2011 Keystone

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Keystone VOLUME VIII, 2011

Instruction and research serve as launching pad for innovation

MAG AZINE

Keystone VO LU M E V I I I , 2 0 1 1

MAGAZINE

Keystone

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Teacher-in-Residence Marcia Webb helps pre-service educators combine theory with practice

MAG AZINE

VOLUME VIII, 2011

The Keystone is an annual publication of the Auburn University College of Education, produced and distributed to alumni and friends of the college through the generous contributions of private donors.

D ea n

Dr. Betty Lou Whitford D i r ect o r o f E x te r n al Relat i o n s

Michael Tullier, APR

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K e y s t o n e ed i t o r

Educators help Korean students acclimate to East Alabama classrooms

Troy Johnson L ayo ut, D e s i g n a n d P h o t o g r ap h y

Amanda J. Earnest C o n t r i but i n g W r i te r

Amber Harrelson

O n t he C over : Researchers in the college’s Center for Disability Research and Service investigated the effectiveness of Apple iPads as communication tools for children with autism. We’ve used the device’s photo application to show some of the college’s highlights from the last year.

Thanks to the Auburn Office of Communications and Marketing for contributing content.

Additional photography by Auburn Photographic Services, Holocaust Museum Houston, Dr. JoEllen Sefton, UF Communications, Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics and VCU Creative Services.

Send address changes to eduinfo@auburn.edu or by mail to the attention of Michael Tullier, APR. Auburn University College of Education Office of External Relations 3084 Haley Center Auburn, Alabama 36849-5218 334.844.4446 education.auburn.edu eduinfo@auburn.edu

AU BU R N

AU BU R N

N AU BU R

Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer. ©2011, Auburn University College of Education

Show your Auburn pride and spirit to the world, or at least to other drivers in Alabama (or wherever the road may take you) by purchasing the Auburn University car tag. The tag can feature up to six characters for optimum personalization; personalize your tag at no additional cost.

Buy your tag at the county tag office—make a difference and share the spirit in welcoming new students to the Auburn Family by supporting scholarships.

page 32

Warrior Research Center assists “soldier-athletes’’ on multiple levels

www.auburn.edu/cartags

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Social climbing yields lessons in educational leadership

In this issue E D U C AT I O N E X T R A

3 Presidential approval Reed earns administrative fellowship

8 Meet the dean Dr. Betty Lou Whitford likes what she has seen since arriving on campus I N T E R N AT I O N A L

12 World traveler Dr. Randall McDaniel lends expertise to United Nations agency S tudent S uccess

27 Guided by voices Student organizations pull together to provide assistance for local schools RESEARC H AND OUTREAC H

30 A range of resources New Center for Disability Research and Service creates assortment of possibilities

34 Driven by data School leaders find number-crunching to be a catalyst for school improvement

E v ery issue 2 Education Extra

40 Kinesiology

16 Around Auburn

18 Student Success

44 Truman Pierce Institute

Bob Prater ’70 makes a convincing FDR

45 Office of the Dean

53 Going the distance

7 Retired Faculty and Staff

28 Scholarship Ceremony

30 Research and Outreach

42 Special Education,

Rehabilitation and Counseling

46 National Advisory

35 College Knowledge

57 College Knowledge

36 Curriculum and Teaching

38 Educational

Foundations, Leadership and Technology

Council

48 Alumni News 58 Giving

66 Alumni Notes

A lumni

52 Hail to the chief

Running aficionado Dr. Beverly Warren ’89 uses perseverance to her advantage

54 In good health Wayne T. Smith ’68 a titan when it comes to healthcare and philanthropy

A Key s t one in Building a Better Future f or Al l

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A Message

f ro m t he Dean Dear Alumni and Friends:

E

ight months ago, as I assumed the role of dean of the College of Education, I was just coming to learn about the “Auburn Family,” being “All In,” and how great it is to be an Auburn Tiger. I’ve been impressed with the loyalty of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends — not just in the context of a national championship or, most recently, in the efforts to save the Toomer’s Oaks.

I’ve been equally impressed by the passion of our students, not just in their classroom responsibilities, but in their commitment and outreach to the community and the region. As you’ll read, our AuburnVoices advocacy program is a success in serving the educational needs in our surrounding communities through our students’ investment of time, enthusiasm and personal resources. That is just one of the many examples of how our students are striving to better the world around them.

Our faculty and staff are to be equally commended. Building on campus successes, they are reaching beyond the university’s boundaries to create learning opportunities for our students. Whether on campus, in the state or around the world, our faculty and staff are ambassadors on behalf of our university and carry with them our college’s mission of building better futures for all.

As you read this issue of Keystone, I encourage you to see your role in our success. We have alumni representing education through all walks of life: as Alabama’s teacher of the year, in various levels of Alabama’s state government, as the new head football coach of the University of Florida and as the top commander of our armed forces in Iraq. Amid those stories, there are dozens of alumni who are putting their Auburn education into action by making significant contributions through their chosen professions.

That, to me, is what being a member of the Auburn Family — and being “All In” — is all about. It’s expressed most clearly when each of us is engaged with those around us and contributes to making our world a better place through the transformative power of education. And it’s evident that our graduates do this in a manner that brings great esteem to our university.

So, thank you for being “All In” and for the opportunity to be part of the “family.” It is truly great to be an Auburn Tiger!

War Eagle!

Betty Lou Whitford, Dean Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Where we stand U.S.News & World Report holds college in high regard The College of Education maintained its status as one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools’’ in U.S.News & World Report’s 2012 survey, released in March 2011.

Auburn occupied the No. 71 ranking, placing it among the top 25 percent of schools surveyed for the fifth consecutive year. The college also holds the top national ranking among schools of education in Alabama, public or private.

The college’s rehabilitation counseling program retained the No. 17 ranking in the Health Disciplines category.

U.S.News & World Report determines its rankings based on a formula that includes data on admissions, graduation rates and research activity, which it combines with feedback from reputational surveys completed by academic experts.

The magazine polls deans, program directors and senior faculty to assess the academic quality of programs.

Kinesiology improves N AK standing in N AK The Department of Kinesiology moved up six spots in the National Academy of Kinesiology’s (NAK) most recent ranking of doctoral programs nationwide.

Auburn University’s department moved up to No. 22 in the newest rankings, which reflect a survey period between 2005 and 2009. The department previously held the No. 28 ranking.

The NAK promotes the study and educational applications of the art and science of physical activity and human movement.

P rogram recei ves re - accreditation The Counseling Psychology doctoral program in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling recently earned re-accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA is the largest worldwide association of psychologists with more than 150,000 members.

Educ ati o n Ex t r a

Reed named Auburn presidential administrative fellow Dr. Cynthia Reed, professor and director of the college’s Truman Pierce Institute, was selected as Auburn’s presidential administrative fellow for the spring 2011 semester.

The Presidential Administrative Fellowship Program provides senior administrative experience to faculty, affording them the opportunity to better appreciate and understand higher education administration. The fellow proposes and develops a plan and will dedicate the semester to a special project.

Through her project, “Developing University-Community Collaborations for a Better Alabama,” Reed wants to create and enhance networks that increase Auburn’s visibility, reputation and capacity to identify and collaboratively address educational, economic and community problems. Her plan is to host a series of community

Dr. Cynthia Reed discusses her research with Auburn University President Jay Gogue.

forums addressing the concerns and needs of Alabama citizens and community educational and business leaders.

“My project was designed to draw upon previous work creating partnerships and engaging community members,” Reed said. “These forums will be focused on learning more about current issues and challenges facing communities so that we can identify ways that Auburn University’s academic, research and outreach scholarship efforts can better address these needs.”

Reed said she hopes her project will lead to partnerships with other higher education institutions in the state, developing the groundwork for future collaborations to address the needs of Alabama citizens.

“I am looking forward to working closely with Dr. Gogue, Dr. Mazey and others during this semester-long fellowship as I further develop my own administrative and leadership skills,” Reed said.

Reed has worked closely with Provost Mary Ellen Mazey during the spring 2011 semester.

College maintains perfection in employee-giving campaign For the second consecutive year, the College of Education achieved a 100-percent participation rate in Auburn University’s annual Faculty Staff Campaign.

The College of Education and School of Nursing represented the only academic units among the 13 on campus to achieve full participation levels in the 2010 campaign. Among the university’s non-academic units, the President’s Office, Alumni Affairs, Development, Alumni Development Support Services and the Office of Communications and Marketing achieved 100-percent participation in the campaign.

The 2010 Faculty Staff Campaign recorded an overall participation rate of 70.7 percent. This participation rate continues to place Auburn above all other SEC schools for the percent of faculty and staff making personal donations to the institution.

The College of Education’s participation level has exceeded the overall university average each of the last five years. In 2009, the col-

lege’s first year of 100-percent participation marked a sharp increase from 82-percent participation in 2008.

The most recent college campaign was led by co-chairs Asim Ali of the Learning Resources Center and Chris Groccia of the Truman Pierce Institute, who also served as coordinators for their respective college units.

Others on the campaign team included Dawn Browning of the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling; Pam Hardie of the Dean’s Office/Professional Education Services; Drs. Bob Leier and Jonghee Shim of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching; Sheryl Parker of the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology; and Dr. Mary Rudisill of the Department of Kinesiology. Michael Tullier, APR, the college’s director of external relations, served as one of our campuswide campaign co-chairs.

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D

r. Theresa McCormick’s interest in social studies and her ability to think critically were undoubtedly shaped by what she saw during her childhood in Nashville in the 1960s.

She didn’t understand why whites and blacks sat at separate lunch counters and used different water fountains. She didn’t understand why one group was afforded more rights and liberties than another by virtue of a superficial characteristic.

Most unsettling of all to an inquisitive and fair-minded child was the fact that no adult seemed to be able to answer the question that was always foremost in her mind.

members to receive its 2010 Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. An honorarium of $1,000 accompanies the award. McCormick is one of seven College of Education faculty members to have received the award since 1993.

“I was very humbled,” she said. “I feel that, as a teacher-educator, I’m still growing and still learning.”

Before earning her doctorate, McCormick taught fifth grade at Crossville (Ala.) School for 12 years. Dr. Nancy Barry, head of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, said that background has proven to be a tremendous asset for McCormick.

Why?

“I try to challenge them to think about what they do know and what they don’t know. I want them to ask critical questions and to not take everything at face value.”

“I witnessed a lot of injustices,” said McCormick, an associate professor of elementary social studies education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. “I can remember seeing signs that said, ‘white only,’’ and hearing, ‘well, that’s just how things are.’ That troubled me as a child.”

Now in her seventh year of teaching at the university level, McCormick strives to ensure that pre-service teachers are well equipped to answer students’ questions of how and why. As the college’s program coordinator for elementary education, McCormick challenges her students to master social studies content, to think critically and to develop creative lesson plans.

“I try to challenge them to think about what they do know and what they don’t know,” McCormick said. “I want them to ask critical questions and to not take everything at face value. They need to experience the content in a way that they’ll teach it in classrooms.”

McCormick’s efforts to prepare and inspire her students haven’t gone unnoticed at the university level. The Auburn Alumni Association selected McCormick and two other university faculty

“Theresa is highly successful in integrating her teaching, outreach and research in meaningful ways,” Barry said. “Her extensive experience as a public school teacher is evident in her ability to merge the worlds of theory and practice.”

McCormick enjoys instilling pre-service teachers with a passion for social studies and preparing them to lead their own classrooms.

Her lessons are often interactive and call on her students to put themselves in the position of the children they will eventually be teaching. One recent exercise tested the content knowledge of her students by asking them to draw a mural with historical details and recollections of the first Thanksgiving.

“I just love teaching undergraduates,” McCormick said. “They’re so eager to learn new ways about teaching and they’re so enthusiastic. They’re like sponges.”

In that regard, they’re much like the woman teaching them.

McCormick absorbed plenty during her childhood, whether it involved witnessing injustice or hearing vivid family history accounts from her mother and grandfather.

McCormick recognized for undergraduate teaching excellence 4

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

“I had a natural curiosity to want to know more,” she said.

K eep up to date on C ollege of E ducation news by signing up for our electronic newsletter at education . auburn . edu / enews

Educ ati o n Ex t r a

Five faculty members earn promotion One College of Education faculty member earned full professorship status, while four others earned tenure and attained the rank of associate professor in 2010.

Dr. Karen Rabren, director of the Auburn Transition Leadership Institute and a faculty member in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, ascended to the position of full professor.

The tenured faculty members include Drs. Rebecca Curtis, David DiRamio, Chippewa Thomas and Octavia Tripp.

Curtis, an associate professor of rehabilitation in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, earned her master’s degree and doctorate from the College of Education.

DiRamio, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, focuses much of his research on the benefits of technology on higher education and community colleges.

He also initiated Auburn University’s Veterans Learning Community.

Thomas, who serves as coordinator of community agency counseling in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, earned a master’s degree in community mental health counseling and a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Auburn.

Tripp, an associate professor of elementary education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, focuses much of her teaching on the development of science educators.

College headlines teacher preparation honor roll The College of Education earned a perfect report card from the Alabama State Department of Education.

The college received an overall “A” grade on the ALSDE’s Teacher Preparation Program Performance Profile released in summer 2010.

Grades are based on a number of variables, including education students’ performances on professional tests such as the Basic Skills Assessment, Praxis II and Professional Education Personnel Evaluation. Surveys of recent graduates and of the administrators who employ them also factored into the performance profile.

The college found itself at the head of the class among the 27 teacher preparation universities and colleges surveyed by the state. The college earned “A’’ grades in every category of the Teacher Preparation Program Performance Profile. Those quality indicators include pre-teaching experiences in elementary and secondary schools (the hours prospective teachers spent in classrooms before their internship or student teaching experiences), partnerships with Alabama elementary and secondary schools, results of the Alabama Prospective Teacher Testing Program (the pass rates for the Basic Skills Test and Praxis II content knowledge test) and on-the-job performance (how new teachers and their employers rated teacher preparation programs).

Tripp, Thomas instruct KEMET Academy students Two faculty members in the college, Drs. Chippewa Thomas and Octavia Tripp, helped high school students learn more about how to collect and apply data as part of the research process during a summer 2010 program.

As part of the 2010 Knowledge and Excellence in Mathematics, Equilibrium and Technology (KEMET) Knowledge Bus Environmental Classroom, 32 high school students from Alabama’s Black Belt region interacted with Auburn University faculty members and took courses in computer science, English, math, geography, geographical information systems, social studies, engineering and science.

The KEMET Academy is an academic and social outreach program designed to enrich the learning of youth from economically and educationally underserved communities. The program was initiated five years ago.

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Teacher-in-Residence provides valuable perspective for pre-service educators Wherever Marcia Webb’s travels take her in supervising elementary education interns, she hears a familiar refrain from principals and teachers alike.

“Everywhere I go, the principals and teachers just rave about our interns and how Auburn University has the best,” said Webb ’73, who graduated from Auburn University with a degree in elementary education.

