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W. Geiger Ellis
Student Teaching Scholarship
2009 Winner: Ms. Marsha Boyd, Kennesaw State University,
Kennesaw, GA
GCTE is happy to announce the opening of competition
for the W. Geiger Ellis Student Teaching Scholarship in honor of
Dr. “Guy” Ellis, professor emeritus at The University
of Georgia. During his twenty-four years of service in the Department
of Language Education, Guy was instrumental in involving hundreds
of new teachers in GCTE. Of the current GCTE Executive Board, three
members cite Guy’s influence as the primary reason they became
active GCTE members. Non-UGA grads will remember Guy most for the
eight years he coordinated the annual GCTE conference when it was
held in Athens.
Competition for this
award is always intense. This year was
no exception.
The winner of the Ellis
Award for 2009 is Ms. Marsha Boyd, a Masters of Arts of Teaching (MAT) student
at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. She received strong letters of recommendation and wrote a
compelling application letter. In
her letter, Ms. Boyd related her personal history as a mother, TV producer,
coach of competitive figure skaters, winner of three Emmy Awards for news
production, and recent work as a para-professional in a language arts
classroom. Ms. Boyd wrote, “I may
not look like your ‘typical’ candidate for a student teaching scholarship. I am not young nor am I fresh out of
college; however, I am just as eager and excited to change the world as I was
when I graduated from the University of Kansas nearly three decades ago.” Ms. Boyd attended the luncheon to
receive her award and scholarship check. With her many lived experiences and
excellent scholastic preparation, we feel confident that Ms. Boyd will be a
highly successful English teacher.
The $1000.00 scholarship will be awarded
to a student who will be student teaching in English/Language Arts,
grades K – 12, through a Georgia college or university during
the 2009-10 school year. The following are the requirements for
the scholarship:
- Applicants must be pursuing a
degree program that includes professional certification from a
Georgia approved program in teaching English/Language Arts at
the middle or secondary level or cognate area at the elementary
level and be scheduled to student-teach during fall 2010 or spring
2011.
- Applicants must have a minimum 3.2 GPA (on a 4 point scale)
and must submit an electronic version (pdf or
e-transcript from the college or university from which the student will
graduate) of a transcript of all college work as part of their application
materials. An official transcript in hard copy may be requested from finalists
and, if requested, must be supplied in order to win the award.”
- Applicants should write a cover letter explaining why they should
be considered for the scholarship.
- Three letters of recommendation complete the application process:
one from an English department faculty member, one from an education
faculty member (a methods instructor, if available), and one from
outside the college or university, e.g., a former employer, a former
public school teacher of English.
The scholarship recipient will be invited
to attend the GCTE Conference during the scholarship's designated
year. More than one scholarship may be awarded with the approval of the
Board.
The deadline for receiving all materials is October 22, 2010. Submit
all materials by e-mail to:
Dr. Dawn Latta Kirby
Assistant Dean,
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Professor of English and English Education
Kennesaw State University
dkirby8@kennesaw.edu
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