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Kiian-Lim Beh (PhD ’00) teaches in the Faculty of Education, MARA University of Technology (UiTM) in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. She writes, “I still remember the good time I had and the beautiful people around during my stay at Iowa City.”

Lucia Osa-Melero (MA ‘01/MAT ’02) has been a lecturer and coordinator of the upper division advanced grammar level of the department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas, Austin for the past six years.

Osa-Melero’s book, En Contexto: Manual de lecturas y peliculaswas published in 2007. The workbook focuses on socio-political texts and movies with a strong socio-political message that accompanies the textbook, Punto y Aparte. Her second book, En Comunidad: Comunicacion y Conexion was published in Nov. 2008. A Spanish book for second-year college students, this text incorporates a strong focus on community service learning and volunteer abroad experiences.

Associate Professor Inmaculada Pertusa at Western Kentucky University says she appreciates the “sections in each chapter dedicated to community service/service learning that encourage students to get involved in their community. This is something we all try to integrate in our courses, but it is always difficult to do when it is not directly connected to the textbook,” she said.

Assistant Professor Khedija Gadhoum at Clayton State University agrees. “I like the great variety of exercises that any instructor can use in and outside of class in order to engage their students. I find the vocabulary and the reading activities refreshing and relevant to our global economy, society, and politics today.”

Hyun Sook Yi (PhD ’05) is an assistant professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea.

Erica Cerrone (BA ’06) has been the managing director of the Huntington Learning Center in Plymouth, Minn., for two years. In this capacity, Cerrone works closely with families and schools to help K-12 students attain the skills, confidence, and motivation they need to improve classroom performance. She also assists with test preparation for SAT and ACT college entrance exams. With the mission to give each child the best education possible, the Learning Center in Plymouth is one of the most successful supplemental education centers in the nation.

If you’re a licensed teacher living in the Twin Cities area and are interested in teaching part time on evenings and weekends, visit www.huntingtonlearning.com/. Cerrone says, “The more Hawkeyes on staff, the better!”

Jason S. Plosch (BM ’95) is the deputy commander of the United States Air Force Academy Band at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Col. In this position, Plosch serves as the assistant conductor for the concert band, helps with music programming, band policy, touring, and visiting dignitaries. The Academy Band’s main mission is to provide troop morale, recruiting and community outreach.

Jason Plosch

Plosch began his service as an enlisted trumpeter in 2001 with the USAF Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. In 2007, he was deployed to southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa with the brass group, Hot Brass. The band also performed for President G.W. Bush in Kuwait in January 2008.

Last August Plosch was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the USAF, where he serves as one of two officers in a squadron of 65 enlisted cadets. He is one of over 500 world-class, professional musicians working to preserve the national heritage by providing professional musical products and services for official USAF military functions, recruiting, and community relations events. For more information about the program, visit www.usafacademyband.af.mil/.

Siddens’ Work Honored Stephanie Siddens (PhD ’99), the assistant director of the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness at the Ohio Department of Education, was recognized as its “Rising Star.” Siddens, center, honored by Ohio Department of Education. Siddens’ boss, Director Sandy Miller, who nominated her for the award wrote, “From the moment she arrived, Stephanie was ready and willing to tackle the work and does so with a smile, optimism, and passion.” Siddens has accomplished much in the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness, including taking the office from a conceptual model of accountability to implementation of an integrated system; assisting in the development of program quality measures; managing a complex sampling procedure for program reviews and data collection; and taking the lead in the development of a data suite to assure external customer ease with data submission and internal assurance of integrity. Siddens is currently assisting with drop-out prevention, Individual Learning Plan workgroup, Center for Students, Families and Communities with performance council presentations and working with ODE legal and technical leadership in assisting in state cross-agency work to meet one of the goals of the governor’s Early Childhood Cabinet. “Stephanie inspires staff to do their best,” Miller wrote. “Her attention to detail, her manner of ‘soft’ questions, and of identifying the strengths of others paves the way for the kind of dialogue needed to advance our work. She sees beyond the day-to-day tasks to the vision of what she believes will lead to better outcomes and therefore achievement in the future.”