The high marks received by Auburn’s preservice teachers stem, in part, from the College of Education’s efforts to help them seamlessly blend theory and real-world practice. One of the ways undergraduates develop that balance is through their exposure to professionals like Webb, a veteran educator who returned to the college in fall 2010 as its first Teacher-inResidence.

“I am very impressed with what I see [from Col-

lege of Education students]. They’re very mature, very professional. They want to do a good job

and are very open to suggestions for change. They want reflection. They’re always looking to grow.’’

The Teacher-in-Residence program, an extension of the national award-winning Professional Development System partnership between the College of Education and Auburn City Schools, enables a tenured K-12 educator to take a 1- to 2-year hiatus from his or her everyday position in order to supervise interns and teach courses at the university. In addition to preparing interns for the challenges they will face in elementary school classrooms, Webb is also using the opportunity to further her education. She is pursuing a doctorate in rehabilitation and special education.

“After two years, I go back in the classroom and someone else comes out,” Webb said of the Teacher in Residence arrangement.

Marcia Webb works with a cohort of pre-interns.

Webb, who has directed the Academic Venture enrichment program at Cary Woods, said she has enjoyed her time working with the college’s elementary education students.

“I am very impressed with what I see,” she said. “They’re very mature, very professional. They want to do a good job and are very open to suggestions for change. They want reflection. They’re always looking to grow. When I was here [as a student], the elementary education program was known to be one of the best around and I think that it still is one of the best.”

While Webb helps Auburn students refine their teaching techniques, their interactions are very much a give-and-take. Through the site visits that comprise part of her intern supervision responsibilities, Webb has been able to learn about some of the practices being applied to good effect in different area schools.

“I am enjoying getting out and seeing what’s going on in the other schools and picking up ideas that I can bring back to my classroom,” Webb said. “All of the schools are good. Education is very important to the Auburn community.”

PDS i n A c t i o n T he T eacher - in -R esidence program serves as one example of the

P rofessional D evelopment S ystem collaboration between the C ollege of E ducation and A uburn C ity S chools . T he system seeks to foster collaboration among educators , students , parents / guardians and other community stakeholders . T o learn more about the P rofessional D evelopment auburnschools . org / pds .

Webb brings interns together to discuss their experiences.

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

S ystem , visit

Retired Facult y a n d S taff T he C ollege of E ducation bid farewell to four of its own since the publication of the last K eystone . W e wish them well in their retirement .

A uburn T ransition L eadership I nstitute D iane G lanzer C urriculum and T eaching D r . B onnie W hite

K inesiology S ybil C auley L earning R esources C enter B yron T olbert

College celebrates career of White, three other retirees The College of Education celebrated Dr. Bonnie White’s 36year tenure at the university with a dessert reception in November 2010.

National Advisory Council chair Jim Manley presents Dr. Bonnie White with a gift.

White retired in December after serving as a professor, assistant department head, graduate program officer, department head and interim dean during her time with the college. A recipient of the Humana-Germany-Sherman distinguished professorship, White joined the faculty in 1974 as a research associate.

She served as an assistant and associate professor and department head in the former Department of Vocational and Adult Education. She also served as the college’s interim dean from 2004 to 2005.

White most recently coordinated the college’s Career and Technical Education programs and served as assistant department head for the Department of Curriculum and Teaching.

Former governor appoints retired faculty member to leadership position Former Gov. Bob Riley appointed a former College of Education faculty member to help coordinate the state’s responses to emergencies and disasters.

Riley elevated Dr. Ronald Noland to the rank of major general of the Alabama State Defense Force in 2010. Noland, a former associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, leads a force of 450 men and women, the majority of whom possess military experience.

In a time of crisis, Noland would lead the Alabama State Defense Force’s efforts to assist state and local Emergency Management Agency personnel. Noland has served with the ASDF since 1998, starting as the deputy commander of the Third Brigade in Mobile and serving as its commander from 2002 until 2010.

Noland began his military career in the ROTC program at Louisiana State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in administration and supervision. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1958 and was stationed in various locations in the U.S. and Japan.

After earning his doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Southern Mississippi, Noland joined the College of Education faculty. During his 24-year career at Auburn, he published 64 articles in refereed national research journals and directed 24 doctoral students. He retired in 1991.

Later, he served on the faculty at Spring Hill College in Mobile and taught graduate studies for 10 years.

College mourns loss of former associate dean

A prolific researcher, White published extensively in educational research journals and best practices publications and wrote four textbooks.

Dr. William “Bill’’ Deaton, a former associate dean in the College of Education, passed away in June 2010 in Tennessee, where he had moved following his retirement.

Byron Tolbert, an instructional technology technician in the Learning Resources Center, retired in February 2011 after 25 years with the college.

Deaton served as an associate dean for nearly 20 years before becoming dean of Auburn University Montgomery’s School of Education in the mid-1990s. He also served as dean of education at the University of West Virginia. After retiring, Deaton made his home in Sevierville, Tenn.

Sybil Cauley, an office administrative assistant in the Department of Kinesiology, retired in July 2010 after 21 years of service.

Diane Glanzer, administrator for outreach programs for the Auburn Transition Leadership Institute, retired in March 2011 after nine years with the college.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl, a three-time College of Education graduate, and his children, Celia and William.

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Whitford feels fully embraced

by Auburn family New dean envisions bright future for College of Education

S

he has been a high school social studies teacher, a university professor, a zealous pursuer of school reform, a fully engaged researcher and a university administrator. But long before Dr. Betty Lou Whitford took the first step on the path that eventually led her to the College of Education as dean and Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor, she was a musician at heart.

In some ways, a childhood that included countless hours at the piano provided an appropriate foundation for her eventual transition into education. Piano players are made through constant practice. Lifelong educators are, in turn, fueled by a passion for “doing and knowing,’’ the dynamic Whitford described as one of her guiding forces.

University of North Carolina, completing a master’s degree in political science and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. After teaching at Kempsville, she served in a variety of roles, including faculty positions at the University of Louisville and as director of its Center of Urban Education Research, as associate with the Center for Leadership in School Reform, as a liaison for a university-public school partnership, as co-director of Columbia University Teachers College’s National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools and Teaching, as dean and professor of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Southern Maine and as a project manager and principal investigator for numerous research projects.

Whitford began her career as a social studies teacher at Kempsville (Va.) High School, teaching world and U.S. history, government and sociology. She eventually continued her education at the

All of those years of “doing and knowing’’ prepared Whitford to be the College of Education’s sixth dean. Whitford discussed her impressions of Auburn and the College of Education.

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Now that you’ve had a few months to experience campus and its activities, as well as the surrounding community, what is your sense of Auburn?

As an outsider, you hear the rhetoric of the “Auburn Family’’ and you think to yourself, ‘That’s nice, but that has to be mostly rhetoric.’

There’s a reality to that concept of the “Auburn Family.’’ It’s a very collegial, warm, friendly place. Those terms are not normally ascribed to major research universities. We work together well, meaning the faculty and department heads. I also hear from our alumni that our graduates are wonderful and well-prepared. They want to hire them.

What else have you learned from your interactions with the college’s students, faculty, staff and graduates?

Their loyalty to Auburn is impressive. I get the feeling that alumni are very loyal and supportive. People have been teasing me about bringing all of this cold weather with me from Maine, but I tell them that if they want to blame me for bringing cold weather with me, then they also have to give me credit for the national championship in football.

How would you assess the state of the college at this point, and what are you most excited about moving forward?

I’m still in the process of getting to know the programs. I see very strongly committed faculty who work hard and are dedicated to their respective fields. They are serious about expanding our research enterprises. There is a lot of interest in reaching out internationally and reaching out more in the state. They are interested in reaching out in ways that are consistent with our land-grant mission.

I do think Kinesiology has a chance to be a top 10 program nationally and our rehabilitation program is a very strong program, probably the top online program in the country. We have strong teacher education and educational leadership programs and strong partnerships with school districts in the region and state.

We are a public institution with a land-grant mission. We should be helping where we can. There are ways to create research agendas around outreach projects.

What are some of your interests away from the job?

I do like to read, but my other passion is old-time, Southern Appalachian music. We’re talking pre-bluegrass, old ballads from the 1700s and 1800s. I’m kind of a struggling fiddle player and can do basic backup guitar. I thought I might start out as a music major in college, but didn’t like the idea of having to practice for six hours a day. I did piano for many, many years.

What led you into education?

My mother tells me I said my entire life that I wanted to teach whatever grade I was in at the time, but I don’t really remember that. In college, I did the equivalent of a double major in education and history. I started out teaching social studies in Virginia Beach and intended to stay in teaching when I went back to school for my master’s degree. We were doing some pretty innovative things [in Virginia Beach] and that kind of teaching was very appealing to me. Then I got into graduate school and got interested in research, pedagogy and theory and it helped me to understand the experience I had in practice.

You mentioned how, early in your learning and teaching phases, American approaches to education were shaped in part by the Cold War and fueled by the fear of losing a competitive edge. We’re hearing some of the same language now. How will that influence the approach and mission of our college?

I think we’re on the right track. Everybody can always improve. It’s so hard to predict the future. Here we are, back to talking about the importance of curriculum and teaching and learning, but the conditions are so different now. We’re at a challenging point in the development of teaching as a profession.

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Graduate student spreads football fever to South Korea Chris Lowe ’98 displays as much passion for Auburn football as he does for teaching English.

Even though Lowe now lives 14 time zones and more than 7,000 miles away from the Plains, the College of Education graduate student has cultivated an appreciation for all things Auburn in his current hometown of Suwon, South Korea.

Listen closely as he calls the roll inside his classroom.

“Cam …”

“Newton …”

“Jackson …”

“Cadillac … Cadillac, how’s it rolling?”

“Like a first-round draft pick,” a young South Korean girl responds with a grin.

Lowe’s interaction with the students underscores something that Dr. Robert Leier wants educators to understand if they plan to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

Bowl Championship Series title game. The result was a 5-minute, 24-second video that has since been viewed by more than 100,000 people (http://bit.ly/chrislowe).

Lauren Bercarich, a former reporter for a CBS affiliate in Cincinnati now teaching English in South Korea, produced the video and interviewed Lowe and his students about their passion for Auburn football.

Chris Lowe and his children, Grace (7)

The light-hearted video (think of and Ethan (4), show their spirit.

The Daily Show on Comedy Central) shows Lowe giving his students English nicknames like “Bo,” “Cadillac,” “Aubie” and “Shug” for the purposes of an efficient morning roll call. Lowe has also taught his students the “Bodda Getta” cheer and other Auburn staples while also helping them learn about the university’s reputation for academic excellence.

“I knew it was going to be something that was special, unique, funny and appealing because of the football-mania happening at the moment,” Lowe wrote in an email interview in January. “It has been an awesome response.”

Lowe, a Memphis native who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Auburn in 1998, provides some helpful college guidance to his students in the video. He told them, “Auburn is the only college in the United States.”

“Part of language is culture,” said Leier, the college’s ESOL graduate degree and certificate programs coordinator. “You show yourself as a fool if you don’t include culture as a part of teaching a language. That is an integral part.”

So much of Auburn’s cultural identity — and more than a little of its everyday vernacular — has been shaped by what happens inside Jordan-Hare Stadium on autumn Saturdays. Lowe, a distance education student, decided to use his passion for Auburn football as a way to make English accessible and fun for his students, who range from fourth to eighth grade. His unconventional but effective methods can be seen in a video that went viral on YouTube.

Lowe and his students wanted to display their support for the Auburn football team before its showdown against Oregon in the

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Lowe manages to follow his favorite university from afar, even if it means keeping unconventional hours for tailgate parties. Because of the time difference, Lowe and a group of football fans met up at a café to enjoy a tailgate party of coffee and muffins before the BCS title game aired via satellite in the early morning.

“At a time in my life when I was looking for the opportunity to spend more time with my family, some friends had just gotten back from a year of teaching in South Korea,” he said. “It sounded like a wonderful opportunity. Plus, my children are at a perfect age to move and settle somewhere abroad and learn a second language easily (they are 7 and 4). My wife and I decided it was a no-brainer and moved. We knew we would be here for 5 years or so. But, since we have arrived and settled in, gotten to know the culture, people, food, and language, we love it more than we thought we would.

That means we will be here at least until the kids are out of school.” continued on next page

Inter n at i o n a l

Witte receives close-up view of ‘new Egypt’ While stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, Dr. Jim Witte saw just how quickly grumblings of discontent can grow into a revolution capable of toppling a government.

He never expected to have a front row seat for another seismic event in the Middle East’s political history. An evolving partnership between Auburn University and Suez Canal University in Suez City, Egypt, has afforded Witte the opportunity to witness first-hand the country’s transformation in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s February resignation.

Witte accepted an invitation to spend a portion of the spring teaching courses at Suez Canal University. Originally scheduled to depart for Egypt in February, Witte had to delay his trip after the anti-Mubarak protests that began in January escalated. Witte said conversations with his Egyptian colleagues indicate that the chaos in the wake of those early protests has given way to optimism about the country’s future.

“It’s almost as though they are observing a new Egypt, and they’re doing so with pride,” said Witte, associate professor and

Lowe’s comfort in front of a roomful of students was shaped by a lifetime on stage, which included school plays, choir and a stint on the professional ballroom dancing circuit. He said he always felt compelled to teach, but his coursework in ESOL has helped him learn how to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps.

“Dr. Leier’s class has opened my eyes to what it really means to teach a second language,” Lowe said. “Living in a culture where I don’t speak the language gives me an upper hand in teaching a second language to my students. I understand the struggles they have. I relate.”

Leier, who regularly interacts with Lowe via distance education technology, said Auburn’s No. 1 fan in South Korea has proven to be an enterprising teacher.

“He’s incredible,” Leier said. “He’s very talented and creative.”

So are his students, it seems.

In the video, Bercarich allows several of Lowe’s students to provide on-camera predictions for the BCS title game.

A boy nicknamed “Aubie” goes for a large margin: “Ducks 3, Tigers 117.” A girl nicknamed “Campbell” briefly puzzles everyone in the room: “Auburn wins 0-0.”

“Oregon sees Auburn before the game and forfeits,” she adds.

coordinator of the Adult and Higher Education program. “I think the expectation of change overnight may be something they are going to have to guard against. Now that Mubarak has been removed, there is great expectation of wonderful change, but change moves slowly in any government, new or old.”

While Witte has tracked developments in Egypt with the help of television and social media, he will be able to rely on such technology to remain connected to Auburn students. In addition to teaching adult education material via distance education, Witte will provide updates on his trip on a blog.

“I’m in Egypt teaching my class in Auburn, just to demonstrate the flexibility of the technology involved,’’ Witte said. “The change in technology is fascinating, and it’s really fun to watch it grow.”

Witte and his colleagues have seen plenty of growth potential in a partnership with Suez Canal University. Faculty from Suez Canal University visited Auburn in February 2010 to build relationships with the College of Education and other campus units. The establishment of research partnerships and student internships were key discussion points.

