Each year, the Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship recruits teacher candidates who have worked or are working in the science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) fields to complete a master’s program, earn their teaching licenses, and commit to three years of teaching math and science in high-need Ohio schools.

The Fellows, all of whom are accomplished in the STEM fields, receive a $30,000 stipend to earn their master’s at one of the following Ohio-based colleges: John Carroll University, The Ohio State University, Ohio University, the University of Akron, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Dayton, and the University of Toledo.

This year, two Arcadia University alumni, Fredericka Haumesser ’11M and Gwendolyn Kinebrew ’90, were among the 79 new Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows.

Haumesser, who earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry/forensic science at Alvernia University and a Master of Science in Forensic Science at Arcadia, is a forensic scientist for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Before being selected as a 2014 Fellow, Haumesser worked as a chemist involved with pharmaceutical product testing.

A student mentor/research assistant dedicated to Ohio’s urban youth, Haumesser will work to improve STEMM education after studying at the University of Akron through her Fellowship funding.

After earning a dual degree in biology and chemistry at Arcadia and a doctorate in cell and developmental biology at Temple University, Kinebrew taught at John Carroll University (JCU) in University Heights, Ohio.

Though she serves as associate professor Emeritus at JCU and an adjunct instructor at both Bryant & Stratton College and Cuyahoga Community College, Kinebrew has shifted her focus to the quality of education at high schools in Ohio. Looking to work with these schools firsthand, Kinebrew will return to JCU to fulfill her Fellowship requirements.

The 2014 Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellows are on track to begin teaching in the fall of 2015. According to the program’s administrators, the combined efforts of the selected teachers will affect nearly 30,000 students this year.