Berlin Social Studies Teacher Earns Huge Award

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation of Washington, D.C., announced today that it has selected 58 James Madison Fellows for 2012 in its 21st annual fellowship competition.

Included in the list of winners is Berlin High School first year social studies teacher Jennifer Britner. She was chosen as the state of Connecticut winner. James Madison Fellowships support the graduate study of American history by aspiring and experienced secondary school teachers of American history, American government, and social studies.

"I have always wanted to obtain my Master's Degree in History but it would be difficult to do that considering the expense," Britner said. "The fellowship affords me the opportunity to obtain my degree, while at the same time I will be able to work with 57 new colleagues from across the country and become a member of a network of history teachers who have completed this fellowship throughout the years.

"Receiving this fellowship is an incredible honor and I am blessed to be the Connecticut representative. The opportunities and experiences that this fellowship includes, especially spending a month at Georgetown next summer with the other fellows, will be of great significance to my professional and personal life."

Named in honor of the fourth president of the United States and acknowledged “Father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights,” a James Madison Fellowship funds up to $24,000 of each Fellow’s course of study towards a master’s degree. That program must include a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the United States Constitution.

The 58 James Madison Fellows were selected in competition with applicants from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the nation’s island and trust territories. The fellowships are funded by income from a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States and from additional private gifts, corporate contributions, and foundation grants. Recipients are required to teach American history or social studies in a secondary school for at least one year for each year of fellowship support. The award is intended to recognize promising and distinguished teachers, to strengthen their knowledge of the origins and development of American constitutional government, and thus to expose the nation’s secondary school students to accurate knowledge of the nation’s constitutional heritage.

Founded by an Act of Congress in 1986, the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation is an independent agency of the executive branch of the federal government.