Noyce Scholar Profile
Kate Foster
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Masters of Arts in Teaching
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
North Carolina State University
Current academic or teaching status:
Recent Graduate
School and school district:
West Johnston High School
Background:
I started out in engineering and got my B.S. in Engineering Management from Missouri S&T (formally University of Missouri-Rolla), which is basically a combination of Industrial Engineering and business. I realized I didn’t enjoy the engineering field and started teaching violin and piano lessons. I’ve taught private lessons for about 2.5 years now and fell in love with teaching. I’m looking forward to teaching math, which I’ve always loved!
Why do you want to teach:
I love doing it! I really enjoy seeing students grow, mature, and learn. I like making a positive difference in their lives.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
When I was volunteering at a local high school in an Algebra I part A class, I facilitated a group activity to help the students learn exponent multiplication rules. After they completed the activity, I asked the groups to select one or two people from their group to teach the class what they had learned from their activity. One of the students in the class regularly did not participate in learning – he didn’t do homework, often slept in class, and never took notes. On this day, that student participated in the group activity and volunteered to teach the class what he and his group had learned that day. It was a really awesome break-through moment for him! He went from someone who didn’t try to do math to someone who can teach others how to do math that day; it was fantastic to see that happen!
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has been awesome. It gave me the opportunity to volunteer at a local high school. It also has provided me with additional educational opportunities, such as conferences, our monthly meetings, along with articles that we discuss at those meetings. The Noyce program has also set me apart from other candidates while I’m looking for a job as someone who is a high-achiever and a scholarly student. Of course, Noyce also helped me pay for graduate school, which would have been difficult without the support.
