Noyce Scholar Profile
Pam Josifek
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: BS Industrial Engineering
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics - Middle School/High School
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
UW Oshkosh/Act! to Teach
Current academic or teaching status:
1 year K-12 teaching experiece
School and school district:
Lineville Intermediate and Bay View Middle Schools / Howard Suamico School District
Background:
After earning my BS Industrial Engineering I had the opportunity to work in a plastics packaging mill, a paper mill, and an energy utility. While working in these industries, I held the following positions: Shift Supervisor, Department Manager, Graphics Coordinator, Packaging Engineer, Energy Marketer and Scheduler, and a Team Leader for the Energy Desk. During this time I also completed my Master Degree in Business Administration.
I began working in the field of Education teaching adult continuing education computer classes in the evenings. My interest in education continued as I began teaching classes in Business, Mathematics, and Engineering for local colleges. It was during these experiences that I decided I wanted to have a greater impact working with students in the K-12 schools.
Why do you want to teach:
While I was teaching at a local college I had students tell me stories of how they were very discouraged taking math in high school and that I was making a difference in their ability to learn it at the college level.
My goal is to make a difference helping middle school and high school students become excited about math.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
I work with a group of 5th grade advance math students once a week. The last week of school they were so disappointed that our last class would be canceled due to a school wide assembly they put together a petition to have me meet with them on a different day and for more time.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program helped me to reach my dream of teaching Math to Middle School and High School students. The opportunity came at a time when I needed to make a decision about continuing my pursuit of the teaching license or go back into the business world to financially support my family.
