Harold Kris Vandiver, MA ’98, earned the nation’s highest teaching accreditation, National Board Certification, from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. A fourth grade teacher of Math, Science and Social Studies at Hyde Park Elementary in Orange Park (right with co-workers dressed for Book Character Day), he began his career there in 1998 after graduating from JU’s Troops to Teachers program. A former Navy AECS and P3 Orion Flight Engineer with more than 8,500 flight hours, he values the impact and importance of his job. “Each day I still manage to see a spark in a student’s eye and everyday I learn something new,” said Vandiver. He praises the professor that was his mentor, “Thanks to Dr. June Main for teaching me the art of teaching concrete to abstract.” Jennifer (Jeni) Lynn Rone, BFA ’94, serves as Regional Director of Business Development for schools and lenders in North and South Carolina for NSLP Business Development Team. Rone’s office will be located in Mount Pleasant, S.C. David M. Werle, BS ’94, is doing his Urology residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He was third in his class at Wake Forest School of Medicine and was elected into Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honorary society. His wife of four years, Margaret Pike, and their daughter, Katie, reside in WinstonSalem, N.C.
Dan Hopkins, BA ’95, and Denise Hopkins, BA ’96, live in Portland, Maine. Dan is currently stationed in Brunswick, Maine. Dan and Denise have run into several JU alums in the Maine area and always enjoy reminiscing about JU.
Kelly M. Jackman, BS ’99, recently graduated from the University of Florida with a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences with a concentration in Physiology and Pharmacology.
Kenneth Wofford, BS ’97, is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and has been in Iraq since February, 2007, serving honorably and taking care of casualties in the combat zone.
Leah Dow, BA ’03, recently accepted a position with the Twin Falls School District in Twin Falls, Idaho. Also, in August, Dow had a baby, Landgon Rylee Dow.
Jason Dittmer, BA ’98, received the Wells/Warren Professor of the Year Award at Georgia Southern University’s 2007 Honors Day Convocation held at the Performing Arts Center on April 4. An assistant professor of geography in the Department of Geology and Geography, he joined the University’s faculty in 2003.
2000s
Sarah Gonzalez, BM ’05, recently graduated with a Masters in Music from Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Gonzalez is currently teaching and playing in East Texas. Erin Schreiber DuFault, BA ’05, was named Nassau County’s Beginning teacher of the Year for 2006. She is currently a teacher at Fernandina Beach Middle School. DuFault is the daughter of Jean Dunbar Schreiber, BA ’81.
School of Education students in the reading course developed a lively correspondence program with children in the Beaches Habitat after-school program in Atlantic Beach during the last school year. Each week, students and their Habitat ‘buddy’ exchanged letters sharing a dialogue about books, school and even the Jacksonville Jaguars. “Reading and writing letters became important and real literacy experiences for the children,” said JU student Jessica Marchant (left, with a student). “We were thrilled by the energy and excitement created by this collaboration,” remarked Sue Goebertus, MAT ’04, who initiated the outreach project. Fall 2007 33