Hello everyone! My name is Caitlyn Bridge and I am a graduate student with the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences studying anatomy and physiology. I also received my undergraduate degree here at CSU, majoring in zoology with minors in chemistry and history. I am originally from Connecticut but have been in Colorado for about 10 years. I am excited to be a Noyce scholar and to pursue a teaching career. I have taken a different route than most in my exploration of teaching. I first discovered my love of teaching through outreach and engagement with the College of Vet Med in my first year of grad school and Biomedical Sciences and as a GTA after that. I then took a class about teaching and communicating science with the biology department and learned that there was a teacher licensure program. Since I have started this path, I have learned so much and have had so much fun. I am excited to share the world of science with students and support them in their academics as a whole.
2025
Hello! My name is Alexander Crawford. I’m a Mathematics Education student at CSU. I am a military kid, being raised in a military household and moving all over the US. I have always loved teaching people new things, especially math. Math is such an awesome subject and is so important to understand throughout life. It’s everywhere and I always look to see what I can find when out and about.
2024
Hello! My name is Aiden Walker, and I am a Math Education major. I am a Colorado native who grew up in Colorado Springs, so I love being outside and in the mountains. I love going camping and hiking, but I am mainly a runner. Because of this, I plan to be a cross-country coach one day. I also love reading and playing board games with my friends and family. I love teaching, and my experiences within CSU’s amazing education track have only reaffirmed my desire to teach mathematics. I really enjoy teaching middle school, but I also plan to try teaching higher-level math courses, such as Calculus, one day. I strive to help students make their own connections and allow them to work through each new concept in a way that allows them to recreate their own learning in any scenario. I had several amazing math teachers growing up, and I hope to be that figure in my student’s lives.
2024
Hi, my name is Kari Lucas. I am from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I am a mathematics major with an education concentration. I am very involved on campus as I am a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and the Colorado State Women’s Club Volleyball team. I am super happy to be a Noyce Scholar!
2024
Hello, I am Daniel Ballard, a third-year math education major. My main passion is working with middle-school-aged kids. This passion was sparked after working at a summer camp for the last three years that led exciting outdoor experiences for that age range. When trying to decide what subject to teach I began to reflect on my own school experience. I distinctly remember my high school math teacher who showed me that math can be more than just a chore. I look forward to showing the next generation that math can be fun, and that it opens doors to a variety of exciting careers. I have tutored math at the high school and college level for the last few years and have already seen that with a little bit of time and effort math becomes attainable and understandable to people who would have never dared get near it.
2024
Hello! My name is Ariel Caprioglio and I am a math education major. I am a Colorado native and grew up in Pueblo. My passion for math started early and only grew as I learned more and got deeper into the evolution and growth of the subject. I did not always want to go into teaching, but after tutoring in high school and college I finally understood the amazing impact you can have on someone. My hope is to provide students with a safe environment to make mistakes and learn to appreciate the struggles of math. Math has such a bad rap and the only way to change that is to provide students with great support, just like my teachers all did for me. Outside of class and studying, I like to run, crochet, sing, and dance around like nobody is watching!
2024
My name is Caden Wach, and I’m studying math education. I feel lucky to say I’m a fourth generation Colorado native from Longmont, because I had so many great teachers during my K-12 education who inspired me to be here today. These teachers clearly cared about their students, community, and purpose, and made me excited to learn and better myself throughout my education. My background is in construction where I’ve done almost everything in the building process, and through that experience I gained an appreciation for the amount of math used in the trades and the importance of real-world math applications in the classroom. If students aren’t excited to be in my classroom, I believe that’s on me, and I’m prepared to take on that challenge and be the best teacher I can be. Outside of the classroom you’ll find me at church, drumming, exploring the outdoors, writing poetry, building something, or playing board games.
2024
Hello! My name is Bryson Hodges, and I am a studying Math Education, Piano Performance and Japanese. I am not originally from Colorado, and have lived everywhere throughout the United States as well as Germany. I love the outdoors and running, so whether it be hiking, skiing, trail running or technical climbing, I probably do it! I love reading books and watching anime and am very excited to become a teacher and connect with every student, each in a different way! I have always loved math and education so I hope through my own journey in STEM education, I can bring to life that same love and passion within my students!
