Scholarships in Urban Education
The Miyumi Sasaki Education Fund
Miyumi Sasaki was an ardent advocate for social justice and equity in education and in the larger community. She taught in inner-city Toronto schools for many years, and in the three years before her untimely death in March of 2007, she was the course director of a highly acclaimed urban teacher education program located in Regent Park. She is deeply missed by her family and many friends and colleagues. In memory of her devotion to education, a scholarship fund has been created in her name, dedicated to student teachers who plan to make their own contribution to urban education.
Eligibility for the Scholarship Fund: to be awarded to one or more undergraduate initial teacher education student(s) on the basis of financial need, a demonstrated commitment to social justice and equity, and an expressed intent to teach in an inner city neighbourhood. Preference will be given to applicants who have been influenced by,
and/or who have a connection to, an inner city community.
Application process: Students must submit a one to two page letter of application along with two references to the Centre for Urban Schooling Miyumi Sasaki Inner City Scholarship in Initial Teacher Education Committee. The application letter and references should be sent, preferably by e-mail, to Jeff Kugler, Executive Director, Centre for Urban Schooling at: jeff.kugler@utoronto.ca. This year there will be two
recipients, one elementary (ICO) and one secondary (SP1). Each recipient will receive an award of $650.00
Application deadline: April 2, 2012
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William Waters Scholarships in Urban Education
OISE is offering four $30,000 scholarships to promote excellence in teaching in the urban classroom. The successful candidates will be experienced teachers entering a full-time Master’s program with an interest in questions of social justice and school success for students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods attending underperforming schools.
In addition to the requirements set out by the graduate program, the successful scholarship recipients will be invited to join the Centre for Urban Schooling and participate in the wide variety of activities related to research, professional development, advocacy and teacher education promoted by the Centre over the course of the year.
Click here for more information about eligibility and the application procedure.
Application deadline: January 16, 2012
2011-2012 William Waters Scholarship Winners
The Centre for Urban Schooling congratulates the four William Waters Scholarship winners for the 2011-2012 academic year:
Julia Hainer-Violand - Oyster-Adams Bilingual Public School
Julia's commitment to urban education is rooted in the immigrant experience. Her mother, a first generation immigrant from Bolivia, set forth a standard for her of community activism through education. It is her passion that has led Julia to dedicate her life to providing engaging learning opportunities for second language learners and their families. For the last five years, Julia has taught at Oyster-Adams Bilingual, a dual language Spanish-English public school in Washington, DC… Step inside her room and you can see students debating secession, writing poetry about the Middle Passage, or organizing into a union to promote immigrant labour rights. People’s history becomes alive and acts as a foundation for language development to promote critical thinking and social action.
Melanie Willson - York Humber High School
Melanie's work at York Humber has been informed by eight years of involvement in grassroots anti-poverty organizing in Guelph and Toronto, which has lead to the understanding that schools do not function in isolation from a larger social and political context. In completing this Masters degree, Melanie hopes to take the time to focus on her own learning and growth in order to become a stronger ally to her students, their families, and communities.
Jozef Konyari - Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School
Jozef describes his teaching practice as student-centred, geared towards understanding the needs and interests of each individual student in relation to their immediate social circumstances. He would like to examine school spaces as sites for modern-day revolutions and nonviolent resistance to various forms of oppression.
Ambeika Sukhram - Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute
Ambeika is winner of the OSSTF District 12 Status of Women, Outstanding New Teacher award in 2008. The genesis of her interest in urban education is clearly related to her migration from Guyana to Toronto. For her Masters study, Ambeika has outlined a research project that would have her examining the deportation of Roma families from Europe and the ways in which their destination cities, like Toronto, might more effectively address their educational needs.
2010-2011 William Waters Scholarship Winners
Ambika Jain - Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute
Mary Ampomah - Lawrence Heights Middle School
Rhiannon Maton - Emery Collegiate Institute