Each year the program selects six fellows, placing two each in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia.
Telingator, an education and government double major from Cambridge, Massachusetts, said he applied for the fellowship for the chance to work for Jumpstart Boston, one of FAO Schwartz's partner organizations this year.
Jumpstart is an early education organization with locations across the US. It provides language, literary, and social-emotional programs for preschool children in low-income communities to promote high-quality early learning for every child.
Telingator said he was attracted by the fellowship's combination of "direct service and policy special-project work." Plus, he added, he likes working with little kids.
As an FAO Schwartz Fellow, Telingator will have responsibilities such as sitting on an early education committee that is trying to establish universal pre-K in Massachusetts. For the direct service component, he could be asked to visit Jumpstart sites to identify gaps in programming and to research how well the organization is reaching all the students who could benefit from it.
Beyond his major in education, Telingator has pursued his interest in education by leading a mentoring program at Bath Middle School and serving as a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick. This winter, he did an alternative winter break project with Year Up in Boston.
He has also led antiracism efforts on campus. He served as head facilitator for Real Talks on Race and helped to develop the curriculum for Exploring Racial Justice: An Intragroup Dialogue for White-Identified Students, offered through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
He is one of four seniors in the Class of 2021 recognized by President Clayton Rose for leadership outside the classroom. "He has been a significant force of good and change at Bowdoin and in the Brunswick community throughout his four years," Rose said at the recent awards ceremony.
In a letter he wrote to Jumpstart, Telingator explained he wants to dedicate his "professional life to addressing the inequities in access to high-quality early education and care throughout the country, especially focusing on the socioeconomic and racial factors that lead to discrepancies in access."
