Lake Villa student scholarship for teaching math

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 of Lake Villa for one of the scholarships.

Cowperthwaite is a senior at Loyola University majoring in secondary education and mathematics. She 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 parents, Karen and Kevin; two sisters, Cammy and Keller; and one dog, Cosmo. Cowperthwaite is a Robert Noyce Teaching scholar and a Golden Apple Scholar. She also belongs to Campus Ministry, is a CLC participant and leader, takes mission trips and will take 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 fourth- through sixth-graders in a STEM Space Camp. Her fourth-grade email was "queenofmath."

She is currently student teaching at Senn High School and loving it, teaching freshmen and juniors in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.

In a letter of recommendation, one of her professors said, "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 her as passionate about math, a careful thinker, and a skilled communicator.

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