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Dissertation
Wins Foreign Language Teaching Council’s National Award
Anne Cummings (L) and Leslie Schrier. |
Like
other educators, teachers of foreign languages are under increasing
pressure to incorporate computers into K-12 classrooms as
learning aids. But while many teachers use technology for
administrative purposes and recognize its potential as a tool
for language learning, far fewer use computers specifically
for classroom instruction.
That is the main discovery Anne Cummings
(PhD ‘05) found and wrote about in her dissertation
that won a national award from the American Council on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages and the Modern Language Journal.
The ACTFL-MLJ awarded Cummings, now an assistant professor
of Spanish language education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire, the prestigious Emma Marie Birkmaier Award for Doctoral
Dissertation for her significant contribution to the profession’s
advancement.
“I predicted teachers would report a tendency to not
use technology in the foreign language classroom,” Cummings
said. “My survey of K-12 Spanish teachers indicates
just the opposite. Teachers report using computers to different
extents and relate positive beliefs about the potential of
computers for language learning. The remaining question is
how to use technology to powerfully enhance language learning—a
question that I look forward to exploring at the University
of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.”
Associate Professor Leslie Schrier said Cummings’
dissertation was remarkable. “Anne’s research
gives us a useful picture of how and why technology is used
in secondary Spanish language instruction. From her research,
we will be able to enhance our teacher education practices
and assessments.”
Cummings also won an award for her teaching while at the UI.
“She’s a very creative, innovative person and
a pleasure to have as a student and colleague,” Schrier
said.
–by Stephen Pradarelli
IMPACT
Shapes Students, Helps Communities
Jones (L) and her students purphase
items for Hurricane Katrina victims. |
In
her first year of teaching social studies at Cedar Rapids
Roosevelt Middle School, Amy Jones (MAT ’04)
started a service-learning group called IMPACT: Service Learning
to Build Strong Communities and Responsible Citizens. The
group, for eighth-grade students, has doubled in size from
15 the first year to 30 students this year.
The IMPACT group does a variety of community service and fundraising
activities such as helping with Greene Square Park meals,
hurricane relief efforts, Salvation Army bell ringing, creating
a fundraising event called Hunger Awareness Week, raising
$1,300 for Doctors Without Borders, adopting a family at Christmas,
providing public library and museum service, buying holiday
gifts for patients at The University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics Pediatrics floor, and more.
The group has received awards from the school, Governor and
President of the United States and been invited to participate
in civic events in the city of Cedar Rapids.
“My students are so eager and willing to help if someone
shows them the way,” Jones said. “It makes me
so proud to watch their character develop and to help influence
them to be truly participatory members of a democratic society,
shaping and caring for the community in which they live.”
Rudman
Receives Top Honor
Rudman (center) conducts workshop. |
Rebecca
Rudman (MA ’99) was selected the Alumnus of the Year
for the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation for her groundbreaking
work advancing professional development of rehabilitation
counseling.
“Her grace under fire, personal integrity, constructive
and polished communications skills, and solid understanding
of the potential of our profession allowed collaborations
and positive developments when many doubted that forward movement
was possible,” said Professor Vilia Tarvydas, the program’s
coordinator.
An incredible honor for a master’s graduate, Rudman
was chosen chair of the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor
Certification (CRCC) in 2004, and was instrumental in the
creation of the Rehabilitation Counseling Consortium. Her
work in both Canada and the United States has facilitated
growth with a more globalized focus.
Rudman is currently a health management consultant with Sunlife
Assurance Company of Canada. Previously, she was the rehabilitation
director for the Canadian Paraplegic Association. She says
one of the most useful things she learned at Iowa was to focus
on advocacy and the awareness of ethics.
“Advocacy and ethics cuts across everything I do in
working with clients, organizations, and legislators,”
she said.
“Countless people in our profession now and in the future
will benefit from her unusual combination of professional
leadership capabilities and practitioner savvy,” Tarvydas
said. “Her activities add another chapter to the already
proud tradition of professional organizational leadership
of Iowa’s Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation.”
Helping
Kids Keep Up
Benton captivates a student while
tutoring. |
Dctors
diagnosed Chance Moen, 3 ½, with leukemia just weeks
before he was to start preschool.
Frequent hospital visits meant the boy, who his mom, Jamie,
said “loves to learn,” couldn’t go to school.
“I was so disappointed for him because he really wanted
to go to school,” Jamie Moen, a Davenport resident,
said.
Thankfully for families like the Moens, there’s a program
at University Hospitals that helps kids keep up.
Sue Benton (BA ‘73/MA ‘81) has
served as director of hospital tutoring at The University
of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for 14 years. Together with
20 volunteers, she coordinates efforts to obtain children’s
books and homework, create lesson plans, and just be there
to help when needed.
