The University of Iowa College of Education

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In Memoriam

Current Issues in Education

1950s Teaching is a Training for Life 1970s Ibarra Selected one of USA Today's Top Teachers Ibarra's Students win Governor's Environmental Award 1980s College Alumna Receives Milken Award 1990s Enhancing Achievment with Technology 2000s

1950s

Sally Finkbine Baker (BA '52)Sally Finkbine Baker (BA '52) retired after a career teaching first grade in Denver, Colo., Omaha, Neb., and Bethesda, Md. She was also a "Romper Room" teacher for the children's television program in Peoria, Ill., Omaha, Neb., and Washington, D.C. She substitute taught in Eugene, Ore., and is now working with the "Make-a-Wish" program for young children there. She writes, "I've had a wonderful career and really value the education I received at The University of Iowa."

William C. Wolf, Jr. (PhD '59) was selected as one of the 20th century's 100 distinguished alumni by Kutztown (Pa.) University. After retiring as a University of Massachusetts at Amherst emeritus professor, he embarked upon a second venture. For the past six years, he has served as chief evaluator for the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies.

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Bruce Zehnle (MA '68)Teaching is a Training for Life

Bruce Zehnle (MA '68) says he always knew he wanted to be a teacher. "Ever since I was a little kid, I felt inside that I wanted to teach." And what a dynamic and passionate teacher he has become. As chairperson of the Foreign Language Department at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, N.J., Zehnle goes beyond just teaching Spanish. He teaches his students about life, culture, and respect.

"It's more important to inspire students to share and to grow as learners and as people," Zehnle said. "It's this kind of growth that will last them a lifetime."

Zehnle likens his classroom to a one-room schoolhouse. His classes are fun, yet challenging, and through them he incorporates stories of life. "We learn an appreciation for diversity, the richness of other cultures, and the value of every individual," said Patrica Nuwer, a former student.
Richard Flynn, another former student, writes, "Mr. Zehnle became a role model for me, and is still a driving force in all I do, as a student and as a teacher, but more importantly, as a good person."

Zehnle's teaching doesn't stop with high school students. He shares his methods and techniques of bringing excitement to the foreign language classroom through his local, state, and national "Teaching the Teachers" workshops. To his workshops he brings his famous puppets Pepe, Rosa, and Whiskers. "With the puppets, I encourage my first-year students to speak Spanish," Zehnle says. "It is a successful method that brings a great deal of fun to the class and takes away some of the shyness of speaking a foreign language. The memories of Pepe last far beyond the high school years."

Zehnle has received many awards for his teaching, including being named Outstanding Foreign Language Teacher of the Year for New Jersey and three times by the National Spanish Honor Society.

When asked what motivates him, he replies, "It's always been about the students. I've learned as much from them as I think they've learned from me. "

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1970s 

Virginia Hicks (BS '72/MA '81) taught Physical Education for the Muscatine School District in Iowa for 14 years. In 1987, she was named Iowa's P.E. Secondary Teacher of the Year. She received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1992. She worked for two years at the State Department of Health in Santa Fe, was department chair and an associate professor at New Mexico Highlands University for five years, and served as division head at Santa Fe Community College for two years. Hicks completed research in the area of body composition with Native Americans. Currently, she is in her second year as department chair and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She writes, "I received an excellent education at The University of Iowa and will be a Hawkeye forever."

Mary Jane (Ruggles) Dow (MA '77) became a licensed professional counselor in July 2001. After 20 years of being a career counselor at the University of Utah Counseling Center, she now provides psychotherapy to heroin addicts at Project Reality in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Ibarra Selected one of USA Today's Top Teachers

Ibarra and his student test a Lego rover.Hector Ibarra (BS '75/MS '92), a science teacher at West Branch (Iowa) Middle School and a doctoral candidate in Science Education, is one of only 20 teachers and teaching teams nationwide selected by USA Today for its 2002 All-USA Teacher First Team.

USA Today selected the top teachers based on what the paper considered their success at educating the "total child." According to an article on the honorees, the teachers selected "embody the notion of reaching out to every child, in ways that can and can't be measured by standardized tests."

As a sixth- and seventh-grade general and earth science teacher for 27 years, Ibarra was nominated because of his hands-on approach to science education. Ibarra and his students have analyzed the cost of conventional versus fluorescent lighting in the West Branch School District, studied the environmental impact of used automobile oil filters, and are building miniature solar cars that may soon take part in a national competition. They are also coordinating a project with students in Japan involving the construction of Lego-based rovers that will be controlled over the Internet.

Since 1992, Ibarra has won nearly $500,000 in grants. And his research into his school district's lighting costs led to the district switching to fluorescent lights, saving taxpayers $1,000 a month. President Clinton cited the project in his 1997 address on global climate change.

Ibarra is modest about his successes, including the USA Today recognition.