Witte’s current opportunity resulted from a summer 2010 visit to Ismalia, Egypt, as a member of a College of Education visiting scholar’s doctoral Dr. Jim Witte speaks some Arabic and dissertation defense knows Egypt’s terrain well, including Giza. panel. Witte and Dr. José Llanes continued discussions with Suez Canal University officials on the possibility of student and faculty exchanges. Witte said the student exchanges would provide valuable opportunities for aspiring classroom teachers, school administrators or policymakers.

Of course, those avenues will be far easier to explore once the “new Egypt” Witte described takes on a more clearly defined identity. Witte said he wishes he had been able to leave for Suez City sooner rather than later.

“I feel disappointed that I was not able to be on the ground when this thing unfolded,” he said. “I think the ability to observe this kind of social change is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

F ollow W itte ’ s travel adventures via his blog whereintheworldisjimwitte . blogspot . com

It seems that Lowe’s efforts to teach English have produced an unexpected byproduct.

Lowe’s students are fluent in the language of football.

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Sabbatical enables McDaniel to share expertise on behalf of United Nations agency After spending an entire semester overseas working on behalf of a United Nations agency, Dr. Randall McDaniel couldn’t decide what he missed the most after returning home.

Was it the serenity of the bicycle ride that took him from his rental home in Ferney-Voltaire, France, across the border to his office in Geneva, Switzerland? The breathtaking view of Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Swiss Alps?

Afternoons spent dining at sidewalk cafes or mornings spent browsing farmer’s markets?

As wonderful as all of that was, McDaniel’s most enriching experience may have taken place while working more than 3,000 miles away in a place defined by a very different culture and climate.

As part of his professional development sabbatical spent working with the International Labour Organization (ILO), McDaniel traveled to the Sultanate of Oman to share his expertise in rehabilitation. An agency of the United Nations, the ILO works to create collaboration between governments, employers and workers to improve workplace conditions and promote labor rights globally.

Amid the searing desert heat of the Arabian Peninsula, McDaniel and his colleagues found a hospitable populace and a government committed to creating new opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

“They brought me in as a content expert,” said McDaniel, a Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor. “Three of us made a team and went in to review the Al A view of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Khoudh rehabilitation center. We were a guest of their country, at their request, and they treated us like royalty.”

The Swiss Alps provided a breathtaking backdrop for a sabbatical.

done in the last 10 years is focus on inclusion in education. They take kids who would normally be tracked to special education and put them in regular classrooms. They’re infused into the public school system.”

The field report put together by McDaniel and his team will help shape employment legislation in Oman. In additional to traveling to Oman and working with Debra Perry, a 1977 College of Education graduate McDaniel toured vocational rehabilitation now serving as a senior facilities while in Oman. vocational rehabilitation specialist for the ILO, McDaniel helped the organization in other capacities.

In addition to conducting disability awareness training for United Nations field agents, McDaniel helped develop a survey for

What struck McDaniel the most — aside from the host country’s hospitality and heat — was its commitment to creating more employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. In addition to a state-run vocational rehabilitation center, where individuals with disabilities learn such job skills as beekeeping, fishing and furniture building, the nation of 3 million now features a new stateof-the-art vocational training center. It’s a major step forward for an oil-rich nation whose labor force and economy have typically been fueled by foreign workers.

“They are modernizing as fast as they can,” McDaniel said. “It’s incredible. They’re building everywhere. One of the things they’ve continued on next page

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Inter n at i o n a l W h a t i s t h e ILO? T he I nternational L abour O rganization is the only “ tripartite ’’ U nited N ations agency that brings together workers , employers and government representatives to shape labor standards and programs . T he organization promotes the concept of “ decent work ,” which embodies such characteristics as productive work that offers a fair income , a secure workplace , social protection for families , prospects for personal development and social integration , equal opportunity and fair treatment of men Officials in Oman present a gift of appreciation to McDaniel.

the ILO Business and Disability Network.

“They had 27 international companies like IBM and Toyota coming together with disability advocacy groups, looking at how more people with disabilities can be employed and what strategies could be used to employ more people with disabilities,” McDaniel said.

When he wasn’t in Oman or immersed in work on behalf of the ILO, McDaniel took time to savor the local culture and spend

and women .

time with his son, Chris, who was enrolled in an international high school alongside classmates from such places as Russia and Italy. In addition to the breathtaking scenery that served as the backdrop for his cycling excursions, McDaniel developed an appreciation for the Swiss and French lifestyles.

“The enjoyable thing was the laid-back way they do things,’’ he said. “They don’t rush through the day the way we do.”

Araya ‘10 achieves goal through Costa Rican partnership When Felipe Araya arrived in the College of Education as a graduate student, he remained firmly committed to accomplishing a pair of objectives.

He wanted to help build the framework for a long-lasting relationship between his National University of Costa Rica and Auburn University, and he wanted to complete a doctorate in exercise physiology. Araya helped National Dr. Felipe Araya visits with department University build a partnerhead Dr. Mary Rudisill at his graduation. ship with Auburn in 2007 and crossed the second goal off his list in December 2010 by completing his doctorate in the Department of Kinesiology.

Araya returned to National University as a faculty member in the Department of Sport Studies to teach and conduct research and outreach focusing on cardiac rehabilitation. His accomplishment underscores the opportunities that exist due to the relationship between National University and Auburn. Over the past five years, Auburn faculty and students from a variety of educational disciplines have traveled to Costa Rica to learn about the country’s culture and share expertise. Araya’s willingness to continue his education at Auburn represents just one example of the reciprocity that exists within the partnership.

While Araya is the first member of the National University faculty to have completed his doctorate at Auburn, he won’t be alone for long. Maria Morera is scheduled to complete her doctorate in kinesiology in summer 2011 and return to a faculty position at National University.

From February to March 2011, Morera and a team of three graduate students and three faculty members conducted her dissertation research in her home country, focusing on outdoor play and physical activity among children. The data will be used to create national fitness standards for Costa Rica.

The Department of Curriculum and Teaching has also taken an active role in the partnership.

In January 2011, Dr. Sue Barry (pictured far right) welcomed six Costa Rican visitors to campus — one director and five English teachers. Barry, coordinator of the college’s Foreign Language Education program, helped coordinate the group members’ visits to Auburn, Birmingham and Atlanta schools, which enabled them to gain insight into teaching approaches and student learning.

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Going on

safari

Education students learn a lot by stepping outside their comfort zones

Forget about the elephants and wildebeests that roam the Serengeti, the crystal expanse of the African Great Lakes or the towering presence of Mt. Kilimanjaro. For Khiari McAlpin and eight other College of Education students, the most awe-inspiring sight of their four-week trip to Tanzania during the summer of 2010 was found inside a crowded classroom.

When McAlpin first stepped through the doorway of the elementary school classroom where she would do her teaching, some 50 children stood at attention and voiced the same greeting in perfect harmony.

“Good morning, teacher, how are you today?” they exclaimed in British-inflected English.

They greeted McAlpin and her fellow Auburn students the same way each morning at Tetra Lutheran School, even though the conditions didn’t seem ideal at first glance for incubating eager learners.

Many of the children arrived each day barefooted, their feet toughened by walking up to three hours to and from school.

Some sat two or three to a seat since the amount of students doubled the number of available desks. Classes were often forced to share only a couple of textbooks.

McAlpin and her classmates quickly learned why so many of these children came to school each morning wearing smiles in place of shoes.

In Tanzania, where the literacy rate is estimated to be slightly above 72 percent, education is viewed by many as a privilege.

According to a 2006 U.S. Department of Labor study, more than 87 percent of Tanzanian children who begin primary school are unlikely to continue their education past fifth grade.

“I was happy to see how excited and enthusiastic the kids were to be there,” said McAlpin, who completed a master’s degree in elementary education in December 2010. “Those students had the best behavior that I had ever seen. Being able to walk into a classroom and notice that all of the students were doing the work quietly, without a teacher in the room, was amazing. I enjoyed seeing how happy and enthusiastic the children were to be at school. I enjoyed teaching these students.”

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Inter n at i o n a l From Tanzania to New Zealand and Australia, College of Education students have demonstrated the ability to touch lives while accumulating an impressive collection of passport stamps. Dr. James Witte, associate professor and coordinator of the college’s Adult and Higher Education program, said he has seen a shift in students’ attitudes regarding international travel.

“For a long time, Alabama looked into itself,” said Witte, who has lived and worked in such places as Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and the Panama Canal Zone.

“The idea of going beyond the borders of Alabama was a foreign concept for most of our graduates. Their goals were to graduate, stay close to home and live happily ever after, which has merit. I’m not finding that the university has taken a very realistic global view.

“It’s not just talked about. The idea of maintaining a narrow view of the world, you don’t fit. You’re passed over [for jobs] if you have that view.”

B reaking down barriers Jana Dickey, one of three school counseling graduate students who spent June 2010 in South Korea, said travel is an essential component in professional preparation. During their trip to Seoul, Dickey, Erin Carroll and Elizabeth Osborn took part in classes at Korea University and provided diversity and multicultural awareness guidance for Korean students.

“That, for me, was the moment that I truly felt like a school counselor in training,” Dickey said. “I think one of the main things I took from the experience was the importance of understanding different cultures and keeping an open mind regarding different

viewpoints. It is important to see and understand that everyone does not live the same way. Every culture is different.”

There are, of course, failsafe ways to break down cultural barriers. In Tanzania, for example, Auburn students found that their pupils were eager to return the time and energy invested in them.

They absorbed lessons quickly since, typically, their instructions are compressed into 15-minute increments. They were also more than happy to make use of the paper, pencils, books and sporting goods sent from Auburn.

Kelly Bradford, a fall 2010 exercise science graduate, became popular as the result of her status as caretaker of the soccer balls, Frisbees and Twister mat donated by the Department of Kinesiology.

She taught groups of children, as many as 80 at a time, how to play a quintessential American playground game — kickball. Because there’s no easy Swahili translation for the sport, the children came up with an appropriate name: “The Kelly Game.’’

“That’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Bradford said.

“It definitely changed my perspective.”

McAlpin, who taught math to third- and fourth-graders and English to second-graders, said she and her classmates couldn’t help but be transformed by their time teaching in Tanzania.

“I enjoyed teaching these students and they will forever hold a special place in my heart and be my little angels,” she said.

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A Message

fro m t h e P r esid ent To the Auburn Family,

T

he last five months have been nothing short of extraordinary as most, if not all of us, followed our football team as it captured its second national championship and seventh conference title, not to forget a third Heisman Trophy. Congratulations to Coach Gene Chizik and the Auburn Tigers for going the distance to remain undefeated.

In the College of Education, I also commend the efforts of Dean Betty Lou Whitford and her staff in their efforts to enhance the college’s graduate program. In U.S.News & World Report’s 2012 survey of best graduate schools, Auburn placed 71st, ranking among the top 25 percent of schools surveyed for the fifth consecutive year.

The college’s expansion of its research and service base through the establishment of the Warrior Research Center and the Center for Disability Research and Service, the opening of the MRI Research Center, in addition to international partnerships with Suez Canal University, Korea University, and the National University of Costa Rica, will pave the way for greater success.

Working with students and watching some become champions in sports and others champions of academics — including our two 2010 Rhodes Finalists and record-breaking 130-plus merit scholars in this year’s freshman class — are perhaps the most rewarding part of a university president’s job.

In the last few years, Susie and I have met thousands of Auburn students, and we’re constantly amazed at the caliber of young men and women across our campus.

Highly motivated and ambitious. Global in perspective. Oriented toward serving others. Eager to have their views challenged.

We could go on with the many more positive characteristics we routinely observe in today’s Auburn student. Suffice it to say, we’re impressed, and we’re confident you would be as well.

Many of these same students are eager to share that their Auburn experience is made possible through scholarships, fellowships and other forms of financial support. They don’t hesitate to tell us what they value the most, and they recognize that many of their opportunities are made possible through the generosity of the Auburn Family.

War Eagle!

Jay Gogue ’69, ’71 President

University enrolls record number of merit scholars Auburn University ranked fifth out of 126 public institutions in the enrollment of National Merit Scholars, the university’s Office of Enrollment Services announced. The university is third in the Southeastern Conference and 16th overall out of 343 institutions where these scholars are enrolled.

The numbers come from the 2009-10 National Merit Scholarship Corporation Annual Report released in February 2011.

Auburn enrolled 134 new scholars this summer and fall, which more than doubles last year’s number of 64. Auburn moved up from fourth in the SEC and 34th overall last year.

“This achievement reflects an ongoing commitment by Auburn University to enroll some of the most outstanding students our state and nation have to offer,” said Velda Rooker, director of university scholarships. “We are pleased that so many accomplished students recognize this commitment, along with the quality of Auburn’s faculty and nationally ranked programs, and have chosen to become part of the Auburn family.”

Auburn’s 134 National Merit Scholars are from 20 states and are enrolled in nine of Auburn’s 10 undergraduate colleges and schools.

The report also provides rankings for National Achievement Scholars numbers. Auburn is ranked second among 77 public institutions that enroll these scholars, and is ranked No. 3 in the SEC, and 13th overall of 189 institutions.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program and the National Achievement Scholarship Program as annual competitions for recognition and undergraduate scholarships.

L earn more about the university ’ s academic excellence and cutting edge research by visiting www . auburn . edu

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Around A ub u r n

Fans pack stadium for BCS celebration Fans lined up along Donahue Drive more than two hours beforehand and swelled Jordan-Hare Stadium to near capacity during a January celebration of the Auburn football team’s Bowl Championship Series title.

An estimated crowd of more than 75,000 gathered for an event that was alternately a pep rally, retrospective and requiem for the Tigers’ 14-0 season, which ended with a 22-19 win over Oregon in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 10. By the end, however, Auburn players and coaches were praising the people who followed them every step of the way.

“I will say it again, and it’s not kind of, sort of, almost — you are the best fans in the United States of America,” Auburn football coach Gene Chizik said. “And you have helped us and been a huge part of the best football team in the United States of America.”

The university put on a program that included player introductions, video highlights from the season, guest speakers and a reverse Tiger Walk from the stadium to the athletics complex. Fans heard from Auburn President Jay Gogue, as well as Heisman Trophywinning quarterback Cam Newton and Lombardi Award-winning defensive tackle Nick Fairley, among others.

Carnegie Foundation recognizes university’s community engagement

Auburn football coach Gene Chizik, defensive tackle Nick Fairley and athletic director Jay Jacobs take custody of the crystal BCS championship trophy.

Senior wide receiver Kodi Burns summed up the special feeling about this particular Auburn team and the season.

“People ask me all the time, ‘Why did you come to Auburn?,’” Burns said. “One, because of this awesome Auburn family. And, two, to win a national championship. It’s been an unbelievable year, one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Auburn revitalizes home page For the first time since 2005, the Auburn University home page has a new look. The site, www.auburn.edu, officially launched in January 2011.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Auburn University for its 2010 “Community Engagement Classification’’ in recognition of the university’s emphasis on community partnerships and public service through outreach. The classification is the most significant recognition in higher education for a university’s total outreach body of work in the community.

