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"History Nerd” Savors Prestigious Madison Fellowship
- Christina Forbush
When Christiana Forbush was a brand-new social studies teacher, she got some advice that would—in due time—change her life.
“During a professional development day, an older teacher advised me that the best thing I could do was get a master’s degree as soon as possible, but there was no way as an early career teacher I could afford to do that,” says Forbush, ’08, who teaches at Utah’s Brighton High School. She couldn’t take the veteran teacher’s advice at the time—but she didn’t forget it, either.
“I began to look for opportunities that would allow me to get my master’s, and I found the James Madison Fellowship,” Forbush says. The fellowship, sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, makes annual awards of $24,000 for one teacher in each state to pursue graduate studies in subjects relating to the American Constitution—subjects such as history, education, or government.
“This was the answer for me, because I love American history,” Forbush says. “When I realized that this fellowship centered around the Constitution, that was even more exciting.”
Once she had worked up the courage to apply, Forbush was ecstatic to be chosen as a Madison fellow. She pursued her master’s at Ashland University, which is closely connected to the Madison fellowship with a program tailored to the fellowship’s focus.
Forbush committed to teach one full year for each academic year of funding she received. Madison fellows also must complete 12 semester credits of constitutional study, with six credits earned at the foundation’s Summer Institute on the Constitution in Washington, DC—a highlight for Forbush. She met with researchers and heard from a Supreme Court justice and a former United States secretary of education.
“We studied at Georgetown University and visited the Supreme Court, the White House, Mount Vernon, Monticello, and the Capitol,” Forbush says. “I loved all the discussion with fellow American history nerds and all the sights and experiences. I made so many friends from all around the country. It changed my life.”
Most important to Forbush, she says, was deepening her knowledge: “My appreciation for the Constitution only grew. There was so much to learn.”
First-Year Student Is SPED Teacher of the Year
- Molly Michaels
Molly Michaels didn’t let being a first-year graduate student impact the quality of her teaching in the Salt Lake City (Utah) School District—in fact, it might have helped. Michaels is the 2023 Special Education (SPED) Teacher of the Year for her district.
Although she has nine years in the classroom under her belt, Michaels’s time at BYU has strengthened her practice in countless ways.
“There’s an emphasis on really embracing the diversity among the student population you’re working with,” Michaels says. “We emphasize being really open-minded, being really flexible in your thinking, and understanding that the lens through which you view the world may not be their lens and that that’s okay.”
Michaels appreciates the focus BYU brings to honoring students’ individual gifts, as one of her biggest goals is to create strong bonds with students and the larger community.
New teachers should “focus on things you can control; let go of what you can’t,” she says. “At the end of the day, as long as you’re focusing on loving your students and really trying to give them what they need, it’s going to be okay.”
Michaels prioritizes individual time with each student: “I try to make sure I have moments when I can spend some one-on-one time with a student, even if it’s just by saying their name and looking at them and saying hi as they come in."
This ability to see each child individually is crucial to Michaels’s success. She values each child’s happiness, so she wants her classroom to be a place where they can be their authentic selves and feel accepted.
At the end of each year, Michaels likes to look back and see the progress she and her students have made, but she also looks to the future as she works through her graduate studies: “I just look forward to gaining the skills I need to be able to give [my students] more support.