Rush Receives Early Career Fellowship at UW |
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Nov. 7, 2002 -- Leslie Rush, University of Wyoming assistant professor of English education, is the second recipient of the Mary Ellbogen Garland Early Career Fellowship.
The late Jack Ellbogen established the endowed fund to recruit and retain the best possible candidates in the College of Education. It also recognizes Ellbogen's daughter, Mary, a Laramie resident and founding member of the college's development board.
Income from the Garland endowment may be used to support one or more promising junior faculty members through supplemental salary or start up funding for the recipient's research and teaching program.
"I am very happy to be in a place that is so welcoming and has shown an appreciation for both me and my work," Rush says. "The Garland Fellowship made me feel that my area of research is supported and encouraged. It is gratifying to have financial support to pursue my research interests."
The fellowship will support Rush's work on a variety of writing projects related to her dissertation research, including a book. She will begin developing new ideas related to her interests in literacy.
Rush's work helps students and others understand that "literacy" extends beyond the printed word. Her research has focused on exploring both print and non print literacies in and out of classroom settings. Rush's classroom work emphasizes preparing future teachers to understand how children learn and to adapt their teaching approaches to fit the needs of diverse learners.
Rush's own teaching experience prepares her to help her students anticipate the challenges that they may face. She taught previously in Uganda, East Africa, and in California and Texas.
"Most of my teaching has been in rural schools," she says. "I see that as preparation for these students, most of whom will end up staying in Wyoming, where they'll teach in small schools."
It also has prepared her to help them understand the complexities of their world.
"One of the things that my experience has taught me, that I'm sharing with my students, is the notion of diversity," Rush says.
She also will help them understand that an English teacher's job, particularly if it is in a rural setting, will require more than just teaching composition.
"English teachers wear a lot of hats, and I can help my students see that as part of what is expected of them, and to deal with it," she says. Posted on Thursday, November 07, 2002
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