Lakeview Centennial Teacher Wins James Madison Fellowship
Article Date: June 17, 2008
Annette Kasparian, a social studies teacher at Garland ISD’s Lakeview Centennial High School, recently became one of 58 educators nationwide to receive a James Madison Fellowship.
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The $24,000 endowment – awarded by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation of Washington, D.C. – will assist Kasparian in pursuit of her master’s degree. Studies must include a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution. Kasparian hopes to begin her pursuit this fall at Texas Woman’s University.
To qualify for the fellowship, applicants must fall into one of two classes. The first category is college graduates with intentions of teaching American history, government or social studies on the secondary level. The second is for current secondary instructors already experienced in the same subjects.
Kasparian was selected from a pool of candidates representing each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the nation’s island and trust territories.
Ask her how it feels to be chosen as a standout among the nation’s best and she will tell you.
“Pretty darn good,” she said. “It took me three tries to get the fellowship. You have to answer questions about your educational philosophy, why you think it’s important to teach government, provide documentation of your volunteer efforts – this is a very thorough process.”
She thinks her voluntary contributions played a big part in making her application overshadow others. Through her work with the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation – a group named after the pioneering Texas congressman – Kasparian helped form one of the only mock legislature high school teams in North Texas.
Her Lakeview Centennial team has received scholarships from Sumner for a number of years. The group was so impressed with her work that they requested to be the sole provider of Kasparian’s $24,000 fellowship – a rare feat when most of the James Madison funds come from general revenues.
“Sumner puts on an absolutely excellent training program in constitutional law,” she said. “I’ve been working with them for a long time so this means a lot, too.”
Founded by an act of Congress in 1986, the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation is an independent establishment of the executive branch of the federal government. For more information visit www.jamesmadison.gov.