Kamille Montgomery ’24, G’25 is staying on campus to pursue a master’s degree in literacy education (birth-grade 12).
Building a diverse teacher workforce is a top priority for Syracuse University’s School of Education—and students like Kamille Montgomery ’24, G’25. A member of the school’s Baldanza Fellows program, which recruits and retains underrepresented teachers, she understands the importance of students seeing themselves in their classroom role models.
“I want my students to know that we share a cultural background,” says Montgomery, a member of the Baldanza Fellows program, which recruits and retains underrepresented teachers.
“I want my students to know that we share a cultural background,” says the Milwaukee native, who earned a bachelor’s degree in inclusive early education and special education (birth-2nd grade). “They should be able to relate to me.”
Montgomery also wants to foster a love for reading in her students. Hence her decision to pursue a master’s degree in literacy education (birth-grade 12). She’s particularly excited to take Early Intervention for Children’s Reading Problems (RED 626), focusing on students who are considered “learning disabled,” “reading disabled” or “dyslexic.”
“Having access to different opportunities is why I’m staying at Syracuse,” says Montgomery, who also volunteers for the Dimensions peer-mentoring group in Multicultural Affairs. “I enjoyed my undergraduate experience here so much that I didn’t think I could replicate it anywhere else.”
Montgomery was a high school senior when an internship at an elementary school sparked an interest in teaching. It didn’t hurt that she was surrounded by several encouraging female educators and principals, including her great-grandmother, who founded a preschool.
“Syracuse feels like home,” Montgomery says, “because it enables people of all ages, backgrounds and identities to come together, be ourselves and be supported by people who understand us.”