"It's a great honor," Ibarra says. "But I also know that we represent many other outstanding teachers who do as good or better job than I do."

Ibarra credits the College of Education for inspiring him to make science education more meaningful to his students, and says John Dunkhase, coordinator of the Science Education program's graduate outreach efforts, "probably made me who I am."

Ibarra said Dunkhase taught him to encourage students to seek the answers to scientific questions using inquiry rather than by taking a "cookbook approach" to science by simply following some "recipe" outlined in a textbook.

Ibarra also credits Science Education Professor Edward Pizzini for teaching him the importance of research and the need to examine problems from multiple perspectives.

Those skills have come in handy over the years, not only in the classroom but also in planning some of Ibarra’s more ambitious projects. The miniature solar car race, which Ibarra spearheaded with the help of a $200,000 sponsoring grant from the Iowa Energy Center, involved 100 Iowa teachers and more than 10,000 middle school students over five years.

Currently, Ibarra and his students are preparing for a regional miniature solar car race next May in West Branch, one of 16 sites nationwide. Winners at the regional level will compete in a national race in June in Golden Springs, Colo. -by Stephen Pradarelli

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Ibarra's Students win Governor's Environmental Award 

Vilsack bestows special recognition upon West Branch students for their waste management efforts.Gov. Tom Vilsack honored West Branch Middle School as part of his prestigious Iowa Environmental Excellence Awards, a program that honors organizations, businesses, and individuals for their leadership and innovation in protecting Iowa's natural resources. Students under the leadership of West Branch Middle School science teacher, Hector Ibarra, received the Special Recognition in Waste Management Award for 2002.

"West Branch Middle School is a leader in protecting Iowa's environment," Vilsack said. "I commend their outstanding example of keeping our land, air, and water clean and healthy for all Iowans."

Ibarra's class of seventh graders began a community service project to collect and press oil filters. The students learned that more than 50 percent of oil filters used by their parents were discarded in the garbage, posing a threat to groundwater quality. Last school year, the students collected 265 oil filters in the community and recycled more than 37 gallons of motor oil. 

"At the start of the project I had no idea where oil filters went after use," said Emily Ciha, West Branch seventh grader. "I'd never given it much thought. Working on this project has made me aware of the problems caused by inappropriate disposal of used oil filters and of the process you must go through to make lawmakers aware of these environmental issues. Hopefully, this will be the start of the process for stricter oil filter disposal laws in Iowa."

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1980s

Robert Gillum (MA '82) is completing his third year as superintendent of schools at Sherrard, Ill. The district recently completed $7 million of school construction. Currently, he is heavily involved in a strategic planning process that has nearly 150 stakeholders participating on Action Teams.

In July, Gillum plans to participate in the China 2003 Educational Leadership Conference as one of 35 U.S. educators on the trip.

David Wilkinson (MA '82) is a teaching and learning specialist for the Iowa State Education Association. He recently co-edited the book,
A Framework for Understanding the Iowa Teaching Standards and Criteria, with several colleagues. The book uses the framework for teaching established by Charlotte Danielson to further describe the eight Iowa teaching standards and 42 accompanying criteria.

Mary Beth Kelby-Lowe (MS '83) is an education technology officer for Dakota Science Center in Grand Forks, N.D. She is currently completing a five-year Technology Innovation Challenge grant of $4.8 million while working on her Ph.D. at the University of North Dakota. She started a science center with other women in 1993 and is teaching and implementing the www.natureshift web site in Norway this semester.

Wesley Greenwood (MA '83) was chosen the 2002 Kansas Rehabilitation Association Vocational Evaluator of the Year. He currently works for the State of Kansas Rehabilitation in Wichita.

ve Barnett (MA '85)Dave Barnett (MA '85) is the athletic director and head baseball coach at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., where he became the winningest coach in school history in 1995. His teams have been ranked in the top 20 in the national polls three of the past six seasons, and during his tenure, two players have been drafted in the top 10 rounds by a major league club, and 10 others have signed pro contracts.

Among his other honors, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics-Region XIV recognized him as the 2000-01 Athletic Director of the Year.

He also serves as president of the Florida Sun Conference, is on the board for St. Augustine Little League, and manages the Vermont Expos, a minor league baseball team, as a summer job.

Sue Schoonover-Kurschinski (BA '86) earned a master's degree in educational psychology and counseling from California State University, Northridge last year. Currently, she is working in two elementary schools as a school psychologist in Wheaton, Ill., where she has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of exceptional children and their families.

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College Alumna Receives Milken Award

Shawn Carstensen Hays (BA '89) Shawn Carstensen Hays (BA '89) was two years into a physical therapy program at the University of Delaware when she decided to become a teacher.