Cindy (Kubby) Johnson (BA ’80) is making a difference in the lives of students, teachers, and administrators in her Las Vegas school district. Johnson, who has been a teacher in Las Vegas for 24 years, is a member of the Teaching and Learning Conditions Team, striving to improve teaching and learning conditions in the Clark County School District.

The team, known as TLC, came about as a collaborative effort between the district and the local teachers’ union and was formed in 2006. Its first step was to administer a working conditions survey to teachers and administrators. The TLC team then works with schools to respond to the survey results.

“We help them enact change by building community, using positive problem-solving strategies, and consensus building,” Johnson said. Johnson is one of four teachers in the district on full release from their classrooms to work on this project. She said the effort is important because working conditions impact everyone. “Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions,” she said. “With that in mind, we have two main goals: to improve teacher retention and to improve student achievement.”

She said the early results of the project have been promising. “Working on this project has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” she said. “Helping teachers and administrators focus on creating change through positive, forward-thinking conversations and empowering teachers to take a more active role in shaping their school communities is so important.”

Gregory R. Goode (BBA ’81 with Secondary Education certification), a man with 10 years experience in technical education and 17 years as a college administrator, has been selected as the first president of Salina Area Technical College.

Gregory Goode

“Mr. Goode connected very well with the current management, staff, and students at the college, and the trustees feel he has the leadership, vision, and strategic planning skills to take the college to the next level,” said Mike Haug, chairman of the college’s board of trustees. The college is in the process of becoming independent from the Salina School District, offering associate degrees and gaining accreditation through the Chicago-based Higher Learning Commission.

Goode received an M.B.A. from Bemidji State University in Minnesota, and started his education career as a business instructor at Anoka Ramsey Community College. He has held various posts at Upper Iowa University, Century Community College in Minnesota and Mid-Plains Community College in Nebraska. Most recently, he served as vice president of student services at Community College of Aurora since 2001.

©2009 Salina Journal

Alice Kurtz (secondary teaching certification ‘84/MA ’87), a fifth/sixth-grade teacher at Iowa City’s Weber Elementary School was named the 2008 Iowa American Star of Teaching Award winner by the U. S. Department of Education. The American Stars of Teaching program, now in its fifth year, spotlights teachers in each state and the District of Columbia.

Carolyn Snowbarger, director of the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, presented Kurtz the award. “I get to honor a hero,” she said. “Sometimes heroes teach us to read, teach us to do math.” Weber Elementary School Principal Chris Gibson said Kurtz’s love of learning influences her students. “Mrs. Kurtz’s love of learning has never been extinguished,” Gibson said. “That’s what makes her a star.”

Kurtz was nominated by a group of parents of current and former Weber students, including Maria Lofgren. Lofgren’s daughters, Olivia, now 15, and Brooke, 12, had been in Kurtz’s class. “My daughters are going to remember her when they grow up,” Lofgren said. “She sees the good in all the kids.”

Brooke Lofgren, who was in Kurtz’s class last year, echoed her mother’s thoughts, saying Kurtz often uses activities to help the students learn and prepare for tests. “She made learning feel like you were just having fun,” Brooke said.

© Iowa City Press-Citizen

Girard "Jerry" Weber

Girard “Jerry” Weber (MA ‘87/PhD ’92) was appointed the sixth president of the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill.—a comprehensive community college with 16,000 students attending three campuses in northeastern Illinois.

Prior to this position, Weber served as president of Kankakee Community College since 2001.

Before joining Kankakee Community College, he served as vice president of instruction at Heartland Community College and as dean of academic support programs, at Triton College. His earlier positions include serving as director of computer-based instruction, director of open-learning programs, and coordinator of the Pike County Learning Center, all at John Wood Community College. His experience also includes a position as a writing instructor at Harper College.

Janice Friedel (BA ‘72/MA ‘76/PhD ‘80) accepted a professorship in the new doctoral program in community college leadership at California State University – Northridge, after 28 years of administrative work in community colleges at both institutional and state levels.

