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American Star Teacher
Potthoff treats her students like readers and writers from the beginning. |
Turning kindergarteners into readers earned teacher Susan McAreavy Potthoff (BA '72) one of 51 national awards from the U.S. Secretary of Education. Potthoff received the American Star of Teaching award for New Hampshire based on her students' academic achievements.
Potthoff teaches kindergarten at Bakersville Elementary School , a small, low-income school in Manchester , New Hampshire . One-third of her students are English-as-a-second-language students, speaking six languages. Potthoff's students showed rapid growth in reading skills-94 percent were reading by the year's end and 58 percent were reading at an above-average level. She said even children who didn't know the entire alphabet worked hard at writing assignments on their own and with classmates.
"If you treat students like readers and learners, writers and authors from the beginning, they will be," Potthoff said. "Everything is in there; you just have to help pull it out."
Many members of the McAreavy family are University of Iowa College of Education graduates. Potthoff's father, John F. McAreavy (PhD '69), studied Educational Psychology; her uncle, Thomas McAreavy (BSPE '59/MA '72), studied Educational Administration; her cousin, Mary Sue Bontrager (BS '80/MA '98), studied Elementary Education and Educational Administration; and her youngest sister, Molly Elizalde (BA '93), is currently enrolled in the English Education master's program.
"The roots nurtured by my family of educators have allowed me to extend a deep commitment for education and community," Potthoff said.
She received a master's degree from Cambridge College in Boston in 1996.
A Day in the Life of an Independent Scholar
Bywater Cross by a Nancy Page Serial Pattern Newspaper Contest basket quilt, circa 1930 |
As a quilt historian, one of my important objectives is to make public presentations. This occurs on all levels of age-related education.
I currently participate in the Oregon Council for the Humanities Chautauqua Lecture Program where I travel throughout the state presenting public lectures at libraries, historical societies, senior centers, and other non-profit organizations. My audiences reflect a wide range in age and interest, which adds texture and interest from their personal experience in making and using quilts.
I also serve as a resource for teachers ranging from second grade to senior high. Having written the book on Oregon Trail-related quilts, I'm often invited to speak before fourth-grade classes as they begin their study of the Oregon Trail . Last spring, I was the featured guest for a student teacher at Lake Oswego , Oregon 's Palisades Elementary School .
Drawing on my personal experience of attending University Elementary School and teaching at Iowa City 's Herbert Hoover Elementary School , I enjoy teaching children about the trail experience.
Other work projects include teaching Elderhostel courses on quilt history in Oregon and lecturing at the Hoover Presidential Library Sunday in the Park series and at Oaknoll Retirement Center in eastern Iowa .
I continue to use my University of Iowa student and teacher education as I encourage and participate in experiential education. I think I am one of the few who received Ernest Horn's influence both as a six year old and as a twenty-one year old!
Mary Bywater Cross (BA '64) is a quilt historian and independent scholar with a specialized interest in Western women's history. Her research is supported by on-site visitations to the areas where these women traveled, lived, and worked. She is the author of two books published by Rutledge Hill Press on the subject: Treasures in the Trunk: Quilts of the Oregon Trail and Quilts & Women of the Mormon Migrations .
New Las Vegas School Named for Aldeane Ries
Aldeane Reis |
The new Aldeane Comito Ries Elementary School slated to open in Las Vegas next fall has been named for University of Iowa alumna, former teacher, and principal of Nevada 's largest high school.
"It is truly difficult to come up with a statement that describes how I feel about this honor because throughout my career, I never felt that what I was doing was about me," Aldeane Ries (BA '62) says. "It was only about kids and doing things for the right reasons."
Although retired, Ries remains active in education as a mentor to new principals and a member of the Governor's Commission for Professional Licensing in Nevada .
Ries said she asked officials to include her maiden name, Comito, in the school name in honor of her parents. Her father, Al Comito, was basketball coach for many years at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines . Roosevelt 's gym is named for him, and he is included in the Iowa Coaches Hall of Fame.