2024
Hi! My name is Lydia Paulsen. I am majoring in Natural Sciences, Biology Education Concentration, and minoring in Entomology. With a lifelong passion for the sciences, learning, and caring for people, I was drawn to the field of biology education. As a future educator, it is my goal to create a classroom space and curriculum that fits the needs and passions of each student. I want students to feel supported along their journey through life and empowered to advocate for themselves, other people, and the world around them. Outside of school, I enjoy drawing, writing poetry, studying music theory, gardening, and exploring nature!
2024
Hello! My name is Kaley Planansky, and I am a mathematics education major. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to pursue a career in education. I have always looked up to my teachers and they have been some of the most influential people in my life. I have been fortunate enough to have found a sense of belonging in school and experienced healthy classroom dynamics throughout the years. My wish is to foster that type of environment for students of my own. I hope to make my math classroom enjoyable and confidence-inspiring. It is important to me that students believe that the lessons learned are valuable and applicable to their daily lives. I hope to change the stigma of math for students and make it a class they look forward to and appreciate, much like some great teachers did for me. Outside of school, I enjoy crocheting, playing volleyball, and spending quality time with my friends and family.
2024
Hello! My name is Morgan Hamilton and I am a fourth-year student studying Natural Sciences with a Biology Education concentration. I am a Colorado native, and I grew up in Littleton, Colorado. My path towards a teaching career started when I began tutoring students, coaching and teaching swimming and babysitting. I found through working with children that it not only felt very natural, but it was a very rewarding experience. I loved watching the kids learn skills and content to get to those lightbulb moments. Their ending success in whatever they were doing was so empowering to them and I hope to continue to empower and help kids learn and grow. I’ve loved learning about science as a kid and I hope to bring my passion for it into my own classroom to inspire students to love science and be curious about the world around them. Outside of the classroom I like to swim, cook and bake, hike, and play soccer.
2024
My name is Madeline Cummings. I am a senior studying Natural Sciences with the intention to teach middle school science once I graduate in the Spring of 2025. My passion for teaching began after working with teenage youth at an overnight summer camp. That experience along with my two positions as a chemistry and biology tutor for CSU Athletics and CSU TILT confirmed my path towards education. My teaching philosophy is all about supporting a growth mindset in my students. Everyone has the capacity to learn and explore the world around them. My hope as an educator is to make science more accessible to all students, and setting attainable goals will be a theme of my classroom. Currently I am working with CSU Extension’s 4H youth in rural Colorado, collecting oral histories from ranching families to preserve in the CSU Archives. I also serve as ASCSU’s Campus Engagement Director for the 2024-25 school year.
2023
I am a first-generation Colorado native completing a degree in Mathematics, concentrating in Mathematics Education. I am excited to begin a career serving and empowering a variety of students. I believe in creating opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to engage in a STEAM-based curriculum focused on developing skills necessary to discover solutions that address modern-day problems. When I am not teaching mathematics, I can be found running on the treadmill, reading a good book, or visiting a local coffee shop or restaurant!
2023
My name is Lauren Gouldey, and I am a third-year student studying chemistry and natural sciences with a chemistry education concentration. I am a Colorado native and grew up in Fort Collins. I have always wanted to be a teacher and love the opportunity to combine my passions for science and education. It is incredibly rewarding to see students make connections and build their confidence in science. I hope to make science, specifically chemistry, more accessible to all students so they can build scientific literacy. Outside of school I enjoy dancing, reading, and playing games with my family.
2022
Hello! My name is Hayes Horstmeyer, and I am a math education major. I am a Colorado native, so I absolutely love the outdoors, but am also a huge fan of movies, books, and hanging out with friends and family. I love serving my community and it is a goal of mine to continue serving while teaching, as well as find ways to introduce activities and moments for my future students to serve and help out, too. I am extremely passionate about mathematics, but even more about students and what they bring to the world. I want to create a safe and fun environment for anyone that enters my future classroom. I was very fortunate with my education growing up and understand how vital it is for everyone to receive the same quality of schooling.
2021
Hello everyone! My name is Tyra and I am a junior studying Mathematics Education. I have been working at CSU’s Precalculus Center since 2020 and I will also be starting at the Calculus Center this upcoming semester. Through these, and other experiences, I have only confirmed my desire to become a teacher. I am passionate about mathematics and it is so tremendously rewarding to have the opportunity to share that passion with my future students. I feel that for too long there has been a stigma around mathematics, that if a student does not excel right off the bat then mathematics is not for them. I hope to reverse this ideology and encourage students to put in the work to explore and understand mathematics! Outside of math, I really enjoy playing volleyball and listening to music! I spend a lot of time out exploring Fort Collins with my friends and am hoping to spend some more time at Horsetooth this year!
