Rice University alumna Camila Vinson ’22 ’23 has been accepted into the Knowles Teacher Initiative Teaching Fellowship, a five-year program that supports early career high school teachers in their efforts to develop expertise and lead from the classroom.
The Knowles Teaching Fellows Program is designed to meet the needs of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics teachers dedicated to improving math and science education in the U.S.
“Knowles provides me with the resources to increase my content knowledge, analyze my pedagogy with other science teachers across the country and promote teacher leadership inside and outside the classroom,” Vinson said. “The connections I have made with other science and math teachers has brought a diversity of thought and teaching style into my own practice.”
Vinson earned a Bachelor of Science in biosciences and a Master of Arts in teaching from Rice’s Center for Education, part of the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. She is in her third year teaching biology and Earth science at Durham School of the Arts in Durham, North Carolina.
“After completing the Rice education program, I was prepared to enter the classroom and begin to develop my craft,” Vinson said.
Vinson served as an instructor at the Tapia STEM Camps based at Rice, where she led an online camp of high school students building their own heat sink during the summer of 2020. She also taught biology and pre-IB biology at Sharpstown International School in Houston for two years, and during 2022 and 2023, she was a summer camp teacher at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, teaching students ages 6-12 ecology, Greek and Roman mythology, spy camp, magic, archaeology, paleontology, and veterinary science. During the school year, Vinson volunteers her time to help students with their college applications.
“We’re so very proud of Camila and thrilled to watch her thrive in and through this experience,” said Brenda Rangel, assistant dean for the Center for Education. “Camila is a perfect example of the kind of teachers we seek to develop at Rice — equipped and motivated changemakers who have an immediate impact in their classroom and throughout their campus.”
"Supporting early career teachers in the essential work they do is more critical now than ever,” Knowles President and CEO Jeff Rozelle said. “By investing in these educators, we give them the tools they need to create classrooms where every student can thrive in math and science. We are honored to welcome this year’s cohort of fellows to the Knowles community.”
Visit the Knowles website to read biographies of the members of the 2024 cohort of Knowles Teaching Fellows. To learn more about the fellowship, eligibility and the application process, visit knowlesteachers.org/apply-for-a-fellowship.
To learn more about the Glasscock School's Center for Education, click here.