After graduating from the UI, Ries said she moved out to Las Vegas "on a lark," fell in love with the city, and stayed.
Ries initially taught elementary school but later held positions as a dean of students, a recruiter for a vocational school, an assistant principal and then a high school principal. She subsequently earned a master's degree in elementary education and is certified in counseling, administration, secondary education, and vocational education.
Wherever she went and whatever she did, she always carried Iowa with her.
"In 1994 I became the first woman to open a high school in our district," she said. "As it was brand new, we created everything from the jump, with the exception of the school name, which was Silverado. We became the Silverado Skyhawks and our logo is the Tiger Hawk."
She said she had an artist alter the logo enough to avoid copyright infringement of the UI's Hawkeye logo.
"But in reality the change is so subtle one could not tell the difference," she said. "On the football stadium press box it says 'Go Hawks' with a giant Tiger Hawk."
When the school opened, it had 1,100 students. Six years later enrollment had grown to nearly 4,000, making it the largest high school in the state.
The Aldeane Comito Ries Elementary School dedication is slated for spring 2006.
Susan Koscielak (MS '91) has been teaching science at Weeks Middle School in Des Moines since 1976. This spring her class participated with The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, in partnership with the Clínica Médica Latina de Des Moines, with its first Mini Medical School program focusing on Latino health.
Developed especially for Latino families, the program consisted of sessions for adults and children, followed by free health screenings such as glucose checks, blood pressure checks, and body mass index evaluations. The children's session, presented by UI medical students, provided the schoolchildren with fun, hands-on demonstrations and experiments about the heart and lungs, as well as the five senses.
"The Mini Medical School was an incredible opportunity as many of our students are not aware of these careers being available to them," Koscielak said.
Dau-shen Ju |
Dau-shen Ju (MA '92/PhD '97) became director of The University of Iowa's Student Disabilities Services in August 2004, where he facilitates academic accommodations for students with disabilities. The Center serves over 600 students with various types of disabilities. Ju is also the assistant director of the University Counseling Center . He was recently honored by the Iowa Council for International Understanding with the Passport to Prosperity award, which recognizes immigrants who have made valuable contributions to their communities.
Kelli J. Durbin-King (BA '96) is a counselor at North Scott Junior High School in Eldridge , Iowa , and at Western Illinois University in Macomb , Ill , where she is currently finishing her internship in the M.S. Ed. program for counseling. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota, the international honor society for students, professional counselors, and counselor educators established in 1985.
David Staten |
David Staten (PhD '98) directs the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at South Carolina State University , which is the nation's oldest program of its kind at a historically black college. Staten has been director of the program since 2001. He says the best part of his job is the ability to mentor and nurture students of color and create professionals who will help enhance the quality of life for persons with disabilities.
Staten says Professor Dennis Maki's model of supervision and Professor Tarvydas's ethical model for decision making are cornerstones for how he teaches. "They instilled the value of sensitivity, as well as seeing the dignity and worth of all people, especially those with disabilities."
Rebecca Kaza Kimmerle (BA '99) teaches health and physical education at Poca High School in Poca, W.V.
Kristin (Stack) Hale (BA '85) received a Masters of Education in Instructional Technology from American Intercontinental University Online in December. She is currently a kindergarten teacher at Sandia Base Elementary School in Albuquerque , N.M. After having lived away from Iowa since graduation, Hale plans to move back to Iowa this summer and says she "can't wait to be back in the land of the Hawkeyes!"
Beth Swantz (BA '87) completed her master's degree in education from Graceland College in Lamoni , Iowa . Her action research project was entitled "The Effects of Storytelling: Interest and Understanding in a Fourth Grade Classroom." Swantz currently teaches fourth grade at Kalona Elementary School in Kalona , Iowa .
 Susan Knauer Schoenherr (MA '72/EdS '73) retired from Pontiac ( Ill. ) Township High School in June 2004 where she was working as department chair of special education.
