Celebrating Ten Years of Impact: OSD Alumni

Kendrick Bryan

2016 Madison Fellow

Kendrick Bryan (left) pictured with Hon. Diane Sykes, a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, at Georgetown University.

Kendrick Bryan ('09, M.A.E. '12)

Kendrick Bryan is a social studies teacher at LaRue County High School in Hodgenville.  He is always seeking opportunities to increase his effectiveness as a teacher and provide greater opportunities for Kentucky students. He earned degrees in social studies and history in 2009 and a master’s degree in school counseling in 2012. He returned to WKU last fall to pursue a master’s degree in history to become qualified to teach dual credit history classes at LCHS.

In spring 2017, Kendrick worked with the Office of Scholar Development to apply for a James Madison Graduate Fellowship.  The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation aims to create outstanding teachers of the American constitution and offers senior and junior fellowships for current social studies teachers and students in their final year of undergraduate studies, respectively.  As a senior fellow, Kendrick earned a scholarship of up to $24,000 to fund his master’s degree. 

Beyond the dollars and cents, Madison Fellows attend a funded institute over the summer at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Kendrick is enrolled in a graduate course, “The Foundations of American Constitutionalism,” in which he is studying the principles, framing, ratification and implementation of American constitutional government.

 Kendrick will also visit historical sites associated with the U.S. Constitution around Washington, D.C., such as early presidents’ homes at Mount Vernon, Montpelier, and Monticello.  Kendrick may also have the opportunity to meet a sitting Supreme Court justice.

 “I applied for the Madison Fellowship because I want to learn more about the Constitution and ways to instruct my students,” Bryan said. “Students need to understand how, as a governing document, it provides a framework for how our citizens will be governed.”

 “Mr. Bryan became my mentor and taught me one of the most valuable lessons that I have ever learned: education is a never-ending process,” Austin Barnes, current WKU student and Bryan’s former student, said. “He exemplifies this lesson; he is constantly working and learning to become a better educator, mentor, and person.”