“We’re honored to receive this national recognition for our faculty and student engagement,” said Auburn President Jay Gogue. “Outreach is a defining aspect of our land-grant heritage, and this classification reflects Auburn’s significant commitment to serving the public in Alabama and beyond.”

The launch event capped a two-year development process for Auburn’s Office of Communications and Marketing and Office of Information Technology.

One of the first things readers will see is large, inviting images that link to stories about Auburn people and their accomplishments. The stories will be updated regularly and will include photos and videos.

In the top right, readers can click on the new “Take 5” feature. A different member of the Auburn Family will be highlighted each week.

Widely used in the study of higher education, the Carnegie classification system is the leading framework for describing institutional diversity in the United States. Previously, Auburn had been recognized by Carnegie as a comprehensive, doctoralgranting research institution.

The community engagement classification was established by Carnegie in 2006 as an elective category for which institutions could voluntarily apply.

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Graduate students growing adaptive sports program When Jared Rehm uses a wheelchair, he doesn’t think of it as a transportation device.

He’s rolling on $3,000 worth of sporting goods.

His chair, with its inward-tilted wheels that resemble mountain bike tires, enables him to go cruising for a bruising inside the Student Activities Center. This chair, with its ultra-light 20-pound frame, withstands the punishment that inevitably comes when Rehm and other members of Auburn University’s Adaptive Recreation and Sports Program jostle for rebounds and get serious about defense.

business graduate. “Now, 20 years later, it’s neat to be able to see that they have opportunities I didn’t have at that time.

“I’d love to see this take off where they’re competitive on the college level.”

“There’s a lot of contact,” said Rehm, a biomechanics graduate student in the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology. “It’s controlled chaos, definitely.”

Wheelchair basketball isn’t so different than the game played by able-bodied athletes. Rehm and the other players shoot with precision, display artful passing on fast breaks and execute crafty set plays. The only real difference is the degree of difficulty. Let LeBron James or Kobe Bryant try to sink a 20-footer while rolling and firing from a seated position.

“These things don’t have brakes on them,” Woody Thornton ’93 said of his sports wheelchair.

Similarly, Auburn’s adaptive sports program isn’t equipped with brakes. It is steadily gaining momentum thanks to the energy and involvement of Rehm and Nathan Waters, a rehabilitation counseling graduate student in the college’s Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling. The pair developed wheelchair sports activities through their assistantships with the university’s Program for Students with Disabilities and have invited participation from non-students.

Even though Thornton is two decades older than most current Auburn undergraduates, the spirit of competition lures him to the Student Activities Center for basketball two days a week.

Thornton, who has used prosthesis since losing his legs as an undergraduate student, said he sees potential for Auburn’s adaptive sports program to compete against more established programs at other colleges.

“When I came back to school with my prosthesis, I basically just went to class and finished out,” said Thornton, a

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A formidable team Waters gained valuable experience in therapeutic recreation while serving as the outdoor adventure director at Camp ASSCA, an Easter Seals camp in Jacksons’ Gap, Ala., serving children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Rehm brought a passion for the competitive side of sports, having played for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s wheelchair basketball program as an undergraduate student.

Rehm has also competed in the National Collegiate Wheelchair Tennis Championships. Auburn currently offers basketball and tennis, but Waters and Rehm hopes the program can grow to include quad rugby.

The specially modified sports wheelchairs necessary for basketball and tennis cost approximately $2,500, with wheels priced at $300 apiece. Rehm and Waters obtained a grant from the Christopher Reeve Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis Foundation, but are seeking additional sources of funding. They have even gone so far as to host a hot dog-eating contest to raise money and awareness.

“Whatever needs [students] have, we’d like to be able to give it to them,” Rehm said.

Scott Scroggins, a graduate student in communication who plays wheelchair basketball, said Rehm and Waters have already given plenty. Growing up in Selma, Ala., Scroggins didn’t have many opportunities to engage in competitive sports.

“If I wanted to play [wheelchair] sports, I had to go to Birmingham,” he said. “It’s hard to drive two hours one way. This has been great. I love sports. This is the first time I’ve played with an continued on next page

S tudent S u c c e s s

Sandage earns postdoctoral fellowship grant Mary Sandage, a doctoral student in kinesiology, earned a highly competitive postdoctoral fellowship grant from the National Institute of Health for her proposed study of clinical treatment for voice disorders.

Sandage is collaborating with Dr. David Pascoe, Humana-Germany-Sherman distinguished professor of exercise physiology and director of the Department of Kinesiology’s Thermal Lab. The project, entitled “In Vivo Measures of Vocal Function Response to Environmental Conditions,’’ seeks to improve understanding of how such factors as temperature, vapor pressure and humidity affect the voice. The study will examine what effect cold and warm environments have on voice as compared to the conditions of a typical clinical setting.

“We know that the humidity level of the air we breathe can affect how voice functions, but we don’t currently know how the temperature of the air we breathe affects voice function,” said Sandage, a medical speech language pathologist of 18 years and a signing teacher for 20. “I am combining my long-standing knowledge of vocal function with my present study of skeletal muscle physiology and thermoregulation to determine if changes in air temperature either help or hurt voice function. This has important implications for professionals who use the voice in extremely hot or cold conditions and for better understanding of how voice disorders develop.”

In 2010, Sandage received one of Auburn University’s Outstanding Graduate Student Awards and also earned the G. Dennis Wilson Endowed Graduate Award in the Department of Kinesiology. Sandage earned her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University in English and linguistics and a master’s degree from the University of Iowa in speech language pathology. She plans to pursue a tenure-track faculty position in communication disorders.

Burroughs earns research grant from SEATA Stasia Burroughs, a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology, earned a $1,970 grant from the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association to facilitate a study of football helmet safety features.

Burroughs, who is pursuing a master’s degree in exercise science, examined the Quick Release faceguard system developed by Riddell for its football helmets. The faceguard can be removed with the help of a push-button release system, an important feature for athletic trainers who find themselves faced with the prospect of treating an athlete who may have sustained a cervical spinal injury.

According to Burroughs’ research proposal, certified athletic trainers are advised to remove the face mask from the helmets of any athletes who may have suffered a cervical spinal injury.

This allows medical personnel to administer life-saving care while minimizing the need to move the patient’s head.

Cordless screwdrivers and backup cutting tools are often required to remove the facemask and loop straps and commonlyused helmets.

Burroughs has examined the reliability of the Quick Release function developed by Riddell. The sports equipment manufacturer’s push-button release system is designed to allow face masks to be removed faster and with less resultant head movement. Her study details the success rate and removal times of face masks on helmets with the Quick Release feature that have been used for at least one season of play.

She will present her findings at the 2011 SEATA Clinical Symposium and Members Meeting.

organized team. All of my experience playing basketball had been with able-bodied people and it was mainly shooting around in the backyard.”

Building Awareness

Waters expects the adaptive sports program to be transformational in the lives of other Auburn students. In addition to providing opportunities for exercise and competition, the program may also provide an as yet untapped research avenue.

outlet for students , faculty , staff and alumni , it also creates

“Sports have always been a catalyst for awareness, in general,” Waters said. “We can do a lot of research on athletes with disabilities. It’s one of those things where we can pull from a lot of different departments and have a lot of people get behind it.”

W hile A uburn U niversity ’ s adaptive sports program provides a competitive

opportunities for education . A n outreach component of program , A uburn W heelchair A thletics and R ecreation E ducation (AWARE), seeks to eliminate misconceptions about disabilities through demonstrations of wheelchair basketball .

T eam members are willing to visit schools or civic groups . F or more information , contact J ared R ehm at jmr 0020@ tigermail . auburn . edu .

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Two Kinesiology students earn Undergraduate Research Fellowships Two students in the Department of Kinesiology each received $6,000 to conduct research in the 2010-11 academic year.

that we, like the Department of Kinesiology, can intervene in the lives of people to enhance health and human performance.”

Hart, a Cologne, Va., native, proposed a project involving the application of ice therapy in the fields of athletic training and physical therapy.

She plans to use an ice treatment to compare the surface temperatures at the ankle and shoulder to determine whether the same method of ice therapy is ideal for different parts of the body.

Laura Barber, a senior exercise science major, and Ragan Hart, a sophomore exercise science major, were among 20 Auburn University Undergraduate Research Fellowship recipients. The year-long fellowships, presented by Auburn’s Office of the Vice President of Research, provide a $4,400 annual stipend, $1,400 in project funding, $200 for travel to conferences and $200 for program activities.

Undergraduate research fellows work alongside faculty mentors to pursue research interests of their choosing.

Barber, a Newnan, Ga., native, is conducting research examining the associations between the physical activity levels of parents and their children. Her faculty member, Dr. Leah Robinson, an assistant professor of motor behavior, focuses much of her research on health problems affecting pediatric populations.

“Obesity has become a rising epidemic starting at even younger ages,” Barber said. “We hope this fellowship will give us further insight to help determine other factors that could lead to obesity so

Phi Kappa Phi recognizes 76 students for excellence Phi Kappa Phi welcomed 76 College of Education students into its ranks in 2010.

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest and most selective multi-disciplinary honor society. Memberships are extended by invitation-only to the top 5 percent of graduating seniors and graduate students and the top 7.5 percent of juniors.

Faculty, staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction may also qualify.

The Auburn University chapter was established in 1914 and initiates more than 400 students annually.

Phi Kappa Phi promotes the pursuit of excellence in all fields of higher education, recognizes outstanding achievement by students, faculty and others through various awards and engages the community of scholars in service to others.

Hart’s faculty mentor is Dr. David Pascoe, Humana-GermanySherman distinguished professor of exercise physiology and director of Auburn’s Thermal and Infrared Lab. “The fellowship will enable me to gain valuable experience in the kinesiology lab as I learn research procedures and methodologies, as well as being taught the protocol involved with the thermal imaging equipment I will be using to collect my data,’’ Hart said. “It is a great honor to be selected for the fellowship because I am interested in pursuing a career in research by working in a sports performance laboratory setting or some type of health institute.’’

J u ni o rs Ashley M. Akers Cathryn M. Albright Rachel L. Anderson Laura L. Aune Elizabeth R. Baldwin Rebekah R. Beason Kathleen E. Boehme Lauren E. Bush Mary K. Cooke Emily M. Duke Mabry L. Fisher Ashley L Heavener Anna E. Henderson Haley B. Hollis Elizabeth M. Laski Sydney A. Laterrade Allison C. Moore Brittany M. Nelson Alyssa L. Pratt Megan M. Reaves Julia A. Schell Benjamin I. Singletary Jennifer M. Von Jouanne S EN I ORS Kerry J. Adkins Lindsey K. Barrett

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Kristen M. Baumgartel Karen S. Blanks Paul B. Brock, Jr. Allison L. Bragg Caroline R. Clark Sarah A. Cotton Marsha E. Crenshaw Marion A. Frasier Courtney N. Glass Amy C. Harris Carmen E. Hollon Allison M. Jackson Jessica A. McAnnally-Linz Cathy W. Lumsden Jenni R. Prescott Elizabeth J. Pressler Anna M. Reeves Benjamin L. Robinson Danielle D. Rosener Mallory S. Sigle Shelley M. Steiner Virginia M. Terry G radu ate St uden ts Laura W. Bennett Julia A. Bennett-Barton

Laura B. Booth Kelli M. Crumpton Mary F. Dansak Kelli L. Dodd David B. Garrett Melinda J. Hardin Mary Y. Holloway Glenda D. Knight Ann D. Le Clair-Ash Christy M. Lock Patricia K. Mason Emily T. McKay Gerald J. McQueen, Jr Lauren A. Medders William D. Miller Katherine M. Norris Jeanetta Nunley Margaret B. Odom Kimberly N. Parent Gregory A. Parmer William N. Presley Alicia Reeves Kathy D. Robinson Jon K. Segars Courtney D. Taylor Tonya A. Tomlin Synithia L. Williams

S tudent S u c c e s s

Two elementary education majors earn fellowships at Holocaust Museum

First they took the children.

Then they rounded up sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles.

“We were taken to a railroad station, and they put us in cattle cars,” Naomi Warren recalled in an interview with the Holocaust Museum Houston.

“I feel blessed that Naomi Warren set up this opportunity,” said Duke, a College of Education Student Ambassador and president of the Student Alabama Education Association. “It’s more than just seminars. It’s more than just having speakers come to town.

Warren, then a 22-year-old living in Eastern Poland, didn’t know where those cattle cars would take her family and other Jews after the Nazis rounded them up. Those railroad tracks eventually led to Auschwitz, where a sign above the gates read, “Work makes you free.”

Warren managed to survive the brutality of Auschwitz and two other concentration camps before being liberated in 1945.

Six million Jews didn’t make it.

They and many others were the victims of systematic murder.

Warren wanted to ensure future generations would pay heed to the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy. She and her family created the Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers, which brings 25 preservice teachers to the Holocaust Museum Houston for a week of educational training and outreach opportunities.

Two Auburn College of Education students, senior elementary education majors Emily Duke (top photo) and Lee-Cassie Robinson (bottom photo), were selected for fellowships in the six-day, all-expenses-paid institute held in May 2010.

“This is a professional development opportunity. The more tools we can put in our toolboxes, the more prepared we will be as firstyear teachers.”

The Holocaust Museum Houston, which opened in 1996, contains a number of graphic reminders of where hatred can lead.

It contains a 1942 World War II railcar similar to the one that transported Warren to Auschwitz.

“It just goes to show you the power of speech,” Duke said. “The Holocaust didn’t start with mass murdering. It started with hate and prejudice. The point of this program is to teach from a very young age to be accepting of others and to respect differences. We’re going to get a lot of tools to be able to teach that.”

Both students learned how to effectively teach about the Holocaust, genocide and other sensitive topics. As Warren Fellows, Duke and Robinson were immersed in pedagogical and historical issues relating to the Holocaust and met and worked with Holocaust survivors and eminent scholars.

“Tolerance and diversity — kids don’t know that stuff,’’ said Robinson, a Huntsville, Ala., native and former College of Education Student Council president. “We’ve seen in previous generations that it’s skipped in school.”

Robinson said the Warren Fellowship helped her learn how to “teach from the lens” of elementary students in dealing with sensitive topics. Duke, a Madison, Ala., native, said she appreciated the opportunity to interact with and learn from Holocaust survivors.

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Robertson immerses herself in Fulbright experience Given her background as a foreign language education major emphasizing French, Helen Hunter Robertson derived plenty of enjoyment from a month spent studying abroad in Paris.

The only disappointment involved the prevalence of English being spoken around the Eiffel Tower and along the Champs Elysees.

“Whenever I’ve traveled around France, I’d hear so much English,” said Robertson, a Mobile, Ala., native who graduated from Auburn in spring 2010. “I wanted to go someplace where [the locals] wouldn’t [speak English].”

A Fulbright-French Ministry of Education Teaching Assistantship enabled Robertson to fully immerse herself in the country’s language and culture for seven months during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Robertson was placed in the Academie de Toulouse, where she served schools in the Toulouse region of southern France.

