The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation announced that Melanya Materne of Whidbey Island is one of nine people awarded a Woodrow Wilson-Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color.

Materne is a 2012 graduate of the University of Washington, majoring in English.

A Dean’s List and Honors student, Materne was awarded the Thomas A. Lederman and Tia Val-Spinosa Sullivan endowed scholarships for academic merit in a humanities field.

She has been a teacher’s assistant/para-educator and has tutored, mentored  and volunteered with a wide variety of students in the Seattle area.

The nine 2013 fellows were chosen through a competitive national selection process.

Fellows receive a $30,000 stipend to complete a master’s degree in education, preparation to teach in a high-need public school, support throughout a three-year teaching commitment and guidance toward teaching certification.