Five Gevirtz School students named Alumni Fellowship recipients 2020-2021

Ruqayyah Mansour was named the recipient of the 2021 Alumni Fellowship in Education–Award for Excellence in Community Service; Krista Lucas was named the recipient of the 2021 Alumni Fellowship in Education–Award for Excellence in Research; Alexis Spina was named the recipient of the 2021 Alumni Fellowship in Education–Award for Excellence in Teaching/Mentoring. Kendall Stevens and Jose Tapia were named the recipients of the 2021 TEP Alumni Fellowship. Generously funded by alumni, the purpose of these awards is to support deserving graduate students in the Department of Education and the Teacher Education Program who show great academic promise and excellence in the areas of research and teaching, respectively.

Krista Lucas is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Education working with Dr. Danielle Harlow. She has a B.A. in biology from Occidental College, a master’s in teaching secondary science from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in education from UCSB. She is interested in postsecondary science education, specifically scientific literacy and science identity work in non-science majors. Krista also works at Pepperdine University where she has been teaching a non-majors biology course for 6 years.

Ruqayyah (Rue) Mansour is a doctoral student pursuing a Ph.D. in Education. She also works as a development assistant in the Engineering and Sciences Development Office at UCSB.

Alexis Deidre Spina is a fifth-year doctoral student with an emphasis in Math Education and is working with Dr. Julie Bianchini. She received her B.A. in Physics Education from the University of Delaware in 2007, and her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction in Secondary Science Education from the University of Delaware in 2009. Prior to starting her PhD, Alexis taught high school math and science for ten years. Currently, her research interests are teacher education, specifically around preparing future mathematics and science teachers. Alexis is a lecturer in our TEP program.

Kendall Stevens is pursuing a Single Subject Teaching Credential in History/Social Sciences and a Masters of Education. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2020 with a B.A. in History and a minor in Education. She has worked with students of all ages while embracing her roles as a teacher assistant to a preschool classroom, a middle school tutor, and a community organizer for education reform. Kendall hopes to create an inclusive learning environment that fulfills students’ social and emotional needs, while helping to develop critical thinkers and reorient how students study history in schools today.

Jose Tapia is a candidate in the SST Social Studies program. For his undergraduate degree at UCSB, he double majored in History and Chicano/a Studies with a minor in Educational Studies. His emphasis in the History program was US History and Native American History. Jose hopes to be not only a great teacher, but also a great mentor to his future students. He believes that studying history is necessary to help us understand current societal issues and hopefully foster solutions for a better world. Jose became interested in teaching after learning about the persistent achievement gap faced by Students of Color in the US. He hopes that by implementing culturally relevant pedagogy into his curriculum and promoting solidarity, he will encourage his students to always do their best in school and in life.