Robertson’s classes in the College of Education and College of Liberal Arts prepared her to teach French to American students, which she did during a spring 2010 internship at Hardaway High School in Columbus, Ga. The Fulbright assistantship honed her skills in other ways. During her time in Toulouse, Robertson provided assistance in teaching English to French students at the secondary level.

“Most of [the teachers] are excited to have an assistant and will utilize you as much as possible,” said Robertson, who began her assistantship in October 2010. “I can help with conversation if they

Education students named to Who’s Who list Three College of Education students were among the Auburn undergraduate and graduate students recommended by the Dean of Students office for inclusion in the 2010-11 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. Nominations are made by institutions based on such factors as grade point average, leadership and participation in campus and community activities. The students honored at the university’s Who’s Who reception were: Anna Elizabeth Henderson Junior Exercise Science

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Brittany Lee Smith Senior Elementary Education

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Jamie N. Smith Master’s student English for Speakers of Other Languages

have times for English conversation or culture days or if they can’t understand a particular grammar concept.”

Robertson, the only Auburn student to apply for the Fulbright assistantship, earned the prestigious appointment after completing a highly competitive process. Each year, the Fulbright Scholarship program and the French Ministry of Education offer 50 FulbrightFrench Ministry of Education teaching assistantships. Applicants must submit a detailed project proposal, a personal statement, three letters of recommendation and a letter certifying their fluency in French. Robertson’s credentials were also examined during an interview with a campus-wide selection committee composed of professors from different disciplines.

In a typical year, there are more than 500 applicants for 50 assistantships. The recipients earn a $1,200 monthly stipend.

“I was highly impressed by Helen in the interview, as well as in her application materials,” said Dr. Ralph Kingston, an assistant professor of history at Auburn who served on the Fulbright selection committee. “We talked a good deal about the time she spent in Paris, and her experience working with high school students learning French in Columbus. At one stage of the interview, I even switched to speaking French and she didn’t skip a beat.

“She was smart, motivated and keen to take what she had learned at Auburn into the community.”

Dr. Paul Harris, associate director of Auburn’s National Prestigious Scholarship Office, said Robertson’s letters of recommendation and the response from the campus selection committee were equally impressive.

“Helen Hunter had to demonstrate mastery of her subject matter, teaching French language, as well as demonstrate a commitment to teaching a diverse group of students,” he said.

S tudent S u c c e s s

Barbara Jane Hall President Senior Elementary Education

Emily Duke Vice President Senior Elementary Education

Elizabeth Chandler Secretary Senior Elementary Education

Dori Dobbs Activites Chair Junior English Lanuage Arts Education

Nicole Lawyer Assistant Activites Chair Sophomore Elementary Education

Elizabeth Mott Publicity Chair Junior Early Childhood Special Education

2010-2011

Student Council Amber Allman Assistant Publicity Chair Sophomore Elementary Education

Anna Bates Service Project Chair Senior Elementary Education

Alice Caldwell Assistant Service Project Chair Senior Early Chilhood Education

Brooke Molnar Assistant Service Project Chair Sophomore Collaborative Teacher Special Education

Student organizations develop future leaders The College of Education features more than 15 student organizations devoted to the development of professional expertise and leadership skills and the pursuit of academic excellence.

In addition to bringing students with similar academic and career interests together, these groups often participate in service learning activities.

T o learn more about these organizations , visit the “S tudents ’’ section of education . auburn . edu

Mentorship group changes name but not its mission The Multicultural Educational Retention Initiative for Transformation (MERIT) is a retention and mentoring program designed to support students in the College of Education.

Formerly known as the MARS Program, MERIT works to create a learning community of inclusive excellence. Learn more about the program by visiting education.auburn.edu/edudiversity/merit.

Michel Fields Camp War Eagle/ Freshman Involvement Junior Elementary Education

Two Kinesiology students earn NATA Foundation Scholarships Two graduate students in the Department of Kinesiology, Stasia Burroughs and Kenneth Games, earned scholarships from the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA).

Burroughs and Games, both members of Auburn’s PostCertification Graduate Athletic Training Program, each earned $2,300 scholarships from the NATA Research and Education Foundation.

The students were among the honorees at the William E. “Pinky’’ Newell Leadership Breakfast held in June 2010 in Philadelphia as part of the NATA’s 61st annual meeting and clinical symposia.

Burroughs, who is pursuing a master’s degree in exercise science, has gained experience through the Warrior Athletic Training Program, a pilot partnership between the Department of Kinesiology and the U.S. Army’s 192d Infantry Brigade stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. Games, a graduate student in exercise science, has served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for Auburn’s swimming and diving teams. He is also a recipient of the Southeastern Athletic Trainers Association Memorial Graduate Scholarship.

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S t u d e n t L e ad e rs

Stellar students carry banner for college Each semester, college administrators select a student to carry the College of Education banner ahead of their graduating peers at the start of commencement ceremonies. Here’s a look at the students who earned the distinction in 2010: Tomm y Leon Dav is ’10 Davis, who earned a degree in elementary education, served as graduation marshal for the fall 2010 commencement. Davis carried a 3.84 grade point average and served as a peer mentor with the PODS Program, was a MARS (Minority Achievement, Retention and Success) Program scholar and a member of the Senior Honors College. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in elementary or special education.

William S tewart J ackson ’ 10 Jackson served as the marshal for the summer 2010 ceremony. He graduated with a 3.83 GPA and a degree in rehabilitation services after serving in the Best Buddies organization and as a volunteer for Camp Autism Smiles and Camp ASCCA. Last fall, he began work on a master’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. He earned a full scholarship from the East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC), which creates the opportunity for him to work for EAMC after completing his graduate studies.

L indsay Baile y ’ 10 Bailey, a music education graduate, carried the college’s banner at the spring 2010 ceremony. She was a member of the Chamber Choir and sang at a number of celebrated venues, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. She also served as president of the American Choral Directors’ Association.

M allory S herwood Sigle ’ 10 Sigle, an exercise science graduate, carried the banner of another college as a substitute student marshal during the spring 2010 ceremony. She was an Auburn cheerleader for three years and was a member of the Physical and Occupational Therapy Club.

She began graduate work in Emory University’s physical therapy program last summer.

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A moment with Student Ambassador President Emily Crane This academic year, the college’s Student Ambassadors have been under the leadership of elementary education junior Emily Crane of Franklin, Tenn. Since 2003, Student Ambassadors have served as a “face” for the college for alumni, donors, prospective students and friends attending college events. They are selected through a competitive interview process and provide support for a number of the college’s alumni relations, stewardship and student recruiting efforts.

How many of your family members attended Auburn before or after you?

Emily: I am actually the first of my family to attend Auburn. I had many pulls in other directions, but the spirit of Auburn captured my heart. Today when asked if I like Auburn, my only response is that I am obsessed with it.

What has been your favorite class or activity to this point?

Emily: My favorite part of our [elementary education] classes is that they are so hands-on. Rather than reading about a classroom situation, we are placed in elementary classes throughout the area and enabled to experience these situations for ourselves.

The class that has most intrigued me is our Reading and Literacy class. Before taking it, teaching a child how to read was a foreign concept to me. I now understand the building blocks of language learning and feel empowered to teach this vital skill.

Why are the Ambassadors important to the college?

Emily: From answering basic questions about what makes the college so great to meeting and greeting Education majors of the past, ambassadors serve an integral role. I believe ambassadors seek to embody what Auburn is all about: a spirit that is unafraid, a belief in hard work coupled with education, and an undeniable love for our college.

What is your favorite type of event to help with?

Emily: I love recruiting events because they give me the opportunity to tell prospective students about how wonderful my Auburn experience has been. It allows me to answer questions, ease minds and encourage decisions of why students should choose to come to Auburn and further, to select the College of Education as their home.

S tudent Am bas s a d o r s

Rachel Anderson Senior Elementary Education Oneonta, Ala.

Victoria Barron Senior Elementary Education Birmingham, Ala.

Rebekah Beason Junior, Early Childhood Education Russellville, Ala.

Stacie Busbin Senior, Early Childhood Education Atlanta, Ga.

Claire Chapman Junior Collaborative Teacher Special Education Fairhope, Ala

Emily Crane Junior Elementary Education Franklin, Tenn.

Anna Curl Senior Exercise Science Decatur, Ala.

Abigail Cutchen Junior Elementary Education Birmingham, Ala

Trishia Daniel Sophomore Elementary Education Alpharetta, Ga.

Bailey Debardeleben Senior Elementary Education Prattville, Ala.

Courtney Dotson Doctoral Student Rehabilitation Services Chance, Ala.

Emily Duke Senior Elementary Education Madison, Ala.

Noel Eason Senior, English Lanuage Arts Education Boaz, Ala.

Alexis Emch Senior, General Science Education/Biology Martinsville, W.Va.

Laine Foster Senior Elementary Education Montgomery, Ala.

Taylor Gunter Senior Exercise Science Montgomery, Ala.

Sarah Houghton Junior Elementary Education Alpharetta, Ga.

Allyson Houlton Senior Elementary Education Grady, Ala.

Shea Jackson Senior Exercise Science Clarkesville, Md.

Sam Logan Doctoral student Exercise Science North East, Md.

Lucy Mosley Junior, English Language Arts Education Daphne, Ala.

Angelica Parker Senior Elementary Education Tampa, Fla.

Elizabeth Pressler Senior, General Science Education Hoover, Ala.

Meg Reaves Junior Elementary Education Guntersville, Ala.

Lee-Cassie Robinson Senior Elementary Education Huntsville, Ala.

Susie Rutherford Junior Mathematics Education Auburn, Ala.

Jessica Stuckey Junior Elementary Education Huntsville, Ala.

Andrea Sumner Doctoral student Exercise Science Springfield, Va.

Student 2010-2011 Ambassadors Jill Sutton Senior, English Language Arts Education Trussville, Ala.

Vishaka Uluwita Master’s student Collaborative Teacher Special Education Tuskegee, Ala.

Morgan Warner Junior Elementary Education Katy, Texas

Celeste Waugh Senior, General Social Science Education Smiths Station, Ala.

Mary Kathryn Wheeler Junior Elementary Education Phenix City, Ala.

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Recruitment event helps Kinesiology target ‘10 in 10’ Dr. Jared Russell set an ambitious goal as the graduate program officer for the Department of Kinesiology.

His plan can be described as “10 in 10” — graduating 10 doctoral students from the department over the next 10 years.

“I tell administrators from different colleges that I’m looking for doc students,” Russell said.

His quest continued in late-October 2010 with a two-day recruitment event that brought students from Atlanta-based histori-

attend a research institution and become aware of what it takes to be successful as a graduate student at Auburn and other research institutions.”

It didn’t take long for the visiting Morehouse and Spelman students to gain an understanding of the research being conducted by faculty. One Spelman student, a former competitive swimmer, marveled at the work conducted in Dr. Wendi Weimar’s Biomechanics Lab. Weimar explained how subtle differences in technique can make monumental differences for Olympic-caliber swimmers. Wasted motion or sloppy form can cost precious tenths of a second, the difference between a gold medal and a bronze.

“They were amazed at the science that goes into the technique,” said Dr. Mary Rudisill, department head and Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor. “All of the faculty are either running research or talking about research when the students visit. When we met with Morehouse originally, they said that their students don’t have the research opportunities that they would have here. They asked us to expose them to that.”

As ambitious as Russell’s goal of 10 in 10 may sound, it isn’t at all farfetched. Russell and Rudisill said the recruitment events of the last three years have Dr. Wendi Weimar (left) and Graduate School Dean George Flowers (background) connect with prospective graduate students and help them learn about labs and research opportunities. heightened interest in the department’s graduate school offerings in exercise science, health promotion, athletic cally black colleges Morehouse and Spelman colleges to campus. training and physical education.

The students visited with Kinesiology faculty and College of Education administrators, as well as Auburn Provost Mary Ellen Mazey “We’ve ended up with 10 students from either Morehouse or and Graduate School Dean George Flowers.

Spelman,” Rudisill said. “We’ve also worked hard with Albany State.

If all goes according to plan, several students from that group will come to Auburn to begin graduate work. Russell’s efforts have already paid off as several current graduate students in Kinesiology — Asherah Blount (Albany State University), Ava Hanks (Spelman College), Henry McCladdie (Morehouse College), Hasaan Rasheed (Morehouse) and Darren Jackson (Morehouse) — received their first looks at the program through previous recruitment events.

We recruited in 10 students this year and they’re excellent students.

“Once you get students here and they have good experiences, it will grow exponentially.”

“The event opened my eyes to other opportunities and ideas that I probably would not have thought about otherwise,” Blount said.

Blount earned a master’s degree in physical education from Auburn in 2010 and has remained to work on a doctorate in motor development/pedagogy.

“I appreciate Dr. Russell and his efforts to make the Department of Kinesiology and the College of Education more diverse and I truly value the recruitment events,” Blount said. “I believe that these events give students the opportunity to see what it would be like to

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Students from Atlanta’s Morehouse and Spelman take in the view from atop Haley Center.

S tudent S u c c e s s

Students raising ‘voices,’ money, awareness to benefit local communities, schools It was once said that, “Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.” AuburnVoices is allowing College of Education students to do both.

The overall mission of AuburnVoices is “to provide a way for students in the College of Education to be involved in advocacy and student leadership throughout the community and in schools.”

The organization represents a vision shared by Drs. Lynne Patrick, Kathy Robinson, Peggy Dagley and the program’s director, Jamie Carney. It began in an attempt to give structure and framework to student groups seeking resources and opportunities for volunteer work. However, AuburnVoices has grown to do much more.

Through the promotion of leadership and educational advocacy, the organization not only prepares future educators, but also seeks to make a lasting impact on a diverse group of students, including those with special needs.

The concept is simple.

The program functions as a “hub,” where different project requests for at-risk schools can be found — most readily through the program’s website. An organization or individual can then contact AuburnVoices, which then serves as the “vehicle” in providing the funding and support needed to complete the task. Eric Crumley, the graduate program assistant for AuburnVoices, serves as a liaison between the college’s student organizations and those they support.

Last year, AuburnVoices took on several projects, including a very successful musical instrument drive. It also sponsored more than 12 teacher request projects, participated in funding grant opportunities, and worked with multiple College of Education student organizations in sponsoring projects and fulfilling resource requests. Among the contributors are the College of Education’s Student Council, the Association of Counseling Psychology Students, the Student Alabama Education Association and Iota Delta Sigma.

Funding, however, is never the easy part.

AuburnVoices receives its funding from an array of sources, including private donations, student organizations, people within the community and grants. Carney notes that even the smallest contributions can be helpful — anything from a ream of paper to an ink cartridge to even a few rolls of toilet paper.

Carney credits the college’s National Advisory Council for its support of the program (see related story, page 46).

In addition to the opportunities for activities and student advocacy, AuburnVoices also provides information for grant training and leadership development, often in the form of on-campus conferences hosted by other organizations. The Center for Student Leadership and Ethics, a program dedicated to leadership development, serves as one example.