Hays, now a second-grade teacher at Pomona Elementary School in Grand Junction, Colo., was tutoring in an after-school program and discovered a deep interest in-and knack for-helping students overcome illiteracy. An adviser suggested that she might be happier as an educator than as a physical therapist.

"It seems to be something that was a passion of mine without me really realizing it," Hays says.
So, she transferred to The University of Iowa College of Education. The change of heart may have surprised her, but she says it didn't surprise her father, a former teacher himself.

"When I called my parents to tell them about my decision I was a little concerned about how they'd react," Hays says. "My father's comment was, 'It's about time you figured out what I've already known.'"

Further proof that Hays found her calling came recently in the form of the national Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, which recognizes elementary and secondary educators who have demonstrated exceptional educational talent and accomplishment.
Hays will formally accept the award in April, which carries an unrestricted financial award of $25,000, a portion of which Hays plans to donate to a charity that works with troubled children.

Hays says that one of her most memorable experiences while attending Iowa was student-teaching literacy in the urban classrooms of Kansas City, while teaching English to Hmong and Hispanic adults in the evening.

"I really enjoy being around children," Hays says, "learning how they learn, and trying to provide the stimulus to help them discover the intrinsic value of reading and writing." -by Stephen Pradarelli

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1990s

John Watzke (BA '90/MA '94/PhD '00) is the coordinator of field supervision for the ACE M.Ed. program and a fellow in the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame. He teaches in the M.Ed. academic program with particular emphasis in foreign language methods. His research interests focus on teacher development and foreign language teacher preparation and education policy.

Recent publications include his book Lasting Change in Foreign Language Education: A Historical Case for Change in National Policy published February 2003 (Praeger) and research articles appearing in The Teacher Educator and The Journal of Catholic Education.

Watzke serves on the national advisory board of the International Society for Language Studies for which he is also biannual conference chair. He serves as general editor of the book series Notre Dame Advances in Education (University of Notre Dame Press) and book and media editor for the newly established Critical Inquiry in Language Studies: An International Journal (Lawrence Earlbaum and Associates).

In February, Watzke gave a presentation to foreign language doctoral students at The University of Iowa on his current research project, "Survival to Professional Development: Research on the Problem of Beginning Teachers."

Laura M. Hittner (BA '97) teaches fifth grade at St. Paul's Episcopal Day School in Kansas City, Mo. She recently returned from Japan as a guest of the Japanese government through the Fulbright Memorial Fund program. The program chooses teacher applicants each year for a three-week trip to visit Japanese schools and sites, where the educators learn about their education system and culture. In return, the American teachers bring back to their schools and communities a rich insight of the Japanese people, thereby increasing public relations, friendships, and encouraging a more peaceful world.

Mary Lynn Retting (PhD '99) works in marketing and promotion for Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She writes that she enjoys representing the adult student accelerated programs in business, accounting, marketing, RN-completion, and health services administration-geared toward the working professional.

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Enhancing Achievment with Technology

Scott McLeod "pays it forward" with his own graduate students.University of Minnesota Assistant Professor Scott McLeod (JD '98/PhD '00) is creating a new program that will give school administrators throughout the United States the edge when it comes to using technology.

Few principals, superintendents, and other school administrators use educational technology effectively, but the School Technology Leadership Initiative aims to change that, says McLeod, co-director of the initiative.

"We have a wealth of evidence that student achievement can be enhanced by the effective use of technology in schools," McLeod says. "What we don't have is a critical mass of school leaders who know how to make this happen."

The three-year, $2.1 million initiative is the first program to comprehensively address the full spectrum of the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators established by the International Society for Technology in Education.

McLeod credits his experiences as a graduate student running the Educational Policy and Leadership Studies department's Research and Policy Lab as being instrumental in giving him the technology skills he uses on a daily basis. Those experiences, he says, combined with the good leadership skills he learned from the Educational Administration faculty provided him with opportunities to be successful both academically and professionally.

"Professors Bartlett, Wanat, Bills, Rzonca, and Young went out of their way to mentor, shepherd, and be an incredible support system for me," McLeod said. "I find myself trying to 'pay it forward' with my own graduate students by providing rich academic experiences and research opportunities."

To learn more about the technology leadership initiative, visit

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2000s

Tammi Kuba (MA '00) was appointed to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards-School Counseling Standards Assessment Committee. Kuba is the only Iowan appointed to the team. She currently is an elementary school counselor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Kirsten Bales (BA '01)Kirsten Bales (BA '01) teaches fourth grade for Southeast Polk School District in Runnells, Iowa. Her students participated in a service-learning project, called "Season of Sharing," where they earned donations by working for family members, friends, and neighbors and purchased items for a family in need.

Yung-Hung (Sandra) Hsiao (MAT '02) is a Chinese-language teacher at Indian Trail Academy High School in Kenosha, Wis. She writes that she has applied the educational theories she learned at The University of Iowa to her students and has learned a great deal from them in return.

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