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ATTLEBORO -- As a child, Gracieta Small used to help her Portuguese parents learn the answers to U.S. history questions so they could pass their citizenship tests.

Small says her interest in U.S. history was kindled by those questions about the president and the Constitution. Now her thirst for knowledge about America's origins is taking her even deeper into the study of U.S. history.

Small, who holds a master's degree in International Development from American University in Washington, D.C., was recently notified that she will receive a $24,000 fellowship to pursue a master in history.

"I love this country," said Small, a second-year history teacher at Lincoln High School in Lincoln, R.I. "I feel very blessed to be an American."

Small, who was born in the United States, was awarded the fellowship by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation of Washington, D.C., which was established by an act of Congress in 1986. Named for the fourth president and the father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the purpose of the fellowship is to encourage the study of the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution.

Small competed with applicants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The fellowship is funded by corporate donations and fellowship grants.

Recipients have five years to complete their coursework and are required to teach U.S. history or social studies in a secondary school for at least one year for each year of fellowship support.

Small said she plans to pursue her degree at Providence College. Besides imbuing her students with a love of history, Small has ventured outside the box in getting students to think about their heritage.

One assignment was to develop a Monopoly-like game dramatizing Jeffersonian politics. Small has also helped students publish their own illustrated profiles on Abraham Lincoln and other historical figures.

Small and her husband, William, live in Attleboro.

RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.