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The 20th anniversary of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation has college seniors and graduate students across the country filling out applications for a scholarship worth up to $24,000.
“The program was founded to try and encourage more people to get into teaching American history and the constitution to secondary education students,” said University of Maine Political Science professor Mark Brewer. “They thought there was not enough of that going on.”
The fellowships will be awarded to students looking to get their master’s and become secondary school history teachers. A maximum stipend of $24,000, which will cover the costs of tuition, fees, books and room and board, will be awarded to the chosen Fellows. Money to support the program comes from federal aid and private donations.
The national program chooses at least one student from each state and territory to receive the Fellowship. Last year there were no applicants from Maine.
“If nobody applies for it, nobody gets it,” said Brewer, who is the Faculty Representative for the Madison Fellowship. “We want to avoid that problem.”
After attending a four-week intensive study on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution at Georgetown University, the fellowship award winners will finish their master’s and be required to teach between the grades of 7-12 for at least two years.
A Board of Trustees appointed by the President of the United States chooses the fellows. This year’s Chairman of the Board is Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy.
“Time and again we hear it said that citizens lack a sound understanding of the Constitution,” Kennedy said on the Fellowship’s Web site. “Unfortunately, the complaint is all too true.”
“I think that more high school students should be exposed to more teaching related to American politics,” Brewer said, regarding the importance of the fellowship program. “They need a better understanding of the constitution and you need teachers who are able to provide this information.”
Students interested should apply online at http://www.jamesmadison.com, or contact Mark Brewer on FirstClass. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2007.