Margo Sievers (BA '72) has been teaching for 27 years and currently teaches first grade at Sioux Central Elementary in Sioux Rapids, Iowa . She also teaches adult education classes through Iowa Lakes Community College and Iowa Central Community College . She serves as president of Delta Kappa Gamma, an educational sorority for women.
Sievers was honored as one of the five finalists for Iowa's 2004 Excellence in Education awards sponsored by the Iowa State Education Association, WHO Radio, and KDSM Fox 17. Nominated by parents of her former students, Sievers was recognized for her unique way of teaching students. Parent Pam Cronin writes, "She always has a kind word and finds a way to draw out even the most difficult child. She makes each child special and they all work so hard for her."
Sievers has been nominated for a Disney American Teacher award that honors those teachers whose approaches exemplify creativity in teaching and who inspire a joy of learning in their students.
She is in her fourth year performing the "Mother Goose on the Loose" literacy program across Iowa for library summer reading programs-a one woman, one goose, one-hour show.
Jim Tiedemann (BS '72/MA '78/PhD '98) retired last June after spending 12 years teaching elementary students and 18 years working as an elementary principal in six different Iowa communities.
"Working with kids is still the best," Tiedemann writes, "but you have to be young enough to have that needed energy."
Tiedemann uses his energy now to follow the Iowa Hawkeyes and his former elementary students in their high school activities.
Lisa R. Ehrlich (MA '77/PhD '81) has been promoted to assistant vice president at Measured Progress, an educational assessment company. Ehrlich is leading the team providing management support and oversight for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), a large-scale assessment contract awarded this spring to the company. In her new capacity, Ehrlich will oversee numerous functions for the MCAS contract, including item and test development, program management, administration, scoring, and reporting. She will also oversee the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA), an assessment for students learning English as a second language.
Ehrlich joined Measured Progress as a project director in 1994. Since then, she has assumed positions of increasing responsibility in client and testing services, project management, and process improvement. Ehrlich brought to Measured Progress extensive experience, both in the private sector and academia, in program management, instructional design and research, teaching, and training.
The author of numerous publications about instructional design, distributed learning, and the classroom of the future, Ehrlich has also conducted workshops and consulted extensively for both the public and private sectors, worldwide.
"Lisa is a wonderful asset," said Measured Progress President and CEO Stuart R. Kahl. "I have the greatest confidence that she will lead the MCAS program with vision, precision, and creativity." ©2004 Seacoast Newspapers
Katherine Hiyane-Brown (MA '77) says she feels right at home on the campus of Normandale Community College, where she was named the president of the largest of Minnesota's community colleges.
"This is an exceptional institution, with a committed faculty and staff and involved students interested in learning," Hiyane-Brown said.
Hiyane-Brown also wants to keep Normandale a school where students can obtain an affordable higher education and to remain one that attracts a wide diversity of students. Currently, Normandale has 8,562 full- and part-time students.
Since 1991, Hiyane was an administrator at Tacoma Community College in Washington, which has more than 8,500 students. From 1987 to 1991, she served as dean of instruction at Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Hawaii. She was associate dean of instruction and staff development coordinator at Muscatine Community College in Muscatine, Iowa, from 1977 to 1987.
Hiyane-Brown holds a doctoral degree in education from the Oregon State University Community College Leadership Program. © Sun Newspapers
Charles F. (Rick) Gressard (PhD '79), an associate professor in the Counseling Program at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, was selected Alumnus of the Year for the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation for his outstanding international contributions.
"You can't always worry about having the perfect plan-you've got to just get out there and do it," says Gressard, who has traveled everywhere from Geneva to Africa, and Paris to Hong Kong.
With 26 years experience in the field of addictions counseling and addictions counselor education, he uses counseling as a framework for mental health around the world-a framework based on solid vocational training and diverse perspectives.
"What we learn at The University of Iowa is not only valuable for local and national communities, but makes a tremendous contribution to the rest of the world," he said.
Patricia Larson Krueger (BA '66) is director of admissions at St. Cloud State University , Minnesota 's second largest institution of higher education. She has been with admissions since 1985.
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