While all of the training and experience is immensely beneficial for students, most find that the biggest reward of working with these schools is being able to see results and witness the impact of their work. AuburnVoices provides what Carney calls a “real link” between students and the kids with whom they work. They aren’t just making donations to an otherwise nameless stranger; they are serving the child in front of them, full of wonder, joy and gratitude.

“Contact with the children is by far the biggest reward,” said Carney, professor and coordinator of the college’s counselor education and supervision doctoral program.

As director, Carney gets to see these positive effects happen on two levels — both with College of Education students and the students they assist.

These benefits already transcend campus boundaries, with numerous activities having taken place at Notasulga K-12 and a future project scheduled for Carver Elementary School in Opelika. Carney said AuburnVoices hopes to expand its presence statewide.

“The situation in schools is worse than even a year ago, and it’s getting progressively worse,” Carney said of budget woes.

This startling truth calls for action, and AuburnVoices is dedicated to helping students and educators who are committed to taking it — no matter the cost.

L earn more about A uburn V oices by visiting education . auburn . edu / auburnvoices

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S c h o l ar s h i p

Donors provide support for nearly 130 education students Nearly 130 undergraduate and graduate students received scholarships and awards totaling in excess of $263,000 during the College of Education’s 9th Annual Scholarship Ceremony.

Through the generosity of its donors and its portfolio of endowments, the college has awarded more than $200,000 in student aid each of the last four years.

New College of Education Dean Betty Lou Whitford welcomed more than 500 students, parents and donors to the annual ceremony and reception held at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center in August 2010.

T he A uburn S cholarship C ampaign is a unique opportunity that will offer an increased return on donor investments while providing considerably larger scholarships to named recipients through the

S pirit of A uburn and A cademic S cholars scholarship funds . F or more information , contact the college ’ s D evelopment O ffice at 334.844.5793.

Doyeon Lim, a master’s candidate in general science education from Mokpo, South Korea, thanked the college’s donors for creating opportunities for students to pursue their passions and gain insight that will help them in their chosen career fields.

Lim, who spent 10 years working for one of South Korea’s largest law firms before pursuing a graduate degree, came to Auburn to find solutions for the challenges facing educators in her home country.

“I came to Auburn to study how to teach students, not only to understand American people and their society, but also to acquire the clue of solution for the problems of my country’s education [system],” said Lim, who earned the Barbara Booth Baird Graduate Endowment. “Every day in every class, I could find a different approach for the same subject in the classroom comparing with my country. I hope to find an alternative solution for the problems in my country’s education system while studying and teaching in America.”

The college presented a total of 106 undergraduate scholarships and 23 graduate awards for the 2010-11 academic year. Among those were four new endowed scholarships and awards and one annual scholarship presented for the first time this year.

These included the Alma Holladay Endowment, the Elaine Moore Jackson Annual Scholarship, the Coach Wayne and Charmian Pope Distinguished Endowed Scholarship, the Barbara M. Price and Richard A. Price Endowed Scholarship and the Layne Reynolds Endowed Scholarship.

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Members of the Reynolds family discuss the creation of the Laura Reynolds Scholarship.

New forms of support T he C ollege of E ducation offered five new scholarships in 2010: A lma H olladay E ndowment E laine M oore J ackson A nnual S cholarship C oach W ayne and C harmian P ope D istinguished E ndowed S cholarship

B arbara M. P rice and R ichard A. P rice E ndowed S cholarship L aura R eynolds E ndowed S cholarship

The Reynolds Family Welcomes Jordan Pankey to the Auburn Family

Sch o l a r s h i p

Auburn Scholarship Campaign

In honor of her 85th birthday, Miss Layne Reynolds’ niece, seven nephews and their wives created an endowed scholarship in her honor. Miss Reynolds saw first-hand the value of an education during her career as a social worker. Further, her mother was a teacher. For these reasons, the family chose to support Auburn students pursuing a career in education.

Jordan Pankey from Albertville, Alabama, is the first recipient of the Layne Reynolds Endowed Scholarship. As part of the campaign, the Reynolds family gift was paired with a Spirit of Auburn scholarship to provide this award for students in the College of Education. Jordan has begun her freshman year working toward a degree in English Language Arts Education with hopes of becoming an English teacher and school librarian.

The vision of Miss Reynolds’ family allows us to welcome Jordan to the Auburn family.

To learn more about the Auburn Scholarship Campaign, visit www.auburn.edu/scholarshipcampaign.

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Innovation station

College’s new Center for Disability Research and Service offers range of resources for region

A

diving accident nearly 20 years ago left Scott Renner paralyzed from the neck down, but it didn’t stop him from living a rich and active life.

Renner credits assistive technology for helping him enjoy some of the same activities he engaged in before the accident. Assistive technology enables him to turn on lights, open doors and answer his phone, but it also affords him the freedom to engage in more adventurous pursuits like water skiing.

“My rehab was looking at the utilization of assistive technology,” said Renner, the assistive technology coordinator for Auburn University’s new Center for Disability Research and Service. “I think it represents quality of life. It’s independence, and people want to have a high level of independence, choice and control.”

Faculty and staff assigned to the Center for Disability Research and Service are committed to helping individuals with disabilities realize their hopes and dreams and gain and maintain the freedom Renner described. The center, an extension of the college’s Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling housed in the Dawson Building, offers resources and conducts research in the areas of assistive technology, autism and developmental disabilities, program evaluation, and employer and community support. The facility opened to the public in August 2010 and has already earned

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

acclaim for some of its research efforts.

“The center will become a nationally recognized research hub regarding autism and will conduct research on the most significant disabilities relative to gaining access to education, employment, housing, transportation, health care and leisure,” Auburn President Jay Gogue said.

Dr. E. Davis Martin, department head and Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor, said the center’s multifaceted nature will enable it to provide meaningful assistance to individuals with significant disabilities in living independently and realizing their goals.

The center’s personnel engage in research and service activities including counseling, speech, kinesiology, psychology and human services.

“We’re trying to develop a model that will allow us to better assist those with the most significant disabilities to work, live and play in the communities of their choice,” Martin said.

A launching pad for communication For most children, the process of articulating wants and needs involves a relatively simple process.

Ask and you may receive, whether the object in question happens to be a snack or a favorite toy.

Now imagine the process for a child with autism whose vocabulary consists of no more than 10 words. His or her desires, no matter how strong, may remain locked within unless a parent or teacher can read non-verbal cues.

Thanks to the efforts of researchers in the College of Education’s Center for Disability Research and Service, children who face such a challenge may soon have access to a tool that can speak on their behalf. A $20,000 Tech in the Works award from the National Center for Technology Innovation enabled Scott Renner and Dr. Margaret Flores to explore ways in which Apple iPads could assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Their partnership with Birmingham-based PUSH Product Design resulted in the creation of touch-activated applications, voice recordings and social interaction stories for use with the iPads.

In June 2010, Renner and Flores worked with 10 children with autism between the ages of 4 and 14. After evaluating the children’s communication skills and observing their interactions with others, Flores and Renner taught them how to use the modified iPad devices. Applications were developed to assist the children in such settings as home, school, shopping centers, restaurants, beaches, movie theaters and playgrounds.

The center’s research relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder will expand on the work previously conducted by the Auburn University Autism Center, formerly a program of the College of Education. Researchers in the center will also collaborate on projects with the college’s Auburn Transition Leadership Institute, which helps young adults learn how to live independently and reach their professional and educational goals.

The center’s program evaluation unit will gather information from consumers and stakeholders and provide feedback to state agencies serving persons with disabilities.

“Such feedback is vital for shaping policy and future research in best practices,” said Holly Brigman ’09, the center’s coordinator of program evaluation.

On the assistive technology front, Renner said the center will benefit greatly from collaboration between students in the college’s rehabilitation program and industrial design students in the College

of Architecture, Design and Construction. Industrial design and rehabilitation students take on individuals with disabilities as clients and collaborate to develop new product concepts as class projects.

The center’s researchers have also proved adept at finding new uses for existing technological tools. With the help of a $20,000 Tech in the Works award (see accompanying story), Renner and Dr. Margaret Flores explored the effectiveness of Apple iPads in improving the communications skills of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Renner, Flores and doctoral candidate Kate Racoff also won a 2010 Bright Ideas Award from the National Center for Technology Innovation.

“We hope to reach educators, students and parents,” said Flores, an assistant professor of special education and the center’s coordinator of autism and developmental disabilities. “We’re acquiring more and more pieces (for assistive technology) and we’re looking to bring in consumers.”

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Warrior Research Center preparing Army for 21st century It made perfect sense for the U.S. Army to readily welcome faculty members and graduate students from the Department of Kinesiology to engage in research involving soldiers at Fort Benning.

of detecting trends and determining the effectiveness of Army training methods.

As technology has changed the ways in which wars are fought, the Army has modified its approach in training the men and women who serve in its ranks. In 21st century Army parlance, units are now comprised of “soldier-athletes” defined by strength, mobility, endurance, resourcefulness and resilience. So it’s natural that leaders like Col. Terrance McKendrick, commander of the 192d Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning in nearby Columbus, Ga., would seek out experts in such areas as athletic training, neuromechanics, biomechanics, exercise physiology, cardiovascular health, education and motor learning.

The Army has seen enough of value in the program to invest more than $585,000 since 2009.

“There are so many commonalities between training a soldier and training an athlete,” said Dr. Mary Rudisill, head of the Department of Kinesiology. “We have learned quite a bit in the athletic and sport world that can translate into military training.”

“The Army has implemented a new PT program designed to reduce injuries as a part of the Soldier Athlete Initiative,” Sefton said.

“We’re a part of that effort, and part of what we’re doing is helping them determine if their new programs are effective and how they can be improved. They’re doing more sprinting and decreasing longdistance running. They’re spending a lot more time on core exercises and building hip strength.

“The focus is on prevention and research — treating injuries, but also stopping them before they can occur. You never have to treat an injury that you prevent.”

Center personnel also focus on developing strategies to combat obesity and poor physical fitness among recruits, trainees, soldiers and veterans. Current and proposed points of emphasis include the effect of Army equipment on the soldier, improvement of cardiovascular function in spinal cord injury patients, gait assessment and new treatments for post-deployment chronic neck pain in infantry soldiers.

The Army has invested more than $585,000 in the program since 2009.

Their capacity to serve soldiers has risen to a new level as well, thanks to Auburn University’s formation of the Warrior Research Center in 2010. Directed by Rudisill and Dr. JoEllen Sefton, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, the center will take an active role in helping the Army improve the physical and technical skills of its “soldier-athletes.’’

There are several ways in which the Warrior Research Center can affect positive change. Students in the post-certification Warrior Athletic Training Program (profiled in the 2010 Keystone) have saved the 192d Infantry Brigade more than $1.5 million and 95,000 training hours in the first year by helping reduce the amount and severity of injuries incurred in basic combat training. The program has improved rehabilitation and accelerated return to duty. Sefton collects data on where and when training injuries occur as a means

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

While the Warrior Research Center draws on the expertise of the Department of Kinesiology — Rudisill, Sefton and Drs. Wendi Weimar (biomechanics), John Quindry (exercise physiology), Bruce Gladden (exercise physiology) and Sheri Brock (physical movment pedagogy) — it also involves faculty from Auburn’s colleges of Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, Fort Rucker research laboratories and, of course, Army personnel. Currently Sefton is collaborating with researchers at Fort Rucker in Enterprise, Ala., to develop new strategies to address issues with soldiers experiencing traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Rudisill, Brock and Sefton are also working with the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command to look at new ways to improve soldier training and learning.

The new center will also have sparkling facilities at its disposal, thanks to the opening of the university’s $21 million, 45,000-squarefoot MRI Research Center (see related story, page 41). Located in the Auburn Research Park, the facility will house a Siemens Verio open-bore 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner for clinical and research use, as well as the nation’s first shielded whole-body 7-T MRI. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of organs, tissues and the skeletal system.

rese arch & o u t r e ac h

Federal grant extends reach of problem-based learning project Dr. John Saye wants social studies teachers to challenge their students to do more than remember names, places and dates.

Saye has visited enough classrooms to know that K-12 students are far more likely to remember those details when they are challenged to think critically about the challenges historical figures faced. In his capacity as co-director of the Persistent Issues in History Network, Saye encourages educators to develop problem-based learning strategies.

For instance, if a class happens to be studying the American Revolution or the Civil Rights Movement, a teacher could stimulate student discussion by posing the following question: When are citizens justified in disobeying established authority?

“Kids don’t like social studies,” said Saye, a professor of social science education in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Teaching. “They see it as memorizing names and dates. Problem-based learning presents the subject to kids in a way that real people are involved. We ask them to deal with questions that people have had to deal with throughout time.

“They learn a lot more deeply and retain more that way.”

With the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Saye and colleagues at Indiana University and New Mexico State University will look for ways to help teachers use new technological tools for problem-based learning. The total funding for the project, entitled “PBL-TECH: Using Web 2.0 Tools and Resources to Sup-

port Problem-Based Curricular Innovations in Pre-Service Teacher Education,’’ is $749,853 for three years. Saye’s share of the overall award is $150,791.

Saye and his partners — Dr. Thomas Brush, associate dean for teacher education and associate professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University’s School of Education and Dr. Krista Glazewski, associate professor of Learning Technologies at New Mexico State University — believe educators will engage students more effectively by using interactive technology.

“I think things like Twitter offer a lot of possibilities,” Saye said.

“In social studies, in the real world, Twitter has had a dramatic impact on politics and in coordinating social protest. We know our students are using those kinds of things. That’s a big part of the first step of this project is to do some conceptualization of what tools exist now. What can we recommend to teachers and teacher educators as the most promising tools available now?”

Saye said he and his colleagues hope the project will inspire more universities to develop problem-based learning models for teacher education and, ultimately, integrate those same approaches in K-12 school systems. If that happens, more students may come to view their social studies classes differently.

“We’re talking about students wrestling with dilemmas that people in that place and time [in history] wrestled with,” Saye said. “Those are the issues they are going to struggle with as adults because those questions continue to be raised in contemporary contexts.”

Investigating the roots of childhood obesity in Alabama A $74,982 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will make it possible for researchers in the Department of Kinesiology to assess the effectiveness of physical education policies in Alabama’s Black Belt region.

Drs. Leah Robinson (bottom photo) and Danielle Wadsworth (top photo) earned the funding for their project, “School Reform: The Role of School and Physical Education Policy on Children’s Physical Activity in Alabama’s Black Belt Region,’’ which will examine the effects of the Alabama Board of Education’s mandate that schools provide daily physical education by a certified instructor. They will gather data from six elementary schools in the Macon County School District.

students’ physical activity, the researchers will learn how school administrators and physical education teachers meet state-mandated policies and discover what factors help or hinder implementation of policies by the school district.

Robinson and Wadsworth have engaged in research exploring the connection between children’s activity levels and childhood obesity. Nearly 36 percent of Alabama’s school-aged children are classified as overweight, compared to 30.6 percent nationally. Nearly half of all black children in rural Alabama are overweight or obese, compared to 34.8 percent of white children.

