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Angela Vo: Ambition to Teach

Sanford graduate makes commitment to teaching in high-need area

Angela Vo with children in Kenya

As a freshman, Angela Vo learned that education could change the lives of children in the most difficult of circumstances. Now that she's graduating, she's ready to put that belief into practice.

Angela Vo, a senior in the Sanford School of Public Policy, was one of only 25 students nationwide selected for a 2010 Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color. The program awards a $30,000 stipend to students to pursue a master's degree in education.

 

Vo, of Cary, will graduate in May with a public policy major, an education minor and a global health certificate. The fellowship requires a three-year commitment to teaching in a high-need public school and provides support and mentoring throughout. Shari Baker of Wheaton, Md., a Duke cultural anthropology major, also was chosen for the fellowship.

 

Vo discovered her passion for teaching through a series of internships and off-campus volunteer experiences during her four years at Duke. Her talent for it came to her as "a big surprise," she said. "I really love being in the classroom and seeing the positive impact that a teacher can have on a student."

 

Vo's experiences include working at the WISER school for girls in Kenya, in Student U summer programs for at-risk Durham middle-schoolers and with FEMMES, a program that encourages girls interested in math and science.

 

"My interest really started freshman year when I worked with WISER," she said. "I saw that for young Kenyan girls, the lack of access to education really impacted their life outcomes and their health. They were more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and poverty."

 

Vo found close friends and mentors in Duke alums Dan Kimberg and Amanda Dorsey, co-founders of the nonprofit Student U. Through her work with Student U, she's gotten to know Durham well.

 

"We (Duke students) do a lot for the Durham community, but there are still a lot of students who don't know that much about Durham and what a liberal, eco-friendly, culture-rich area it is," she said. "The schools are more diverse than any I've been to."

 

Vo plans to take time to complete her teaching certification before beginning graduate school next fall and hopes to come back to work in Durham schools.

 

The fellowship was created to help recruit, support, and retain individuals of color as public education teachers and administrators. Since the program's inception, it has awarded nearly $8 million in grants and financial assistance to 350 fellows.