Lake Villa student earns scholarship from Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Every October, the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics awards up to five $1,500 scholarship awards to college juniors or seniors intending to teach mathematics at any level from kindergarten through high school. This year, the council selected Cassandra Cowperthraite, Loyola University, from your area for one of the scholarships.

Cassie Cowperthwaite is a senior at Loyola majoring in secondary education and mathematics. She is unable to attend this function tonight. From Lake Villa, IL, Cassie has worked for Mathnasium, and Algebra Boot Camp at Loyola, and tutors math and Spanish by Skype and in person. Her family consists of her loving parents, Karen and Kevin, two sisters, Cammy and Keller, and one dog, Cosmo, an energetic maltipoo. Cassie is a Robert Noyce Teaching scholar and a Golden Apple Scholar. She also belongs to Campus Ministry, CLC participant and leader, takes mission trips and will took a pilgrimage to France during spring break.

Curiosity and fascination are the key words she used to describe her goal for teaching students as she believes in and empowers them. Her lesson plan focused on solving Quadratic Equations and Word Problems. She describes her most memorable teaching experience as working with 4th-6th graders in a STEM Space Camp. Her 4th grade email was "queenofmath". Cassie is currently student teaching at Senn High School and loving it, teaching freshmen and juniors in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.

From a letter of recommendation, I quote, "As well as being very strong mathematically, Cassie has all the hallmarks of a great teacher. She clearly loves math, and is able to share that appreciation." Another professor described Cassie as passionate about math, a careful thinker, and a skilled communicator.