Jessica Herring, UCA middle level education graduate and seventh-grade English teacher at Benton Middle School, and two of her students, Ethan Tallent and Blakeley Fiedler, are featured on the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) web page in videos of their speeches to highlight the benefits of Common Core State Standards at the State Board of Education meeting held February 14, 2014.  Articulate and passionate, Herring well represents Benton Middle School and the UCA College of Education.

Herring supports Common Core through her blog Wisdom from the Middle, which drew the attention of ADE Commissioner Tom Kimbrell, who invited Herring to share her ideas and writings to help ADE work through some of the negative issues that have risen on CCSSs.  The Benton School District School Board honored Herring during their January meeting.  In a letter to Superintendent Jeff Collum, Kimbrell said “The Benton School District is very fortunate to have this young teacher working in your district for the children. I find it inspiring that we do have young teachers tackling the tough issues.”

Jessica Herring honored by Benton School District Superintendent Jeff Collum at January board meeting.

Promotional video highlighting the unique Interdisciplinary PhD in Leadership program (LEAD) at the University of Central Arkansas.  For more information, visit https://uca.edu/phdleadership.

Dr. Alicia Cotabish, assistant professor of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and 2013-2015 President of the Arkansas Association of Gifted Education Administrators (AAGEA), recently served as the Keynote Speaker for the 22^nd Annual Conference of the Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented in Brainerd, MN. The conference theme, Pump It Up: Differentiate the Common Core, attracted several hundred conference attendees. Dr. Cotabish presented two keynote presentations tied to her recent book release, Using the Next Generation Science Standards with Gifted and Advanced Learners. Both keynote presentations provided strategies in designing and delivering high quality gifted education programs focused on the Common Core English Language Arts and Mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards.

Several College of Education faculty and alumni will be honored at the annual Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Conference Awards Luncheon on Monday, March 31, at the Fort Smith Convention Center.  AAIM is a group of professional educators dedicated to the improvement of education through the use of technology and media. The group hosts a professional development conference each spring providing educators with workshops specific to instructional technology, media usage, and current innovations in library media.  Each year AAIM recognizes the efforts of educators across the state for outstanding achievements in several categories. These recipients are nominated by their peers and chosen by the AAIM Awards committee. Five out of six award recipients this year have strong UCA College of Education ties as faculty or alumni, and the sixth is a UCA graduate who trained in the College of Education leadership program.

Dr. Michael Mills, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, is to be named Technology Leader of the Year.  This award is given to an Arkansas educator or technology coordinator who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of technology through service to students, teachers, and the community in an Arkansas school, a regional service cooperative, an institute of higher learning, or at the state level. Dr. Michael S. Mills holds a BA in English, an MEd in English Education, and an EdD in Educational Leadership. Dr. Mills has presented extensively on multiple literacy enrichment and the practical integration of educational technology with focus on using collaborative tools to better engage students and designing strategies for effectively integrating mobile devices in the classroom.

Dr. Wendy Rickman, assistant professor in the Department of Leadership Studies for both the Library Media & Information Technologies and the Instructional Technologies graduate programs, has been chosen to receive the Pat McDonald Outstanding Individual Achievement Award.  This honor is awarded to an AAIM member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in promoting media programs and practices that have resulted in an improvement of media usage in instruction.  Dr. Wendy Rickman has over 19 years of teaching experience in P-12 and higher education. Rickman’s work includes collection development practices of school librarians, resource development for diverse populations, and school library programming.

Tracy McAllister, adjunct professor in the Department of Leadership Studies and Library Media Specialist at Bob Courtway Middle School, who received her MS in Library Media and Information Technologies from UCA, is to be given the Herb Lawrence Leadership Service Award. Mrs. McAllister is a National Board Certified Teacher in School Library Media and presents annually at state, regional, and national conferences.  This award is given to honor an AAIM member who has made significant contribution to AAIM and its progress through outstanding service to the Association. Mrs. McAllister is currently working on her doctorate at the University of Memphis.

Erin Shaw, adjunct faculty in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Library Media Specialist at Greenbrier Middle School, who received her MS in Library Media and Information Technologies from UCA, will be the recipient of the School Library Media Specialist of the Year Award, given for individual excellence in the library/media field through service to students, teachers, and community at the K-12 levels. Mrs. Shaw holds National Board Certification in School Library Media and presents annually at state, regional and national conferences. Mrs. Shaw is currently working on her doctorate at the University of Memphis.

Karen Wells, library media specialist at Midland High School in Pleasant Plains who attained an MS in Library Media and Information Technologies from the UCA College of Education, has been chosen to receive the Outstanding Media Program Award for Midland High School.  This honor is given to a member or members of AAIM who have initiated and/or promoted an outstanding media usage program in a school, a district, an academic institution, public library, or community. Mrs. Wells is National Board Certified Teacher in School Library Media.

Scott Jennings, Beebe High School 11-12 principal, was named Administrator of the Year.  Jennings received his Bachelor of Science degree at UCA and completed 12 hours in the College of Education graduate level school leadership program.

The College of Education is proud of these achievements by faculty and alumni of our programs, and we congratulate the AAIM Award Winners for 2014.  This recognition reinforces the College’s commitment to effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning processes.

