Thirty-two graduate students across the UW–Madison campus have been selected as recipients of the 2025–26 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Awards, recognizing their excellence in teaching. Among this year’s honorees are four graduate students from the School of Education.
Advanced Achievement in Teaching Award
The Advanced Achievement in Teaching Award recognizes teaching assistants with significant instructional experience who demonstrate strong teaching effectiveness.
Max Yakubovskiy, Educational Policy Studies
Max is a doctoral candidate in Educational Policy Studies focused on international education and global studies. His dissertation examines the lived experiences of queer international students in U.S. universities, attending to questions of belonging, marginalization, and institutional responsibility amid shifting political climates.
He has taught courses on the History of Race and Inequality in Urban America; Gender, Sexuality, and Educational Policy; and Comparative Education. The thing he enjoys most about teaching at UW–Madison is the community.
“I’ve been in academia for a while now, both in the U.S. and Europe, and I’ve seen different traditions, schools, institutions,” he said. “The School of Education at UW–Madison is one of the most nourishing educational spaces one can imagine. And I am honored and proud being part of it, feeling supported, feeling seen and heard.”
Ashley Reece, Educational Psychology
Ashley is a doctoral candidate in the human development area of Educational Psychology, where she studies how cognitive processes influence preschool children’s ability to learn different types of words (for example, abstract words and words with multiple meanings). She has served as the teaching assistant for multiple human development classes spanning infancy through adolescence. Most recently, in fall of 2025, she was the instructor of record for Human Development in Infancy and Childhood.
“The core of my teaching philosophy is fostering students’ growth as independent learners and rigorous critical thinkers. Working with students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison makes this work especially rewarding: they engage deeply, ask incisive questions, and continually challenge themselves and me. Watching their analytical skills grow is one of my favorite things about teaching,” Ashley said. “Additionally, I value the flexibility to refine my courses over time, aligning them with my teaching goals while responding to students’ needs. Sharing my passion for child development and helping students see its relevance in their own lives allows me to support both their intellectual growth and the broader skills they will carry beyond the classroom.”
Shreya Singh, Counseling Psychology
Shreya is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Counseling Psychology. As an international student from India, Shreya’s teaching style is dedicated to fostering inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments. Her teaching focuses on helping students critically engage with questions of culture, identity, and social context in mental health and human development. She has particular experience in leading discussions labs and co-facilitating undergraduate courses in counseling psychology including Race and the Developing Child; Mental Health, Self-Awareness and Social Justice: Working in Diverse Communities; and College Readiness and Academic Skills. She has also served as a teaching assistant in graduate courses for emerging mental health and rehabilitation counselors on crisis and trauma as well as psychopathology.
Shreya’s pedagogical approach emphasizes dialogue, experiential learning, and critical reflection. She integrates intersectionality, biopsychosocial perspectives, and community-engaged learning to help students connect psychological theory with real-world social issues. Her classrooms encourage students to examine their own social locations, engage respectfully across differences, and develop cultural humility for work in diverse communities.
Drawing on her interdisciplinary background in physical therapy, rehabilitation science, and counseling psychology, Shreya brings an integrative perspective to teaching about health, development, and well-being. Her goal as an educator is to prepare students to think critically, act ethically, and contribute to more equitable, socially just, and culturally responsive health practices. At UW–Madison, she especially enjoys working with students from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds, learning about each student’s unique academic journey, and facilitating thoughtful conversations about identity, culture, mental health, and social justice that connect course concepts to students’ lived experiences.
Excellence in Community-Based Learning Teaching Award
The Excellence in Community-Based Learning Teaching Award recognizes teaching assistants who demonstrate outstanding instruction through community-engaged teaching approaches.
Emily Nott, Curriculum and Instruction
Emily (“Em”) is a youth-focused artist, educator, and doctoral candidate in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. They are passionate about education justice and their work uses arts as a transformative tool for social change. Em’s work is dedicated to centering and supporting out-of-school time educators and teaching artists and the young people they engage. In addition to her work as a scholar, Em is an active studio artist working with serigraphy, illustration, and zines, and uses art as part of a praxis of radical imagination and social transformation. Emily has instructed undergraduate classes at UW–Madison in Arts Integration and Social Justice and Intersectionality, as well as been a researcher with the UW Arts Collaboratory and the CALL for Equity Centered Leadership and is a 2026 fellow with the Chicago Learning Exchange. She is active in arts organizing work with Teachers for Social Justice in Chicago and Artists for Radical Imagination in Los Angeles. They recently published Crip Wisdoms, A Feminist Disability Studies Coloring Book (Clovernook press, 2025) with co-author Miso Kwak.
Em previously served as the Director of Learning Communities at After School Matters in Chicago where she built communities of practice, resources, and supports with instructors and teaching artists. Previously, Em developed programs and designed curriculum in public schools, museums, and nonprofit settings. She has presented work at the American Educational Research Association, the Caring Futures convening, the National Women’s Studies Association, and the Ready by 21 National Meeting. She holds a master of education degree in Instructional Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the recipient of a 2024 Humanities Exchange Grant, the 2024 Graduate Peer Mentor Award at UW–Madison, the 2026 Excellence in Community-Based Learning and Teaching award, and the Excellence in Engaged Scholarship award. See Em’s Artworks, Media, and Publications.