Townsend Receives SPAGE Scholarship in Quest to Earn Teaching Degree

Kathleen Townsend is not your traditional undergraduate student at the University of Georgia.

A mother and grandmother, Townsend, of Toccoa, returned to school after 29 years to pursue her longtime goal of becoming a teacher.

“When you are not around academia for a long time, it takes a while to get back in the swing,” says Townsend, a senior in the College of Education. “My perspective is very different now. I really don't have to teach to support myself, but my husband and I decided that my vocation is teaching, and I have a lot to give to children.”

Her academic perseverance paid off recently when it was announced that she had received a scholarship from the Student Professional Association of Georgia Educators (SPAGE). Townsend, a science major and language arts minor for middle school grades, was the only undergraduate in Georgia to receive the $1,000 scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded each year to a SPAGE member in a teacher education program. Recipients of the scholarship agree to teach in Georgia for three years.

“Receiving this scholarship was just the boost I needed to get over the jitters about being a teacher,” says Townsend.

Before going back to school to become a teacher, Townsend pursued several other careers. She received an associate degree in 1972 from a junior college in Ohio and was working on a degree in elementary teaching at Cleveland State University when she met her future husband. After marrying, Townsend moved to Florida and put college on hold to help raise her husband's two children.

Townsend worked as a convention assistant for 10 years at the Orange County Convention and Visitor's Bureau. She also traveled the country freelancing at trade shows and seminars.

After serving as a substitute teacher for two years, Townsend decided to return to school in 2002. She has put more than 45,000 miles on her car commuting as a full-time student in the past year and a half.

Townsend is also a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Kappa Delta Epsilon. She will graduate spring 2005.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

WRITER: Nicole Richardson, 706/583-0811, nrichard@uga.edu
CONTACT: Jamie B. Lewis, 706/583-8146, jlewis@coe.uga.edu