An Essential Part of the Teachers College Future
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Vol. 23 No. 1, Fall 2014 What's inside: Grant Writing: An Essential Part of Alumni Notes ..............................2-9 The Teachers College Future College Notes ..............................2,6 Student Notes .............................3-4 The Teachers College is now 1.5 DEPCO, a company that manufactures robotic Faculty Notes .................................5 years into its 2013-2020 Long- kits, to improve teachers’ and students’ STEM Final Notes ...................................10 Range Plan. The college’s current content knowledge and stimulate and motivate Message vision is sustaining educational students to consider STEM careers. from the excellence and enhancing the The New Foundations Project funded by the Kan- college’s presence with leadership, sas State Department of Education is a partnership IDT Students Present, Dean diversity, and technology. All paths among the department of elementary education/ Network at 2014 AECT to realize this vision start with the early childhood/special education, Emporia State's Convention page 3 faculty, and one of the important paths is grant department of mathematics, and the Emporia writing. The faculty have obtained a variety of public schools. Thirty-five teachers attend two- Adaptive Special grants over the years, but the record over the past week summer institutes for three years (ending in Education Scholarships two years is stellar with funded grants in excess of 2015) to improve student learning by increasing $1.8 million and more faculty than ever writing teacher mathematical content knowledge and the Doubled, Awarded pages 4 and submitting grants. application of the best mathematical practices in Receiving a grant is a win/win/win situation: classroom instruction. TTC's New Leadership and Our students win because they know they are The Advancement Via Individual Determination - Faculty page 5 working with faculty who are leaders in their field. Climate Initiative is a National Science Foundation Our faculty win in three ways — creating knowl- funded partnership among ESU, urban Wichita edge, funding projects of deep professional inter- and rural El Dorado schools, and Butler Com- 2014 Outstanding Recent est, and advancing to promotion and tenure. The munity College to expand access to STEM career Graduate page 9 Teachers College and ESU win because they share opportunities for students from underrepresented the scholarly spotlight when our faculty excel. The populations of minority and first generation educa- 2014 Distinguished Alumni rest of my column illustrates the stunning work tion students. page 9 our faculty are doing. Matt’s collaborators include Dusti Howell, Rehabilitation counseling faculty Katrina Miller instructional design and technology professor; Jean Kansas's New, Renewed and Damara Paris, Counselor Education depart- Morrow, elementary education professor emeri- National Board Certified ment chair Jim Costello, and special education tus; Tiffany Hill, elementary education assistant page 10 Teachers faculty Marj Bock learned in September the professor; Connie Schrock, continued on page 2 Rehabilitation Counseling master’s program at ESU received a grant from the U.S. Department Wichita Couple’s Gift Aimed at Connect with of Education. To address the shortage of qualified Student Success The Teachers College counselors, Get the Heartland Working! Training Highly Competent Rehabilitation Counselors pro- A desire to help students make career choices Visit us on Facebook at www.face- vides scholarships to allow Kansans and Nebras- positioning them for lifelong success was one book.com/ESUTTC to stay con- kans to complete their Master of Science degree of the motivations a Wichita couple shared nected with The Teachers College. in Rehabilitation Counseling while continuing to in contributing to Emporia State University’s work in their positions. comprehensive fund-raising campaign. To find out the news and upcoming Matt Seimears, chair of the department of el- Roger D. and Carla (Bailey) Smith made events of the college, visit its web ementary education/early childhood/special educa- an estate gift in excess of $1 million to Now page at www.emporia.edu/teach/. tion, has collaborated with several faculty on grants & Forever: The Campaign for Emporia State to expand P-12 teachers’ pedagogical knowledge University. Online editions of The Teachers for teaching science, technology, engineering, and A portion of the Smiths’ gift will benefit a College Newsletter are available at math (the STEM disciplines). The Western Kansas- Success Center fund. “We think that’s a very www.emporia.edu/teach/newsletter/. STEM Experiences for All grant funded by the Kan- exciting and critical element for student success sas Board of Regents is a partnership among ESU, and retention,” said Carla Smith. continued on page 2 Garden City and Liberal STEM teachers, and College Notes Grant Writing continued from page 1 Wichita Couple's Gift continued from page 1 mathematics professor; Chris Pettit, physics associate professor; Joseph The Success Kern, ESU’s instructional designer; Helen Williams, curriculum coach; Center will weave George Abel and Ryan Karjala from the Emporia school district; and together academic Robert Carlson from Butler Community College. advising, student School psychology director Jim Persinger’s Kansas Safe Space Initia- retention services tive was funded by the Kansas Health Foundation to partner with the and a learning and Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, Kansas City chapter tutoring center for to create awareness that a majority of sexual minority youth experience students as they harassment at school and feel distress over homophobic language from progress through peers and school staff. The grant provides Safe Space training for pre- their coursework. service teachers and educators throughout the state. Selecting the Instructional design and technology department chair Zeni Colorado necessary courses received funding from the National Science Foundation Cyberlearning to graduate President Michael Shonrock (left) celebrates the gift Roger D. (middle) and Carla (Bailey) Smith (right) made to Emporia State initiative for an early career symposium at the Association for Educa- on time and University to help students succeed in their college careers. The gift tional Communications and Technology international convention in identifying career was celebrated at a reception in Visser Hall's Skillett Atrium on 2012 and 2013. The Early Career Symposium brought together senior options post- September 18. and mid-level faculty to serve as mentors to doctoral students and early graduation are Wichita after working in schools career faculty. additional components of the whose students were from low- School leadership professor Nancy Albrecht, in collaboration with Success Center. income families. “I developed University of Kansas faculty, received a grant from The Longview The Smiths are also gifting a a passion for helping students Foundation to fund Project: The World Matters: Adding Global Com- portion of their estate to establish understand the possibilities that petence to Teacher Education in Kansas. The project goal is to increase two scholarships in their names an education can provide for their awareness of global competence in courses taught to pre-service and to benefit graduates of public future,” she said, noting that one in-service educators and school administrators at Kansas public and high schools in Wichita, where of the scholarships bearing their private colleges and universities. the couple lived and worked names will be directed toward In addition to these successes, ESU’s Reading Recovery program until retirement, Paola (Roger’s Emporia State education majors. is part of a consortium led by Ohio State that also includes Clemson hometown), and Ellsworth (Carla’s “The incredible generosity of and Georgia State. In November Annie Opat, director of the Reading hometown). Carla and Roger makes the goal Recovery program at ESU, was notified the consortium was awarded Roger and Carla first met at the of becoming a teacher attainable a $4 million Investing in Innovation (i3) grant to train special educa- institution of higher education for the fine minds of Kansas tion teachers to improve literacy achievement for the special education known as Kansas State Teachers students,” said Dr. Ken Weaver, population (up to age nine) through individualized lessons in reading College. dean of The Teachers College. and writing. ESU’s allocation is unknown at this time. During the time they attended, “The preparation of teachers Finally, Director of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other the school’s name changed has changed dramatically over 150 Languages (TESOL) Salim Sehlaoui and his collaborators, Cynthia twice, becoming Emporia State years, but Emporia State’s goal has Seguin and Nancy Albrecht in school leadership, have received five University in 1977. remained the same — to prepare U.S. Department of Education grants totalling $6.5 million over the “The education we received professionals whose effective past 13 years. The grants enable teachers to complete TESOL licensure at Emporia State gave us a solid teaching results in student coursework to raise the quality of teaching and learning for English foundation for our careers,” said learning,” Weaver added. learners in over 35 school districts across the state of Kansas. Roger. “In addition, we developed “The Smiths’ philanthropy Kudos to these faculty for their many valuable contributions