By Carrie Madren
Alexandria, Va., resident Brandon Grant Wolfe is attending GW tuition free. In return, he has committed to giving back to the city he lives and studies in through community-based service.
Mr. Wolfe, who is enrolled in GW’s pre-doctoral educational administration and policy studies program, is the first recipient of the City of Alexandria and GW’s Alexandria Partnership Fellowship. The full-tuition fellowship will be awarded annually to a student at the University’s Alexandria Graduate Education Center.
To fulfill his commitment, Mr. Wolfe is creating a more comprehensive service-learning program for Alexandria City Public Schools students, helping them volunteer locally and outside of the classroom. His role, he explains, has included brainstorming, researching successful community service programs, and helping coordinate projects.
“Student volunteer activities include everything from recycling activities to working with soup kitchens,” says Mr. Wolfe, who also serves as the dean of students and emotional disabilities department chair at Falls Church High School in Fairfax County.
Mr. Wolfe’s idea to establish a community service program for students got the fellowship committee’s attention. “It resonated with the committee especially with our representative from the Alexandria school system,” says Connie Mokey, assistant dean for student success and leader of the academic services team for the College of Professional Studies.
The fellowship covers tuition for a certificate or master’s degree for students who are enrolled at GW’s Alexandria Graduate Education Center and who are either an Alexandria resident or employed in the city in their area of study.
“The fellowship was conceived to celebrate our new location and to strengthen the culture of community and service that President Steven Knapp has articulated,” Ms. Mokey says.
Mr. Wolfe is taking two classes at GW per semester, and he hopes to graduate in two years and continue in school administration, eventually moving into the central office. Down the road, he says, becoming a superintendent is an appealing prospect.
“I would recommend the fellowship to anybody who wants to forge a stronger connection with their local community,” he says.
Opened in 2008, GW’s Alexandria Graduate Education Center features smart classrooms and houses programs in art therapy, educational administration and policy studies, educational leadership and administration, engineering and technology management, engineering management and systems engineering, health care corporate compliance, human resource development, landscape design, law firm management, publishing, school counseling, strategic public relations, survey design and sustainable landscapes.