Spring Honors Graduate Earns Prestigious Teaching Fellowship

Only 28 individuals nationwide were selected for the highly competitive program that recruits recent college graduates and career changers with strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM fields – and prepares them specifically to teach in high-need Pennsylvania secondary schools.

Baxter Krug, Class of 2020Krug and the other Fellows will each receive $32,000 to complete a specially designed, cutting-edge master’s degree program based on a year-long classroom experience, including the current remote and virtual learning arrangements. Krug is one of 10 Fellows who recently began their programs at West Chester University. The rest of the Fellows started their programs at Duquesne University or University of Pennsylvania.

In return, Fellows commit to teach for three years in high-need Pennsylvania schools. Throughout the three-year commitment as a teacher of record at a public school, Fellows receive ongoing support and mentoring.

“The WW Teaching Fellowship connects passionate STEM experts with the students who need them the most,” said WW Foundation President Rajiv Vinnakota. “Not only will the program prepare each Fellow to be an excellent educator, it will also give them the practice, support and network of peers needed to succeed throughout their careers in the classroom. And for our university partners, the Fellowship supports their continued efforts to recruit, prepare, and mentor STEM teachers in the high-need schools that need them most.”

At ASU, Krug was heavily involved in chemistry research, which he presented at Great Plains Honors Council, National Collegiate Honors Council and American Chemical Society (ACS) conferences. He was a member of ASU’s award-winning student chapter of ACS and represented ASU at the 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 25^th Conference of Parties in Santiago, Chile. He was also a presenter on ASU’s Ram Radio internet radio station, was inducted into the Alpha Chi national honor society, and graduated magna cum laude.