Current recommendations state that children ages 5 to 18 should engage in at least an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. A 2009 study by Action for Healthy Kids determined 70 percent of Alabama’s school-age children fail to meet the daily recommendation for physical activity.

In addition to identifying school policies designed to increase

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Instructional leadership program serving as catalyst for school improvement The posters, printouts, reports and spreadsheets inside the “data room” at Benjamin Russell High School chart the student body’s academic progress while also demonstrating how assistant principal Todd Haynie ’10 puts his Auburn education into practice.

Haynie, who earned a master’s degree in elementary and secondary administration from the College of Education, learned how different forms of data can serve as a catalyst for school improvement

administrators in how to set up data rooms — places where student learning, demographic, perception and process data can be collected and analyzed in an effort to improve academic achievement.

“There are so many variables that affect our students and the way they learn and the things they learn,” Haynie said of his Alexander City, Ala., school. “Only through looking at the true data over a number of years can we identify recurring trends — good or bad — that are influencing the academic achievement of our students. By looking at the data with an open mind and collaborating with others, it is possible to see changes made that will have a positive effect on our students and their academic performance.”

Aside from developing a better understanding of data-driven decision making, educators from 11 regional school districts learn more about technology, inclusiveness, community learning, reflective practice, leadership, collaboration and communication through the ILP program.

“We’re on the cutting edge,” said Sherida Downer, MALS, interim head the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology. “We’re the leaders in this state.”

Data on student performance and perceptions can help educational leaders clearly shape their priorities.

through his studies in the Instructional Leadership Preparation program (ILP).

As budgets tighten, enrollments swell and the standards set forth by the “No Child Left Behind Act” toughen, the ILP program provides K-12 administrators with the ability to lead in an increasingly demanding environment. Based in the college’s Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, the ILP offers a master’s degree program in instructional leadership for school principals. One of the primary components involves training

The program, in turn, produces administrators and educators who can provide effective leadership at the grassroots level. That means that Haynie and other administrators at Benjamin Russell High School are willing to have cordial but “tough conversations with each other” regarding best practices and commonly held assumptions about students and their learning. That means recent graduates like Tammie Richardson ’10, a reading coach at Horseshoe Bend School in New Site, Ala., are preaching the value of “organizational learning.”

“School systems everywhere are attempting to learn and grow as organizations in order to meet the needs of their students,” said Richardson, “and they have realized that they must become learners themselves in order to do this.”

One of the ways the ILP program grooms leaders capable of reshaping organizational culture is by enabling graduate students to understand trends through research collaborations with College of Education faculty. Dr. Lynne Patrick, associate professor of educational leadership, said the program’s emphasis on data-driven decision making “gives you a clear understanding of what your school looks like and who your students are.”

Better yet, the constant flow of information helps teachers deepen their understanding of what their students need and want from them.

As the background poster suggests, educational leaders should dig deeper when it comes to gathering and evaluating data.

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

College Kn o w l e d g e STUDENT ENROLLMENT by gender (fall 2010)

STUDENT

2% 13% 14% ENROLLMENT

28% 72%

by classification 14% (fall 2010)

17%

Male

23%

Female

EXTERNAL GRANT FUNDING since 2004-2005, in millions

17%

Freshman

Master’s

Sophomore

Education Specialist

Junior

Doctoral

Senior

8,000,000 7,000,000

5%

6,000,000

FACULTY BY LEVEL as percent of total (fall 2010) 22%

5,000,000 4,000,000

31%

42%

$5,143,694

$8,160,013

0

$4,576,726

1,000,000

$6,739,544

$4,708,286

2,000,000

$5,195,938

3,000,000

Associate Professor Assistant Professor

04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10

Instructor

DEGREES CONFERRED, all levels, since 2004-2005 700

693 25

9

8

48

50

44

650

603

25

MOST-POPULAR UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS (FALL 2010)

242

207

207

196

13 193

400

175

500

8

557 41

600

44

613

34

615

300 200

382

06-07 07-08 08-09

09-10

339

385

04-05 05-06

360

368

328

100 0

Full Professor

Undergraduate

Master’s

Specialist

Doctoral

1. elementary education 2. exercise science 3. early childhood education 4. general social science education 5. English language arts education MOST-POPULAR GRADUATE MAJORS (FALL 2010)

1. administration of higher education 2. exercise science 3. adult education 4. collaborative teacher special education 5. administration of elementary and secondary education

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K E Y N OTE S

In the classroom

College facilitates discussion of TESOL issues College of Education faculty members and students discussed strategies and tactics for teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages during a regional conference hosted by the university in January 2010.

The Alabama-Mississippi Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) held its annual conference at the university, which proved to be a major coup.

“It’s the first time in 30 years that it’s been held in Auburn,” said Dr. Robert Leier, assistant professor and coordinator of the master’s program for English for Speakers of Other Languages Education.

Leier earns seed grant Leier earned a seed grant from the college’s Scholarship and Innovation Committee in support of his project exploring the design and implementation of English literacy programs for families in the Auburn, Lee County and Opelika school systems.

Title: Associate professor and program coordinator, secondary science education

Course: CTSE 4090 Curriculum and Teaching I: Science When is it offered? Fall semester Who takes it? Undergraduate and graduate (fifth-year alternative master’s program) students in the secondary science education program What will you learn? “In this methods course students learn and practice methods of teaching aligned with ‘inquiry’ from the National Science Education Standards and applied within a Learning Cycle Model for teaching as outlined in the Alabama Course of Study Science Objectives. This course is designed to provide a ‘hands-on, minds-on,’ and experiential learning aspect to teaching science on the 6-12 grade level to students in our program.’’ interacti v e learning

Summer program tests creativity of preservice teachers As the mother of a young son filled with boundless energy and curiosity, Dr. Melody Russell understands one of the secrets to capturing the attention of a room full of children.

Mention the promise of ice cream as a reward.

Russell, an associate professor of secondary science education, used the process of making homemade ice cream as a means of unlocking the mysteries of chemical reactions for the pre-K and elementary-aged students participating in the 2010 Early Childhood Summer Enrichment Program.

By using large Ziploc bags filled with ice cubes and salt and smaller ones containing milk, sugar and cream, Russell and the students were able to satisfy their dessert cravings after shaking the ingredients for several minutes to create firm, tasty treats. The exercise underscored the theme of the six-week program, “Going Green is Smart,’’ by showing the students that not everything has to come from a can or box.

“We’ve talked a lot about recycling and renewable energy,” said Sandy Little, a doctoral candidate in early childhood education who

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Melody Russell

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

College of Education students explain the science behind homemade ice cream.

helped coordinate the program. “It’s very handson. We’ve been able to find a number of ways to engage the kids.”

The program stimulated the creativity of 55 children ages 4 to 8 and provided valuable experience for 36 preservice teachers. Elizabeth Gattis and Madeline Goodman, both early childhood education majors, were among the preservice teachers who helped the children learn about different aspects of science.

“We base it on a project approach,’’ Goodman said. “We start off with a big idea and we have to come up with it all on our own.”

Curricul um and T eac h i n g M usic education

Kuehne’s Beethoven-based project hits high note with music society “Beethoven & Me,” a music education project designed for elementary students in Notasulga, has introduced music instruction to the students and has earned an award for its creator.

Dr. Jane Kuehne, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching, received the 2010 Robby D. Gunstream Education in Music Award for her efforts to build the instrumental and compositional skills of elementary school students in Notasulga.

Through Kuehne’s project, “Beethoven & Me,” Auburn University music education students and Notasulga third- and fourth-graders work together to create music using a method designed by the late German composer, Carl Orff. The Notasulga students compose the melodies, while the Auburn students create the arrangements.

Kuehne, who initiated “Beethoven & Me” in spring 2009, received a $1,000 cash prize for meeting the College Music Society’s criteria of creating “an imaginative and exemplary pro-

gram that furthers education in music through engagement with local or area organizations.”

The award, presented each year to a university faculty member or unit, enabled Kuehne to buy additional mallet and rhythm instruments for students.

Kuehne’s original project expanded last fall, with Auburn music education and Notasulga students collaborating on “Beethoven & Me: Wolf Tales Live!” During a 6-week program, students improvised on Orff instruments and built their writing skills. They read stories featuring a wolf as a primary character and then constructed their own stories and musical themes for characters covered in their readings.

The Auburn students created Orff-style arrangements from the themes provided by the elementary school students and then taught the young musicians to play the music in preparation for a concert that told their stories.

The “Beethoven & Me” concept has not only provided a creative outlet for Notasulga students, but has also provided valuable experience for Auburn students who aspire to teach music.

N ew facult y

Department welcomes back former student in faculty role Dr. Christal Pritchett, a 2004 College of Education graduate, has returned to campus as a faculty member in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching.

Pritchett joined the faculty in January as an assistant professor of business education. Pritchett earned her doctorate from the college in career technology (business education). She has previously taught both high school business courses as well as college-level courses, including classes at Southern State Community College and Alabama A&M University, where she was given the School of Business Researcher

of the Year Award for 2005-06. During her time at A&M, she served as the university coordinator and principal investigator for a pair of research projects that received funding from the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, making A&M the only historically black college to receive the grant for two consecutive terms.

She has written and contributed to several refereed journals and produced a number of presentations on the use of web and distance learning technology in the classroom. She served as president of the Delta Pi Epsilon Honor Society from 2007-09 and was on the auditing committee for the Alabama Business Education Association from 2005-09.

K E Y N OTE S Strutchens takes AMTE office Dr. Marilyn Strutchens, Mildred C. Fraley distinguished professor of mathematics education, took office as the president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) in January 2011 at the organization’s annual meeting in Irvine, Calif.

AMTE is the largest professional organization devoted to the improvement of mathematics teacher education.

Strutchens will serve a 2-year term as AMTE’s president.

Parr earns award as top educator Dr. Brian Parr has been named the Outstanding Young Agricultural Educator by the American Association for Agricultural Education.

The award recognizes the top faculty members in the profession who have served in the field for less than seven years.

The highly competitive process involves peer nomination and evaluation by a selection committee.

Parr was recognized during the 108th Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists annual convention held in Corpus Christi, Texas, in January 2011.

“Dr. Parr has provided a wealth of contribution to our profession over his short career and represents what we hope that all young faculty members aspire to become,” said Dr. Jason Peake, associate professor in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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K E Y N OTE S Witte appointed to electrical industry program development committee Dr. James Witte, associate professor and Adult and Higher Education program coordinator, will help develop an advanced studies program for the National Training Institute (NTI).

The National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) for the Electrical Industry invited Witte to serve on the NTI Advanced Studies Program Development Advisory Committee, which will help determine future training in the field.

Created nearly 70 years ago, the NJATC is one of the largest apprenticeship and training programs of its kind.

The NJATC is a joint program of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Through their partnership, hundreds of local programs have offered apprenticeships and training for residential wiremen, journeyman linemen, journeyman tree trimmers, journeyman inside wiremen and telecommunication installers and technicians.

The NECA is the management association for electrical contractors, while the IBEW represents approximately 725,000 members who work in utilities, construction, broadcasting, manufacturing, telecommunications, railroads and government.

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on the web

Llanes’ higher education blog generating discussion The title of Dr. José Llanes’ higher education blog sounds like a Buddhist meditation mantra.

“Oohm,’’ which actually stands for “Out of his mind,’’ provides important context since the creator strives to produce content that will add clarity to discussions of higher education issues.

“I write when I have something to say, and that’s the topic selection,’’ said Llanes, an economist and professor of organization and leadership in the college’s Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology. “My criteria are that the topic must be important and timely. Sometimes I take my lead from the comments and write a post about it.’’

Llanes said he was inspired to join the blogosphere after speaking about strategic issues in higher education at numerous conferences. His site visitors include CEOs, higher education policymakers and professors, administrators and trustees of different universities.

“I write when I have something to say, and that’s the topic selection.’’

“The people I sent [the blog to] are thoughtful people and very much on target as far as questions and observations,’’ he said. “What surprises me is the discussion that it has elicited among some of my colleagues who receive it.

They comment on it, challenge me on some of my ideas and generally become engaged. I really like that.’’

Since Llanes began posting in June 2010, the Oohm blog has packed oomph as a place of insight and a forum for discussion on such issues as quality, ethics and accountability in higher education. Llanes said part of the impetus for starting the blog involved driving discussion about competition in higher education — how colleges and universities position themselves in the marketplace to attract the quality of students they would like to have.

R ead J ose L lanes ’ blog posts on strategic management of higher education at jrllanes . wordpress . com

In the classroom Title: Mildred Cheshire Fraley distinguished professor of social foundations and Foundations Program coordinator

James Kaminsky

Course: FOUN 3000 Diversity of Learners and Settings When is it offered? Fall semester Who takes it? Graduate and undergraduate students in various education fields What will you learn? According to the course catalogue, the course will involve “exploration of socio-cultural factors and individual differences” while helping students build their understanding of diversity and communication with “students with different cultural backgrounds, abilities and values.”

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Educ ation al F oundations, L eadership and T ec h n o l o gy M eeting challenges

Doctoral candidates learning the ropes of educational leadership Doctoral candidates enrolled last fall in EDLD 8210: “Educational Leadership Theory & Practice” received insight into how to walk the tightrope so many K-12 school leaders must balance on a daily basis.

“Facing fears was a really important piece of it,” Kensler said. “In leadership development, we talk about how important it is for school leaders to take risks.”

The challenge course experience served to counter the misconception that no safety

Groccia discusses professional development at overseas conference Dr. James Groccia, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, presented the keynote address at a January 2011 conference in Tartu, Estonia.

Little did they know that they would soon be walking a tightrope suspended 30 feet above the ground.

Dr. Lisa Kensler, assistant professor of educational leadership, found an unconventional but effective way to help her students learn how to negotiate the obstacles so many superintendents and principals face. Kensler took her students to the Auburn University Challenge Course, which provides opportunities for groups to develop communication skills, trust, collaboration and problem-solving abilities. The challenge course — more commonly referred to as a “ropes course” — enables individuals to scale “artificial mountains.’’

Participants equipped with safety helmets and harnesses navigate a course consisting of small suspended platforms perched atop trees or telephone poles. They reach the stands by climbing cargo nets and ladders and use “zip lines’’ to travel from platform to platform. More often than not, they rely on the encouragement of teammates to conquer a fear of heights or of the adrenaline-pulsing zip line journeys.

K E Y N OTE S

nets exist for school leaders weighing tough decisions that may affect student performance and personnel development. Kensler said the exercises demonstrated the effectiveness of the group dynamic in problem solving and decision making. Participants also developed a deeper understanding of how to balance responsibility, of knowing when to lead and when to follow.

“My thought was that the ropes course would address personal leadership development, cohort cohesiveness and that it would affect their professional development and trickle into their work in schools — either as a teacher with students or as a principal with faculty,” Kensler said.

The event, organized by the Estonian Ministry of Education and the European Union’s Primus/Archimedes Programs, focused on university teaching.

Groccia, director of the Biggio Center for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, spoke about the professional development of university professors.