Benton said the program saves kids from a mountain of make-up
work when they return to school.
“Make-up work can be daunting to kids,” Benton
said, “and if they’re not feeling well on top
of it, that can be a
big deal.”
Benton said there are usually three to four children in the
hospital classroom at a time. Benton and volunteers also make
bed-side visits to children who can’t come to the classroom.
Kim Meller, a senior secondary education student, who has
volunteered with Benton for four years said she’s learned
a great deal.
“I get to work with a variety of kids, from all over
the United States and with all types of disability,”
she said.
Emily Winkler, a ninth-grader at Iowa City’s West High
School, said she’ll miss 10 weeks of school while she’s
battling an eating disorder, but tutoring in the hospital
has helped her keep up.
“I’ve actually raised my grade in geometry,”
she said, pausing from her Spanish homework.
Benton said it’s rewarding to know her work helps so
many kids.
“I do feel like I’m an advocate for kids,”
she said. “And no matter what happens, I can feel like
I did something for them every single day.”
–by Heather Spangler
 Krishna
Das (MA ‘00) is the statewide coordinator for the Nonprofit
Management Academy, a program that enhances the management
skills of those serving nonprofit human services groups, hospitals,
government agencies, churches, private schools, arts organizations,
environmental groups, and others in the nonprofit sector.
The academy offers courses covering topics such as leadership
and governance of nonprofit organizations; human, financial,
and volunteer management, fund raising, and marketing.
Das said the collaborative efforts from local organizations
have increased this year and are an indication of the program’s
success. “This is the first time we’ve collaborated
with the total community,” Das said, referring to four
organizations throughout the state that have contributed their
expertise and resources in addition to the six local groups
that started the academy’s Iowa City chapter in 2003.
The academy is one of seven in Iowa modeled after the original
program that started in 1999 in Des Moines through a partnership
with the United Way Management Assistance Program. ©2005
Iowa City Press Citizen
Clint Campbell (BA ’03) recently completed
his master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northern
Arizona University. In January, Campbell and his wife began
a two-year commitment with the Peace Corps in Thailand. Their
combined contributions are in the capacities of teacher trainers
and community outreach project planners.
Sara Schlesinger (BA ’03) is the advisor
for Iowa City West High School’s student newspaper,
the West Side Story. The paper was named a finalist for a
Pacemaker award, the highest journalistic honor given by the
National Scholastic Press Association. Award finalists are
picked based on coverage and content, quality of writing and
reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth
reporting, design, photography, art and graphics.
Under Schlesinger’s lead, the 2004-05 West Side Story
staff was the only Iowa high school newspaper staff to be
chosen as a finalist this year from among 53 finalists around
the world.
Quincy R. Smiling
|
Quincy R. Smiling (PhD ‘ 04) is currently
working to make one of his longtime dreams come true—to
establish an educational and recreational center in his home
state of South Carolina. Progress has been steady in realizing
this dream. Incorporated in October 2004, the Smiling Redemption
Center was granted non-profit status in the fall of 2005.
He is in the process of obtaining land in Clarendon County
for the facility. Recently, the Smiling Redemption Center
launched its capital campaign—Transforming Dreams into
Reality—and is seeking tax-deductible donations. For
more information on the organization and its progress, visit
www.srcenter.info.
Cathy
(Haines) Moore (MA ’90) has recently been promoted
to educational program director for the Wal-Mart corporate
headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
Stacie (Mitchell) Jantzi (BA ’93)
earned her profession’s top honor by achieving National
Board Certification in 2004, according to the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). She currently
teaches fifth grade at Eisenhower Elementary School in Davenport,
Iowa.
Larry Anderson (PhD ’95) is in his
12th year with the Bellefontaine City School District in Ohio.
He is in his third year as superintendent. Previously, he
was the district’s assistant superintendent in charge
of curriculum, instruction, and testing.
Lamont L. Flowers |
Lamont L. Flowers (MA ’98/PhD ’00)
has been named Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership
in Clemson University’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education,
where he serves as director of the Charles H. Houston Center
for the Study of the Black Experience in Education.
In this position, Flowers will produce and distribute research
that addresses an academic achievement gap for blacks as well
as the under-representation of blacks at all levels of education,
from pre-K through college.
“The Houston Center is the only center of its kind at
a public university,” Flowers said. “We’re
uniquely qualified to deliver change and improve education.”
 Gary
Holst (PhD
’80) retired as the superintendent at Turkey Valley
Community Schools in Jackson Junction, Iowa.
Burang Goree-Ndiaye (PhD ‘81), the
founder and principal of Cates International Academy in Kanifing,
Gambia, affirmed that university education is necessary for
a nation’s development.
