Hoppe, Weber selected as James Madison Fellows

GREEN BAY – Bay Port High School Social Studies Teacher Daniel Hoppe and De Pere High School Educator Laura Weber were recently selected among 43 James Madison Fellows for the 2025 class by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship.

The foundation awards James Madison Fellowships to outstanding graduate and undergraduate students committed to a career teaching about the development and history of the United States Constitution.

“The fellowship recognizes promising and distinguished teachers and it aims to strengthen their knowledge of the origins and development of American constitutional government, and thus to expose the nation’s secondary school students to accurate knowledge of the nation’s Constitutional heritage,” a foundation release stated.

“The 43 James Madison Fellows were selected by an independent academic committee in a competition with applicants from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the nation’s island and trust territories. Fellows were chosen for their scholarly achievements and their demonstrated interest in pursuing a course of graduate study leading to a master’s degree emphasizing the U.S. Constitution. Fellowships were awarded only in states and territories where resident applicants met the James Madison Fellowship’s criteria.”

Named in honor of James Madison — the fourth president of the United States — who is acknowledged as “the Father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” a James Madison Fellowship funds up to $24,000 of each Fellow’s course of study towards a master’s degree.

A fellow’s graduate program must include a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Recipients are required to teach American history, government or civics full-time in a secondary school for at least one year for each year of fellowship support.

Laura Weber’s fellowship — the James Madison Fellows’ Fellowship — is funded in part by contributions from the James Madison Fellows Alumni.