UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Newsroom

Dupay named Bruce F. Vento Science Educator Scholarship recipient

January 13, 2017--A University of Wisconsin-River Falls scholarship established to honor a Minnesota legislator has been awarded to a graduate student preparing to become a physics teacher. Anna Dupay, formerly of Roseville, Minn., and a graduate student seeking teaching licensure at UWRF, received $5,000 from the Bruce F. Vento Science Educator Scholarship.

The scholarship, established in 2016 to honor the memory of U.S. Representative Vento, supports students pursuing a science education degree, a cause close to Vento's heart, according to Susan Vento, his widow. Before entering Congress, Vento was both a science and social studies teacher in a junior high school and a UW-River Falls graduate.

Dupay is enrolled in the STEMteach program at UW-River Falls and was selected by a committee of UW-River Falls faculty and staff based on her academic standing and demonstrated financial need.

“I enjoy the STEMteach program,” Dupay said. “It's challenging at times because it's fast-paced, but I am happy to be in a rigorous, learning environment. It's nice to have fellow cohort members as a community for support and encouragement. It makes the whole experience much more meaningful.”

Upon completion of the program in May, Dupay hopes to be teaching high school physics in Minnesota or western Wisconsin. Her dream would be to teach in another country, Japan.

“I think that this program has really changed me,” Dupay said. “When I think about who I was as a person, and where I was going with my life at this time last year, I feel like I am almost a different person today. I have learned and grown a lot, and I think I am a better person for it.”
  All STEMteach candidates in good academic standing and enrolled in the winter term of the program are eligible to receive this scholarship, which is intended to provide financial support during the apprentice teaching requirement of the program.

The STEMteach graduate program began in 2015. It provides a pathway for candidates who majored in math or science as an undergraduate or have work experience in math and science fields, to obtain their Wisconsin teaching license for middle or high schools in one year. The program of study includes early hands-on experience in teaching and the option to continue studies to earn a master of science in education degree.

Applications are being accepted now for the third cohort of the STEMteach program that begins this summer. For more information about STEMteach or the scholarships, email pamela.bowen@uwrf.edu or visit http://go.uwrf.edu/STEMteach.

Contact Us

University Communications
and Marketing
120 North Hall
Phone: 715-425-3771
Fax: 715-425-4486