In a University of The Gambia convocation lecture, Goree-Ndiaye
said, “University education creates benefits that transcend
the individual benefits in terms of growth, social cohesion,
and the transmission of values. It supplies the society with
high-level manpower in all the areas necessary for economic
and social development.” ©2005 Daily Observer
Cal Stoltenberg
|
Cal Stoltenberg (PhD ‘81) received
the American Psychological Association’s 2005 Award
for Distinguished Contributions of Applications of Psychology
to Education and Training.
The APA Board of Educational Affairs cited the following for
their decision, “For his profound impact on our understanding
of the implication of trainee developmental processes on supervisory
practice and for his professional leadership, particularly
in the area of training. An early starter whose seminal article
on trainee development was published while he was still a
doctoral student, Cal D. Stoltenberg not only influenced a
generation of supervision researchers but has continued to
refine his model on the basis of his own scholarship. Through
his professional leadership, his writings, and his practice
as an educator and supervisor, he has been an unflagging champion
of the scientist-practitioner model.”
For the past 19 years, Counseling Psychology Professor Stoltenberg
has been either director of training (15 years) or department
chair (4 years) in the Department of Educational Psychology
at the University of Oklahoma. He is a Fellow of APA divisions
17 and 43, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Society
and the American Association of Applied and Preventative Psychology.
Loreto R. Prieto (BA ‘84/PhD ‘96),
an associate professor of counseling psychology at the University
of Akron, was named a Fellow of the American Psychological
Association in divisions 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology)
and 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). Less than four
percent of the more than 150,000 members of the APA hold Fellow
status.
In addition, Prieto was recently awarded the University of
Akron College of Education Madge W. Harrington Professorship
for two years. The Harrington Professorship, which carries
a stipend and funds for faculty development activities, is
awarded to faculty who demonstrate high levels of research
productivity. To date, Prieto has authored over 100 publications
and presentations, primarily in the areas of multicultural
psychology and the teaching of psychology.
Terry Davis
|
Terry Davis (BA ‘84/TEP ‘88)
is currently the principal at Port St. Lucie High School in
Florida. Representatives of the Palm Beach County School District
recruited Davis in 1988 at a UI College of Education job fair.
After teaching in a drop-out prevention program in Palm Beach
County for nine years, Davis became an assistant principal
at a new Palm Beach County High School for two years, then
an assistant principal in St. Lucie County for six years before
being promoted to his current position this past May.
Davis credits his UI College of Education preparation as providing
him with a solid foundation that continues to contribute to
his success.
 Tim
L. Fowler
(BS ’72) retired as Madison Elementary School principal
in Cedar Rapids.
G. Peter Ienatsch |
G. Peter Ienatsch (PhD ‘73) recently
retired from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin,
Odessa, Texas, where he served as dean of the School of Education
since 1994. He began as a founding faculty member at the University
in 1973, became a full professor in 1986, and served as director
of the Division of Education from 1986 to 1994. He taught
in the public school system from 1962-71 when he pursued his
doctorate at UI in Language Arts Education and Educational
Administration.
William Allan Kritsonis (PhD ’76)
is a professor in Educational Leadership at Prairie View A&M
University in Texas.
Robert C. McNiel (PhD ’77) retired
as assistant administrator for the Grant Wood AEA in Cedar
Rapids.
Wise reads to his students. |
Lee Wise (PhD ’78) retired after 38
years in education, 20 as a superintendent in Iowa, Ohio,
and Virginia.
“Who’d have believed that?” Wise asked.
“I just wanted be a wrestling coach.”
Wise’s career, which included teaching and coaching
at high school and college levels and serving on the Board
of Control for Athletics in Iowa and Virginia, ended with
one of his most rewarding moments in administrations. After
serving just three years at Dinwiddie Public Schools, Wise
was named Virginia’s Region I 2005 Superintendent of
the Year.
When asked what his key to success has been, Wise simply replied,
“I hire good people.”
Wise has made his career being a people person and team player,
and he says, by liking kids—everybody’s kids.
Hawkeye blood runs deep in the Wise family. All three of his
children graduated from the UI. Shannon Wise
(JD ‘01) practices law in Minneapolis; Lee (L.J.)
Wise (BA ‘99), former Hawkeye defensive back
from ’95-99, is a financial analyst at Rockwell Collins;
and Zachary Wise (BS ‘02) has a degree
in science education.
Marilyn
Penn (BA ’65) has been teaching fourth grade
at Sun Prairie, Wisc., for the past 23 years. In addition
to her educational responsibilities, Penn is an active volunteer
for her community. Currently, she serves as chair of the Sun
Prairie Park, Recreation, and Forestry Board, where she helps
oversee city employees as they run the parks and programs.
With Sun Prairie being one of the fastest growing cities in
Wisconsin, she says it has been a challenge for the park system
to keep up with the expansion.
This position also places Penn on the Plan Commission, where
all new city developments concerning zoning come for approval.
She says she enjoys the opportunity to serve her community.
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