James Bawden (BM ‘73/MA ‘78) is the music curriculum specialist with Davenport Community School District, working with 61 music educators in 28 schools. For 34 years Bawden was a band director at Nishna Valley, Davenport, and North Scott school districts. He served as state president of the Iowa Bandmasters Association in 2004-05 and received the IBA Karl King Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

Roger Utman (BA ‘73/MA ‘76) is the new administrator for the Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation at the Iowa Department of Education in Des Moines.

Roger Utman

The Division works with the 15 Community Colleges of Iowa; career and technical education at the secondary schools and community colleges; Veterans and Military Education; Adult Basic Education, G.E.D., Adult Literacy, Continuing Education; National (Occupation) Crosswalk Service Center; and State Mandated OWI Education.

Utman began working at the Iowa Department of Education as an Education Program Consultant in 2005. He was promoted to chief, Bureau of Community Colleges and Career and Technical Education Services in 2006. Prior to that, he worked at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs for 21 years in a variety positions, last serving as dean of Student Support Services. Utman earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1987.

Politics and Education Go Hand in Hand Sue (Mandernach) Dvorsky (BS ‘76/MA ‘92) foresaw herself pursuing her two passions through two very different outlets from an early age—working for the Iowa Democratic Party and teaching. “I was in the generation of young women where it was beginning to open up to a broader range of careers,” she said. “I always saw myself teaching, and politics was a natural part of that.” Dvorsky helps education through politics. And now, she has again shown her passion for politics after being named the first vice chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party. Dvorsky has taught seventh- and eighth-graders with learning disabilities at Southeast Junior High School in Iowa City for 15 years, and she’s taught locally for 29 years. She is also the Iowa City Education Association’s rights chairwoman. “Every decision that affects education is a political decision,” Dvorsky said. “It matters who wins elections and it matters what politicians think of education.” Her involvement in politics extends beyond the two organizations she has championed—the local education association and the Iowa State Education Association. She has continually lobbied at the State Capitol for the two groups, asking legislators to consider teachers when they appropriate money. Dvorsky’s political activism with the state education association even brought her and her husband, Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, together on the steps of the State Capitol. “She came to Des Moines and was lobbying me, actually” Bob Dvorsky recalled. “That was when I was in the House; she was lobbying for the teachers’ union.” Perhaps her position as first vice chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party will allow Sue Dvorsky to challenge Washington on issues that matter to Iowa, she said, which will allow her to continue her passion of helping teachers and the education of students in Iowa. “When you have kids you begin looking at the world in a broader way, you become invested in what the world is going to be like,” she said. “I’d always had a thought about a job that was a community-enhancement thing.” © 2009 Daily Iowan. Original story by Caitlin Lombardo. Photo by Christy Aumer/The Daily Iowan

Janet (Maresh) Bowersox (MA ’66) retired after a career of teaching high school science in the Seattle School District. She is currently working three to four days a week as a substitute science and math teacher. Bowersox says she gets more positive comments from both students and staff as a substitute.

“Students appreciate a substitute who knows some science and math, who can continue the teaching plan, and explain something in a little different manner than their regular teacher.” Bowersox says she enjoys teaching and continuing her interaction with students, as well as seeing how others present science and math concepts.

Phyllis Hamling (BM ’69) retired after teaching vocal music in Lewis Central Community School District for 38 years.

Robert E. Yager (MS ‘53/PhD ’57), professor emeritus, received The University of Iowa’s 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Robert Yager named as UI Distinguished Alumni.

Throughout a career of more than 50 years at The University of Iowa, Yager has provided the vision and leadership to transform the way science is taught in schools near and far.

He has advocated that science teachers at all levels must themselves undergo rigorous preparation and depth of focus, and he has challenged the effectiveness of the traditional lecture format. Instead, Yager has shown that engaging students in exploring questions that are relevant to their lives fosters their innate creative intelligence. Because of his longtime commitment, The University of Iowa is recognized as having one of the world’s premier programs in science education.

Georgia J. Dentel (BA ’48) retired after serving 41 years as director of the Performing Arts Programs at Grinnell College. Prior to serving as director at Grinnell, Dentel was dean of freshman women at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and taught English and college preparatory writing at Vinton (Iowa) High School. She is a past president of the Iowa Association of Women Deans and Counselors.