Noyce Scholar Profile
Haley Conkel
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Spanish, Secondary Education in Mathematics
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 7-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Wittenberg University
Current academic or teaching status:
Junior in Undergraduate Studies
School and school district:
Springfield (Clark County), OH
Background:
My hometown is Westerville, Ohio, a large suburb of Columbus. Westerville was a wonderful place to grow up in. I attended Westerville City Schools where I had some of the best math teachers who continue to drive me to become the best teacher possible.
Why do you want to teach:
It was first through volunteering at my middle school that I considered teaching. As a senior in high school, I helped out my Spanish I teacher. At the beginning, she had me organize papers and do some basic multiple choice grading. Later on in the year, she offered me the chance to teach a lesson to one of her classes. It was a relatively simple concept to teach so I agreed. This was when I realized that I loved teaching and that it was what I wanted to do for a career.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
The summer after my freshman year of college, I had a Noyce-funded internship where I led a Math Club at an elementary school in Springfield, Ohio. The students I worked with were at the school as a form of day care. For an hour and a half twice a week, they came to Math Club where we did enriching math activities. This experience overall was very memorable, but my favorite memory of the summer was when I realized how much my students (fifth, sixth and seventh graders) loved to have read aloud time while learning about math topics. I read several books to them over the summer, and each of these books allowed them an insight on how math relates to their own lives.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
As a college freshman, I attended an informational meeting about Wittenberg’s Noyce program. The meeting caught my interest because it was advertised as giving scholarship money to future math and science teachers. After hearing about everything the program was doing, I realized it meant much more than just an additional scholarship. Its goal was to increase the effectiveness of STEM education in high needs districts. Some of the most influential classes I took while in high school were my math and science classes and because of this, I believe it is important that all students have access to quality STEM education.