Kappa Delta Pi met Thursday, February 13 to learn job hunting strategies from experts in the field of education. Mrs. Lora Hendrix, administrator for South Conway County School District, and Mr. David Cawein, Vice-president of Green Bay Packaging and former school board president, shared job hunting strategies with members and guests in attendance. Three strategic areas were shared: doing research and preparation before the interview, how to answer questions during the interview, and how to follow-up after the interview. All who attended learned a great deal to help them with their future job search.

Amy Chronis, KDP officer, is practicing an interview question with David Cawein and Lora Hendrix, both from South Conway School District.

Kappa Delta Pi is an international honor society in education. Pi Beta is the chapter on the UCA campus. KDP promotes and encourages teacher leadership for pre-service and practicing teachers. If you are interested in this organization, contact counselors Mara Cawein or Dr. Nancy Gallavan in the Department of Teaching & Learning in Mashburn, College of Education.

Mary Katherine Stein presents Dr. Debbie Dailey with AGATE’s Challenger Award during the conference held recently in Hot Springs.  Arkansans for Gifted and Talented Education (AGATE) is an independent organization promoting excellence in education, particularly as it relates to gifted and talented children and youth in Arkansas.

Pictured: Debbie Dailey (left); Mary Katherine Stein (right)

The Pi Beta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education at the University of Central Arkansas, presented the Internship II awards for the fall semester. Andrea Flucas was awarded the Student Intern of the Semester. This award is presented to the Internship II student that best exemplifies the four domains of effective teaching.

Andrea’s supervisor, Jane Sharp, nominated her for her high degree of accomplishment and dedication to teaching and to her students. Jane shared, “Concern for each child was demonstrated as she often remained after school to help an ELL student with her work and engaged her mother in the process in order to help build her language skills as well.”

Andrea’s mentor, Sherry Voegele at Magness Creek Elementary in Cabot, has never seen an intern with the superior level of zeal and strong sense of community. Sherry adds, “I’m nominating Ms. Flucas for her abilities and efforts in building and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues, parents and extended staff.”

Andrea Flucas will be asked to return to UCA in the spring for the College of Education’s pinning ceremony on the campus of UCA.

The Pi Beta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education at the University of Central Arkansas, presents Internship II awards each semester for education majors at UCA. Jason Campbell, Ruth Doyle Middle School, received the Mentor Teacher of the Semester award.

Jason Campbell was nominated by his student intern, Emily James. The intern shared, “I can tell he finds joy when students become interested and passionate about reading. Every day I wonder how learning grammar and language arts will be fun and interesting, yet somehow he manages to make it so the kids have a blast learning.” Jason has given unselfishly of his time to help a budding new teacher. Emily feels grateful that she was placed in his class. She said, “He pushed me and challenged me to work my hardest, and because or these high expectations, I feel more equipped as a professional and as an educator.”

Jason Campbell will be invited to the College of Education’s pinning ceremony in the spring on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.

Nancy Gallavan, Emily James, and Mara Cawein present Mr. Jason Campbell with the honor of UCA Mentor Teacher of the Semester.

Ms. Mara Cawein, Instructor II, and Dr. Nancy P. Gallavan, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, co-counselors of the UCA Pi Beta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) traveled to Dallas, TX, in October for the 2013 International Convocation with chapter members Ashleigh Castles, Starla Ritter, and Tasha Seerey.  Together they presented a well-attended session titled: Connecting with Parents: What They Want.  Their presentation was based on two years of research that chapter members conducted, organized, and previously presented at the state Collegiate Middle Level Association Conference and the Arkansas Curriculum Conference.

Dr. Patty Phelps, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, who serves on the KDP International Education Foundation Board, also presented a session with Ms. Cawein titled: Handling the Elephant in the Room: Leading to Achieve National Certification.

Dr. Gallavan presented two sessions titled: Access with Finesse to Impress for Success and Connecting in a BIG Way through TEAMwork.  In her role as the 2013-14 President of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), Dr. Gallavan awarded the KDP/ATE National Student Teacher of the Year at the Celebration Dinner.  Additionally, Dr. Gallavan was recognized as a 2013 initiate of the newly-founded Eleanor Roosevelt Honorary Chapter of KDP International.  This chapter was named for Eleanor Roosevelt because of her belief in human rights, her energy and compassion in serving people, her involvement in community service, and her commitment to educating youth.

This fall, the College of Education Lighthouse Beacons celebrated Beacon Bite Days on December 3 and 4.  Volunteer faculty and staff brought cookies, aka Beacon Bites, and gave them to students as they passed between classes.  Students also were offered copies of the fall final examination schedule and bookmarks with information about the Lighthouse Beacons.  Lighthouse Beacons were available to talk with students about their progress at UCA, answer questions about UCA and the College of Education, advise students with their programs of study, and ask students if they have registered for the upcoming semester.  Initiated in 2010, the Lighthouse Beacons are College of Education faculty and staff who volunteer to (1) collaborate with students support serves at UCA and in Arkansas communities; (2) enhance academic understanding, course completion, and program graduation rates of all students; (3) expand the number and professional of educations produced by UCA so the educator population is more inclusive and reflective of all people; and (4) build stronger bridges with educators in all capacities across Arkansas.  Currently, two events highlight the Lighthouse Beacon outreach: Beacon Bite Days scheduled every semester the week before finals and the Diversity Teacher Candidate Reception held every spring as an opportunity for teacher candidates to meet with faculty to hear about possible programs and available services.  Brilliant teachers light, ignite, and excite learning in others; shine on.  For more information about the College of Education Lighthouse Beacons, email lighthousebeacons@uca.edu.