning for a higher mathematics education with the added benefit of staying involved with teaching. Two years later, I couldn’t be happier with my decision.
                I am the envy of my former colleagues when I describe what my responsibilities are, or rather are not. No grading papers, no phone calls home, no discipline issues, no sixth assignment, no daily grind. That’s right, I tell them, I have a week to plan what I would have had 10 minutes and zero energy to plan as a fulltime high school teacher. Now I relish the time to build on and expand every idea I ever had as a teacher but didn’t have the time or energy to develop. As added motivation, I know that Kevin and I will be able to use everything I’ve created in our future teaching assignments.
                One of my highlights this year was creating and teaching a lesson investigating the 1969 Vietnam Draft Lottery. In the lesson the students applied their basic knowledge of statistics to determine that the lottery was fatally flawed. The lesson was enough of a success to be asked to take my show on the road, or down the hallway, to the 11th grade history classes. Teaching across subject lines was a wonderful opportunity that I feel fortunate to have experienced.
                Besides allowing me the financial freedom to better my mathematics education, this fellowship has allowed me the opportunity to increase my effectiveness as a teacher. My role in the classroom has allowed me a fresh perspective. It has given me the chance to experience the educational industrial complex from the perspective of a student. I know this fresh perspective, and this fellowship as a whole, will only make me a better teacher.  

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