UW Students Receive 2024 Serviceship Awards

The University of Wyoming’s School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies and Service, Leadership and Community Engagement office have presented the Stewart Family Serviceship Award, which will fund two student projects this year -- one undergraduate project and one graduate student project.

Jessica Petri, of Green River, an undergraduate student majoring in political science and secondary education, has been selected to receive the award for her project “Community Empowerment: Teaching English to Burmese War Refugees for a Brighter Future.”

Her work teaching English to Burmese refugees at Karine National College in Thailand will not only allow her to fulfill her goal to help students finish their education, but also prepare her for her teaching career and future work in international education policy as an advocate for the right to education.

“The opportunity for me to make a positive impact on the lives of these war refugees through education is only possible this year because of this serviceship award,” Petri says.

Additionally, psychology graduate students Theresa Andrzejewski, of Madison, Ala., Alison Tassone, of North Adams, Mass., and Kaitlyn Breitenfeldt, of Urbana-Champaign, Ill., have been selected to receive the Stewart Family Serviceship Award for 2024 for their “Laramie Autism and Developmental Services (LADS)” project.

“We are deeply honored and profoundly grateful to be the recipients of the 2024 Stewart Family Serviceship Award,” the group says in its thank-you letter. “This award not only validates our efforts, but significantly enhances our learning and growth as clinicians in training.”

The LADS project, which was developed in collaboration with Albany County School District 1 and the Developmental Preschool and Day Care Center, is designed to offer crucial services to youth in the community who require screening and assessments to receive the support and accommodations they need.

Each project will receive $5,000 to support its expenses.

“These projects are precisely the kind of project the Stewart Award was created to support,” says UW Professor Jean Garrison, who chairs the Stewart Award Committee. “Namely, a project that addresses an important community need and real-world challenge.”

The serviceship award is funded by the Stewart family in honor of late parents Clyde and Jerrine Stewart, of Sheridan, who served as examples of people immersed in family, community and work.

To learn more, email Garrison at garrison@uwyo.edu.