Grace Martinez of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School has been named as the 2023 Cynthia and Frederick Brinkmann Fellowship recipient. This fellowship generously supports students pursuing teaching credentials in the Teacher Education Program.
Grace Martinez graduated from UC Riverside in June 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education, Society, and Human Development, with a concentration in Community Leadership, Policy, and Social Justice and minored in Spanish. She is interested in becoming a teacher because she loves working with students, especially multilingual students, to help break the barriers and inequities that stunt them from reaching their full potential. Her love for Spanish and teaching influenced her in pursuing her credential in Spanish and to educate students on the diverse cultures the world has to offer.
The Teacher Education Program at UC Santa Barbara offers the Multiple-Subject, the Single-Subject, and the Education Specialist Mild/Moderate and Extensive Support Teaching Credentials with a master’s degree in Education. These programs provide future teachers with a solid theoretical foundation integrated with extensive fieldwork that leads to both a California State Teaching Credential and a master’s degree in Education. The programs are run as a cohort, with the elementary and secondary cohorts no larger than 50 students each. This allows for the individualized attention necessary for high-level preparation of reflective, skilled practitioners who can meet the needs of a diversity of learners in California schools. The Teaching Credential Programs are full-time, post-graduate programs that begin in June and conclude the following June. Teacher candidates have the option to work on the Master’s Degree concurrent with credential coursework. It is one of the highest quality programs in the nation, with state-of-the art practice grounded in partner schools, a focus on teaching to reach all learners, and teacher educators with established records of success.