2021
My name is Brenna Sydow and I am a fourth year student at CSU in Biology. I am a Colorado native, born and raised, but new to Fort Collins. I grew up in Hudson, Colorado, a small rural community out east and grew up around agriculture and the farming lifestyle. My past greatly impacts who I am today and my mission for my future, which is to be a science educator. I watched the schools where I grew up struggle because of funding issues and thus their curriculum struggled as well. I was privileged enough to attend a private school that was almost forty minutes away from my home, but that was the only place my parents felt the curriculum was strong to prepare me for the real world. While I am so grateful for that opportunity, my heart still goes out to all of the schools that I grew up around, and thus my goal for myself is to bring science to even the most disadvantaged places. I have been working with the Little Shop of Physics at CSU these past three years to do just this. But my hope for when I graduate is to potentially teach at one of these schools where I grew up and do my best to make science accessible, engaging, and fun and to show kids that really, anybody can be a scientist.
2021
My goal as a future teacher is to create a safe and inviting learning environment that fosters a passion for science. Students should view science and technology as fun and exciting despite any challenges they may face in the classroom while learning difficult concepts. I hope that my classroom can impact students in a positive way and inspire a love for learning and discovering new things!
Venus Cariaso 2019
I want to teach to help students realize their full potential and grow from there. I want to teach the idea that being good at math is not some gene you are born with, however it is a skill achieved through hard work and dedication. I want students to be okay with challenges and have the courage to persevere through them.
2018
Chemistry and science has been a part of Emily’s life since she was young, as her dad was a high school Chemistry teacher. Thus, since she was little, she wanted to continue to be immersed in the field of science, especially Chemistry. She also has found a passion in sharing her love for science with others, teaching the nuances. Not only does she want to make Chemistry fun for students, more than anything, she wants to make an impact in as many student’s lives as possible.
2018
I grew up doing a lot of hiking and my love of plants and wildlife turned into obsession. The fascination led me to several plant research opportunities in college. With a desire to teach in some capacity, I decided becoming a professor was the best course of action so that I could continue researching. However, once I began working as a teaching assistant I discovered two things: 1. I loved teaching and it seemed much more important to work with people than with plants in a lab. 2. Many students have misconceptions about science and were inadequately prepared for college level science courses. For these reasons I decided to focus on secondary science education and hope that my future students can get excited about exploring the sciences, taking part in the discussion, and thinking critically about the world around them.
2018
My name is Erin Dawson and I am an undergraduate student studying math education. I was born and raised in Apple Valley, Minnesota. I was inspired to become a math teacher by my high school math teacher. He had a huge impact on all of his students and had a great positive attitude that motivated all students to get excited about learning math. I want to become a math teacher to inspire all students, especially girls, to love math and other STEM content areas.
2017
I want to become a math teacher so that I can help students realize that math is so applicable to many areas of life and can be fun and very interesting (yes, really!) I love that math is so defined yet mysterious, that there are certainties, but also a limitless wealth of knowledge that we haven’t even considered. My desire to is to genuinely connect with students and ultimately help them discover their own passions and ambitions, and to help them find resources to succeed.
2017
I love kids and being able to give them knowledge about something they didn’t know before is a truly rewarding feeling. Science is a subject that is always evolving and we are learning new things about it everyday, it’s a fascinating subject to learn about the world and the things around us. Teaching students about science is amazing, and having their eyes fill with wonder, knowledge, questions, or even confusion about science makes me honored that I can help them learn more about it.
2018
Chemistry is the unification of math and matter—it shapes everything in our world at the most fundamental level. I hope that by teaching chemistry, my students will want to explore and question the world around them so they learn how to examine their world critically and want to understand why things work the way they do. Teaching is how we give our students the gifts of knowledge and understanding, when met with inquisitiveness, problems begin to be solved, and the world is changed—even if that change is just within the students themselves. I want to teach because it allows me to help my students and show my students that they can change the world themselves, they don’t need to wait for someone else to tell them how.
2018
Hello, my name is ThanhTu Nguyen, currently an undergraduate student majoring in Math Education. I was born in Vietnam but had happily called Westminster, Colorado home after moving here with my family in the 4th grade. My love for math started way back in kindergarten when I learned to play chess. From chess, I found a fascination for logic, strategy, and calculation, and so math has always been my favorite subject in school since then. As ab immigrant and a first-generation college student, I highly value education and so I enter the field of teaching with the hope to make higher education for accessible for students with similar backgrounds.
