HGSE presents Conant Fellowships

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) presented five educators from the Boston and Cambridge public school systems with James Bryant Conant Fellowships on Monday (June 9). Each of the recipients will receive one year of study at the School.

This year’s recipients are Katherine Bourne, an English language arts teacher at the Kennedy-Longfellow School in Cambridge; Patricia Lampron, a teacher leader at Boston’s Richard J. Murphy K-8 School; Kathryn Meyer, a kindergarten teacher at Roxbury’s Rafael Hernández Two-Way Bilingual School; Eugene Roundtree, a biology and chemistry teacher at Roxbury’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School; and Jalene Tamerat, a seventh-grade science teacher, middle school team leader, and science curriculum leader at Boston’s Josiah Quincy Upper School.

HGSE awards the Conant Fellowships to support the professional growth of outstanding Boston and Cambridge public school teachers and administrators who have shown commitment to public education and demonstrated leadership potential. As a stipulation of the award, fellows are required to continue in their school systems for one year after receiving their advanced degree. Recipients are chosen by the Conant Fellowship committee, which includes representatives from HGSE as well as the Boston and Cambridge public school systems.

The fellowships, named after the former Harvard University president who was a dedicated supporter of public education and a strong advocate of school reform, were established in 1986 to commemorate the University’s 350th anniversary.

ABOUT THIS YEAR’S WINNERS

Katherine Bourne has served the Cambridge Public Schools for more than 12 years, initially as a library media specialist at the R.F. Kennedy School in Cambridge and, more recently, as an English language arts teacher at the Kennedy-Longfellow School. This past fall, she implemented a humanities curriculum in grade six at the school. A resident of Brookline, Mass., Bourne has been an educator since graduating from Yale in 1987. Following in her father’s footsteps, she worked at the Park School in Brookline as a librarian. Bourne holds two master’s degrees from Simmons College — one in education and one in library and information science. She is also a member of Beta Phi Mu. To deepen her understanding of literacy and language development, Bourne will pursue a master’s degree in language and literacy, and she hopes to become licensed as a reading specialist.

Patricia Lampron is currently a teacher leader at the Richard J. Murphy K-8 School in Boston, where she has been teaching for six years. A Boston native, she attended and graduated from the Boston Public Schools (BPS), and earned her master’s degree in teaching from Emmanuel College. Lampron’s teaching career began at a private elementary school in Boston, and she now serves in a wide range of teacher leader roles at the Murphy School and in the district. Her roles include: membership on the school instructional leadership team and math leadership team; serving as district wide Unit Study Seminar facilitator for the BPS Math Department and as a district-level Developing Mathematical Ideas facilitator for the district; and facilitating math professional development sessions for math teachers in the district. Lampron is also a member of the Cross Role Cohort team where she works alongside administrators and interns from HGSE to research and examine theory and practice with the goal of closing the achievement gap at the Murphy School. Lampron will pursue a master’s degree in education through the Principal Licensure Strand of the School Leadership Program.

Kathryn Meyer is a teacher at the Rafael Hernández Two-Way Bilingual School in Roxbury where she has taught kindergarten for the past four years. Her work is unique as she teaches her students in Spanish and English, and collaborates across grades to ensure that all students are inspired to be lifelong learners. Meyer also tutors first- and second-graders in English and Spanish reading. Her students learn to paint and sculpt at the Museum of Fine Arts and learn to skate with Northeastern University’s women’s hockey team. Meyer has visited schools in Spain, El Salvador, Mexico, and Cuba, where she has taught and worked closely with teachers. In the upcoming year, Meyer will pursue a master’s degree in special studies where she plans to examine the role that education plays in societies worldwide, and the relationship between society and its education system.

Eugene Roundtree is a teacher at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury, where he has taught biology and chemistry for the past four years. Before arriving at Madison Park, Eugene served as a paraprofessional at the McKinley Middle School for one year. In addition to teaching at Madison, he enjoys volunteering as a big brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Originally from Morristown, N.J., Roundtree will pursue a master’s degree in the education policy and management program.

Jalene Tamerat is a seventh-grade science teacher, middle school team leader, and science curriculum leader at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston. She received her B.A. in political science and Afro-American studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master of arts in teaching from Emmanuel College. Tamerat is a member of the Greater Boston Principal Residency Network, and is a teaching policy fellow at the Rennie Center for Educational Research and Policy, through which she has sought to explore alternative means of assessing students and evaluating teachers at district and statewide levels. In the summer of 2006, Tamerat was awarded an Earthwatch Fellowship and traveled to southern India to promote health education for impoverished communities in that region. The following year, as a Fund for Teachers grant recipient, she traveled to Singapore to observe the country’s language and literacy policies in government schools. At Harvard, she will pursue a master’s degree in education policy and management.