Jenifer Berthold Awarded Kohl Fellowship

Jenifer Berthold, a second grade teacher at Madison Elementary School in Wauwatosa, WI and a 1997 Marquette University graduate, was named a recipient of a 2006 Herb Kohl Education Foundation Fellowship. U.S. Senator Herb Kohl established the fellowship program in 1990 to honor educators who exhibit a superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, the gift to motivate others, and for their leadership and service within and outside the classroom. 

Jenifer says she knew that she wanted to be a teacher since she was in kindergarten. In spite of that fact, she initially enrolled in Marquette’s pre-law program. After completing a semester of coursework and realizing that what she really wanted was to share her love for reading with children, she turned her studies to education.

“Coming to Marquette was the best decision of my life,” Jenifer reflects, “Father Wild says the goal for Marquette is transformational education, and I think that’s the perfect way to describe it. I really found out what it was like to make a difference. Marquette changed everything about me.”

Recipients of the Kohl Fellowship and their schools each receive $1,000 grants from the Kohl foundation. Jenifer plans to use hers to attend the Columbia University Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Institute this summer.  “My favorite part of my job is teaching kids to read,” says Jeni, “I love the challenge of meeting the needs of a wide range of children and sharing my own love for books and reading.”

Jenifer Berthold is currently finishing her master’s degree in education at Marquette with an emphasis in literacy instruction. She expects to graduate in December of 2006. When she is not teaching (or studying!) she enjoys reading a good book, traveling with her husband Sean (Coordinator for Housing Services at Marquette and a master’s student in the College Student Personnel Program) and cheering on the Marquette basketball team.