5/19/2009 - Evan Daniel Clapsaddle, a graduate of Western Carolina University, is the winner of a prestigious 2009 James Madison Fellowship, a national award he will use to return to the university and pursue graduate-level academic work. Clapsaddle is the first alumnus in the university’s history to both win the fellowship and apply it toward study at Western Carolina.

The James Madison Fellowship supports graduate study for teachers of secondary school American history, American government and social studies. Its focus is strengthening teacher knowledge about the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution, knowledge that the fellows in turn can share with their students. Clapsaddle’s was one of 55 fellowships awarded this year, each worth $24,000.

Clapsaddle graduated from Western Carolina in 2002 with bachelor’s degrees in history and social sciences education and teaches 11th grade U.S. history at Swain County High School in Bryson City. He and his wife, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, and their infant son, Ross, live in Whittier. Clapsaddle has been a teacher at Swain County High School for four years and is an assistant football coach there. He plans to begin his graduate studies in history at Western Carolina this fall.

“I’m so proud to attend Western’s program over any others,” Clapsaddle said. “The professors there have gone out of their way to make this happen, and they have really inspired me to do something with my degree. I don’t just teach history. I live it, and I love it.”

Elizabeth McRae, WCU associate professor of history and director of the social sciences education program, called Clapsaddle “an exceptional teacher” and wrote a letter of support for his winning fellowship application. McRae worked with Clapsaddle during his undergraduate years, including the observation of his student teaching. For the past several years, Clapsaddle also has served as a resource for McRae’s education students.

“Evan could choose any university for this fellowship. It’s a credit to Western that he has chosen to do it here, and it’s a credit to us that he is one of our undergraduates,” McRae said. “It also points to the strength of our regional public schools that one of their teachers is a James Madison Fellow.”

The fellowship includes a six-week summer course at Georgetown University on the foundations of the Constitution. The institute, worth six class credits, includes meeting senators and a Supreme Court justice and visiting relevant historical sites. “I’ll be right in the thick of things,” Clapsaddle said.

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, located in Washington, is an independent establishment of the executive branch of the federal government. Income from a U.S. Treasury trust fund, corporate contributions, private gifts and foundation grants fund the fellowships.

A committee of professors and past fellows selects the award recipients, said Lewis Larsen, foundation vice president. The awards vary in number each year, but in general the goal is to choose a recipient from each of the 50 states, Larsen said. The competition also is open to residents of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and U.S. island and trust territories.

The fellowship requires recipients to teach American history or social studies in a secondary school for a specific length of time. The fellowship attracts individuals who are committed to teaching because failure to honor these terms requires reimbursement of the award money, Larsen said.

North Carolina applicants traditionally are strong, Larsen said. “It’s always a great state for us. We typically receive about five highly competitive applications,” he said. 

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Last modified Tuesday, May 19, 2009.