Major Impact
Place struts his stuff at Kinnick Stadium. |
Ever since first grade, Dameon Place knew he wanted to be a teacher. It was the impact his teacher, Mrs. Deloris Shuman, made.
“She is one of those teachers who personally connects with students,” Place said. “She makes her students feel comfortable and made learning fun.”
Place wanted to be a teacher just like Mrs. Shuman, who supported him all through school, attending his music concerts, encouraging his education. “Over the years, we always kept in touch. We still do,” he said.
Then another great teacher provided Place with an influential jolt—his junior high band director, Mr. Bill Van Devender.
“Knowledge just poured out of Mr. Van Devender,” Place said. “He is the kind of teacher students learn a great deal from, but aren’t aware of how it happens.”
That’s when Place decided he was not going to teach just any subject. He was going to teach music.
After a year at a small private college, Place felt like he got lost, and it wasn’t until he transferred to The University of Iowa that he felt more connected and part of a close-knit unit.
In one of his first courses in the College of Education, Educational Psychology Lecturer Mitch Kelly (BA ’87/MA’91/PhD ’95) impressed Place as a model teacher who grabs his students’ attention.
“Dr. Kelly pushes his students in the right direction without them feeling pushed at all,” Place said. “I strive to be that kind of caring teacher.”
Place excelled at Iowa. Not only did he play saxophone in the University’s top symphony band, but he wowed crowds at Kinnick stadium as the Hawkeye Marching Band’s drum major.
“First and foremost, Dameon is an excellent musician,” said Hawkeye Marching Band Director Kevin Kastens. “He possesses a positive podium personality and is a strong leader.”
Place proves to be a strong leader in the band-room as well as on the field. |
Applying what he learned in his music courses, Place created the drill, arranged the music, and taught a halftime show for the Hawkeye Marching Band, a most unusual accomplishment for an undergraduate student anywhere in the country.
Music Education Professor Don Coffman says Place’s passion, initiative, and good humor are remarkable. “I could always count on him to tackle the most musically challenging projects,” he said.
Coffman respected Place’s teaching and interpersonal skills so much that he invited him to instruct the saxophones in his New Horizons Band for senior citizens.
“They responded so well to his leadership that I subsequently allowed him to share the podium for a semester, culminating in a guest conductor role during our joint concert with the UI Symphony Band. Dameon is diligent, sincere, cooperative, responsible, and deeply committed to music and bands. I can not think of a finer young man.”
Place also served as head counselor at the summer All-State Music Camp and organized special workshops and educational field trips for peer undergraduate band students.
Place says it is experiences like these that just aren’t possible at other schools.
“Words can’t describe how grateful I am for my educational experiences at Iowa,” he said.
A Banner Year for Gulseth
Gulseth is Miss Illinois USA |
Playing an important role in children’s lives is the most important thing for Jill Gulseth. That…and winning the title of Miss USA 2005.
Gulseth, an elementary education and psychology major, is the reigning Miss Illinois USA 2005. As a beautiful person both inside and out, her passionate determination is bound to lead to fulfillment of all her dreams.
Gulseth believes education is one of the biggest influences on children. “Education determines a child’s future,” she said. “I want to teach children not only because I love their curiosity to learn and explore, but because I want to explicate that it is not always what you know but how you use what you know to your advantage.”
Human Relations instructor Julianne McNalley has watched Gulseth’s talent and passion for elementary education grow over the last three years.
“Jill works hard in class,” McNalley says. “Her ability to impress the crowd will serve her well when she’s head of the classroom.”
Using her many assets to her advantage, Gulseth is taking time off this semester to charm a different sort of audience. Competing for Miss USA 2005, she’ll sport a radiant smile and hard-won self confidence.
Gulseth, a childhood tomboy, likes to meet challenges head on. Not only did she master a vital beauty-pageant skill—walking confidently in high heels—she learned to master an assertive attitude and honest confidence, in large part through her own avid reading.
"Children look up to me while I wear my Miss Illinois banner..." |
Gulseth says she needs to believe in herself before she can allow others to believe in her. “I have a saying that I frequently repeat to myself that keeps me motivated to follow my passions. ‘To dream anything you want, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything you want, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed,’” she said.
Gulseth sees a strong connection between being Miss Illinois USA and a future teacher. “Children look up me while I wear my Miss Illinois banner, the way they look up to their teachers,” she said. “We are people that have the opportunity to make a child feel special inside.”
Editor’s Note: Gulseth was not only named third runner up in the Miss USA pageant, but was also offered a contract with Donald Trump’s modeling agency. Gulseth said Trump, one of the pageant’s owners, told her, “’I wanted Miss Illinois to win; I’m just telling it like it is.’” It’s certain Gulseth will have a successful career, no matter where her abilities and talents take her.
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