The conference focused on the broader topic of higher education quality in Europe, and also covered the integration of research and teaching.

Organizers placed an emphasis on inspiring university professors to explore and improve their instructional skills.

The doctoral cohort’s 4-hour team-building and bonding experience in the woods yielded scholarly work and reflection, as well as professional development. A group of students delivered a presentation about their experience at an Alabama Association of Professors of Educational Leadership conference in February.

“The tenets of the ropes course allow direct application to education’s toughest problems,” said doctoral candidate Quebe Bradford, a ninth-grade pre-Advanced Placement English teacher at Jefferson Davis High School in Montgomery. “… The ropes course allows participants to couple theory with practice.”

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K E Y N OTE S AAHPERD awards research fellowship to Robinson Dr. Leah Robinson, assistant professor of motor behavior in the Department Kinesiology, was among 11 candidates welcomed as Research Consortium Fellows at the Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD).

Robinson and the other new fellows were recognized at the organization’s annual convention in San Diego. She is one of approximately 375 fellows in the Research Consortium, whose total membership consists of more than 5,500 research scholars and members of AAHPERD. Research Consortium Fellows are selected based on their publication record, research presentations and the quality of their scholarship.

Robinson, a member of the College of Education faculty since 2007, has focused much of her work on early childhood motor behavior and relationship between activity and childhood obesity levels.

tales from the tapes

Opelika basketball players gain insight into science behind their sport

The videotape doesn’t lie.

Members of the Opelika High School boys and girls basketball teams crowded around a monitor in Dr. Wendi Weimar’s Biomechanics Lab and watched intently as she reviewed video footage of players shooting jump shots.

Weimar’s critiques were so thorough, in fact, that some players started to jokingly refer to her as the “mean lady with the camera.” Sloppy fundamentals, whether in the form of a splayed elbow, poorly-timed jump or clumsy follow through, were caught on camera.

Opelika High School boys basketball coach John Wadsworth brought his players to the Department of Kinesiology’s labs for a second consecutive year to sharpen their shots as well as their focus on academics. Girls basketball coach Devin Booth and her team joined in for a tour of laboratories, interaction with Kinesiology professors and students and fun skill challenges that tested everything from hand-eye coordination to balance.

“I think the best thing is just getting them to a college campus and letting them see that there are other things going on besides basketball games and football games,” Wadsworth said.

professor of health promotion and director of the college’s Physical Activity Promotion Laboratory, arranged the visit to help the studentathletes better understand the science behind their sport. They also learned about the different career paths the Department of Kinesiology prepares students to follow.

“I think it really helps them connect what they do sport-wise as a science and think a bit more about what they do,” she said. “They understand how throwing a ball at a target on the wall will make them a better free throw shooter.”

In one lab, players raced against the clock in a manual dexterity exercise. Others tested their hand-eye coordination by throwing tennis balls at a small target mounted to a wall or by bouncing the ball off the wall and catching it with one hand.

Dr. Shakela Johnson-Ford ’07, assistant principal at Opelika High School, accompanied the teams on their visit and even participated in some of the physical challenges. Johnson-Ford, who earned a doctoral in education administration from the college, said the lab experiences proved to be as much fun for the players as their time on the basketball court.

His wife, Dr. Danielle Wadsworth, assistant

In the classroom

The AAHPERD advances, promotes and distributes research involving physical education, recreation, health and dance. It represents the largest organization supporting and assisting individuals involved with each of those specialties.

Title: Director, TigerFit

Jim McDonald

Course: PHED 1300-2 Triathlon Training When is it offered? Spring semester Who takes it? Anyone interested in competing in their first triathlon. The only prerequisite is the ability to swim four lengths in an Olympic-sized swimming pool What will you learn? “The course is designed to take someone who is out of shape to the point where they can complete a spring triathlon (300- to 400-yard swim, a 12- to 15-mile bicycle ride and a 3- to 4-mile run) and have fun doing it. The class meets three days per week, but the students are expected to complete six workouts per week (two swims, two runs, two bicycle rides). When they finish, they have learned the rules of triathlon, built the stamina to complete a race and hopefully have discovered that this is a great sport.”

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Kin e s i o l o gy A N ew H ome

Department eager to settle into new facilities The Department of Kinesiology will soon have facilities to match its sparkling reputation for performing vital research.

In addition to the university’s new Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center, which opened in spring 2011, faculty can also look forward to the construction of a new Department of Kinesiology building on a site formerly occupied by Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures near Wire Road and adjacent to the outdoor swimming complex. Dr. Mary Rudisill, department head, said the building should be open in time for the fall 2012 semester. She expressed gratitude to the university’s Board of Trustees, as well as Provost Mary Ellen Mazey and Dean Betty Lou Whitford, for their support in obtaining state-of-the-art facilities.

“We’re really excited that we’re going to be in a building that is really built to meet our needs,” she said. “We see ourselves advancing.

It’s going to help in terms of student and faculty recruitment. We appreciate the support of the college and university. We feel as though they’re seeing our potential and supporting that. We’re going to live up to it. We want to thank everybody for believing in us.”

The Department of Kinesiology building will consist of 58,000-square feet of research and office space. Faculty will use classroom space in the Student Activities Center, which N ew faces

K E Y N OTE S ALSDE awards funding for physical activity study Drs. Danielle Wadsworth and Leah Robinson earned a $5,000 Alabama State Department of Education grant in support of their collaboration examining approaches to physical education at the preschool level.

will be renovated and transformed into a Wellness & Sustainability Center. That building will include such amenities as a dance studio and weight room.

Rudisill said Dr. David Pascoe, HumanaGermany-Sherman distinguished professor and director of the Thermal and Infrared Lab, served as the department’s point person in communicating needs to the architects, Infinite Architecture and ThreeSixty Architecture.

“The university was very careful to first assess our department teaching, research and outreach needs,” Pascoe said. “The building has been designed to meet our current faculty needs, and the spaces have been designed to accommodate other faculty if and when vacancies arise. The building is designed from a program focus more than from an individual faculty focus.”

The newly completed MRI Research Center, located at the university’s research park, will offer space for the department’s research relating to gait analysis, posture analysis, post-surgery performance and rehabilitation, exercise prescription and adherence, sports performance testing and assessment and sports psychology.

It will also serve the Warrior Research Center (see related story, page 32).

Their project is entitled “Increasing Preschoolers’ Physical Activity and Time On-task using Structured Classroombased Physical Activity Breaks.” The study will evaluate the effect classroom-based physical activity breaks have on preschool-age children’s physical activity levels during the school day and on-task behavior during instruction time.

Quindry earns seed grant Dr. John Quindry, director of the Cardioprotection Research Laboratory, earned a seed grant from the college’s Scholarship and Innovation Committee.

His project relates to heart attack protection and how “natural opioids” prevent heart attack damage.

Rudisill said the new facilities should help the department solidify its position in the National Academy of Kinesiology’s ranking of doctoral programs.

Tina Gottesman Associate I - Financial

Lauren Einhorn Administrative Support Associate I - Academic

“We have a goal to be in the top 15 and we think we can get there with the MRI building and the new facility,” she said.

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K E Y N OTE S Project earns ALSDE grant A research and outreach collaboration involving Drs. Jamie Carney, Caroline Dunn and Kathy Robinson earned a $5,000 grant from the Alabama State Department of Education.

Their project is entitled “AuburnVoices: Developing Advocacy and Leadership Skills among Students in the College of Education.” Carney, Dunn and Robinson are working together to provide grant writing, advocacy and leadership training for student leaders within the College of Education.

The AuburnVoices program mobilizes the college’s student organizations in collaborative projects to assist at-risk schools. To learn more about AuburnVoices, read the article on page 27.

N ew identit y

Department changes name, but not its acronym The Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling/School Psychology has changed its name to the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling. The Alabama Commission on Higher Education gave final approval to the name change in March 2011.

master’s level and doctoral programs.

The department’s academic programs are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling-Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) and the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CRE).

The department serves more than 400 students who are enrolled in undergraduate, tech sav v y

University hosts first assistive technology conference Auburn University provided an invaluable forum for innovators and consumers when it hosted the first Alabama Assistive Technology Expo and Conference in October 2010.

The two-day event, sponsored by Auburn’s Office of Professional and Continuing Education, the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Auburn University Center for Disability Research and Service, provided a showcase for products, practices and services available to individuals with disabilities.

Assistive technology includes mobility devices, such as wheelchairs and walkers, and hardware like video phones for the hearing impaired or text readers for individuals with limited vision. Such tools can prove essential

for individuals with disabilities in maximizing employment, education and recreation opportunities.

The conference, held with support from the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, also offered an opportunity to educate the public about the university’s research work as well as emerging technology.

Robert Rummel-Hudson, author of Schuyler’s Monster: A Father’s Journey with His Wordless Daughter, served as the conference’s keynote speaker. His book tells the story of raising a child with a disability and striving to meet her needs.

In the classroom Title: Project director

Kelly Brumbeloe

Course: RSED 3000 Diversity and Exceptionality of Learners When is it offered? Fall, spring and summer semesters Who takes it? Undergraduate students majoring in all areas of education What will you learn? “In RSED 3000, future teachers learn about students with disabilities. They learn about legislation impacting services for students in special education, characteristics of students with various disabilities and strategies to use when working with students with disabilities.”

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Speci al Educ ation, R eh abilitation and co u n s e l i n g awareness building

CATTS Program preparing secondary special education teachers to meet challenge A new graduate program in the College of Education will help fill the state’s need for secondary special education teachers capable of assisting youth with disabilities who reside in high-need areas.

The Collaborative Approach to Training Transition Specialists (CATTS) Program prepares scholars to be multi-faceted professionals capable of serving students with disabilities in a number of different ways. Graduates of the master’s program receive training focused on research-based transition practices designed to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities.

“We have five students right now and just interviewed four more,” said Dr. Karen Rabren, who serves as co-director of the program along with Dr. Caroline Dunn.

Gov. Robert Bentley supports Transition Awareness Month.

The program, one of just six of its kind nationally, will grow to prepare 32 scholars for work in secondary transition programs. The introduction of the CATTS Program couldn’t come at a more opportune time, according to numerous state policymakers and special education experts.

itself as a nationally recognized hub for transition-related research and scholarship. The Auburn Transition Leadership Institute (ATLI) recently hosted the 21st annual Alabama Transition Conference, drawing nearly 600 attendees for seminars and speakers focused on helping young adults with disabilities realize their education, employment and lifestyle ambitions.

“We need more highly qualified teachers, and we need teachers who have had specialized training in transition and in services for students who require more individualized attention,” said Daniel Roth, education specialist for the Alabama State Department of Education.

“In our country, what an individual with a disability can do is really unlimited, particularly with assistive technology and the natural support of individuals,” Rabren said. “We have the legislation in place to support those activities. It’s about getting beyond the stigmas and stereotypes associated with disability.”

The CATTS Program receives guidance from an advisory group representing a variety of transition stakeholders. CATTS scholars develop expertise in transition and collaboration while immersing themselves in research on effective practices. The coursework prepares them to collaborate with transition professionals and stakeholders, including students with disabilities, parents and relatives.

In addition to completing a master’s degree in collaborative teacher special education, scholars will meet the state’s requirements for highly qualified collaborative teacher education.

Rabren and ATLI outreach administrator Diane Glanzer visited the state capital in February to meet with Gov. Robert Bentley and Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard. Bentley signed a proclamation designating March as Transition Awareness Month in Alabama.

The program serves as one example of how the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling has established

Rabren said it reinforces “that individuals with disabilities, when given the chance and opportunity and with supports as needed, can be integrated in the community as contributing members of society.”

“They just want the opportunity,’’ she added. “Sometimes there’s too much associated with the disability rather than the abilities these individuals possess.”

N ew faces

Holly Brigman Program Evaluator Coordinator Center for Disability Research and Service

Deborah Henthorne Doris Hill Administrative Support Coordinator of Autism Assistant I - Academic Research and Community Supports & Instructor Auburn Transition Leadership Institute Center for Disability Research and Service

Gregory Jones Information Technology Specialist III Auburn Transition Leadership Institute

Kathy Robinson Visiting Assistant Professor

Anita Smith Administrative Support Assistant I - Academic Center for Disability Research and Service

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T ru m a n P i e rc e Ins titute

K E Y N OTE S Reed selected as juror for international award Dr. Cindy Reed, director of the Truman Pierce Institute, served as a juror for the Brock International Prize in Education program administered by the University of Oklahoma.

Reed, a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, was one of nine jurors who helped determine the 2011 Brock Laureate.

Reed is nationally recognized for her expertise in leadership development and educational reform. She serves as a commissioner on the Alabama Select Commission on High School Retention and Drop Out Prevention and is associate editor of the Journal of School Leadership.

The Brock International Prize in Education recognizes individuals for specific contributions and innovations related to the science and art of education, including new teaching techniques, discoveries of new learning processes or organization of schools and school systems. The winners receive $40,000, a certificate and bust of Sequoyah, the first Native American to develop an alphabet.

the abc s of college

Truman Pierce Institute leads local students’ exploration of Auburn In talking to a group of high school students from Loachapoka last fall, Auburn University sophomore Brittany Grant introduced them to the ABCs of college life.

Ambition, belief and commitment.

“Every student can benefit by recLoachapoka’s Exploring Auburn Days exposed students to faculty ognizing that if they want something, and administrators. they can achieve it by using that drive,” said to listen to and occasionally quell some of the Grant, a sophomore English and theater major students’ fears about the future. Some expressed who works in the Truman Pierce Institute (TPI). concern over being able to afford college or gain Grant unveiled her guiding acronym during an event known by a capital letter code of its own, L.E.A.D. Loachapoka’s Exploring Auburn Days, held in November 2010, enabled 25 high school students to tour campus, learn about academic programs and hear from faculty members and students. The students especially enjoyed their interactions with Grant and fellow TPI staff member and Auburn student Lacorious North, both of whom are graduates of Loachapoka.

“Because I am so close to their age group, it’s easier to connect because they feel comfortable coming to me for advice,” Grant said. “I hope I can instill in them a drive toward their goals by helping them find what they are passionate about.”

“High school is basically not knowing what is next,” said Dr. Cindy Reed, director of the Truman Pierce Institute. “We want them to learn enough to make informed choices.”

Reed said it’s important for the Loachapoka students to meet individuals like Grant and North, who grew up in the same community and attended the same school before continuing their educations at Auburn.

“The kids who graduate from Loachapoka and come here, particularly those who are interested in education, we hire them in TPI and have them work on our student programs,” Reed said. “We’re interested in growing some more teachers.”

In addition to being in a position to serve as mentors, Grant and North were also able

The award is named for Oklahoma natives John A. and Donnie V. Brock. John serves as chairman of the board for Medallion Petroleum, while Donnie taught elementary school in Oklahoma and Texas.

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admission to their university of choice.

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Full house

The Truman Pierce Institute draws a crowd to campus events like the Building Individual Capacity for Success Winter Conference. The event’s theme was “Leadership, Scholarship, Service: Sculpting Today into a Brighter Tomorrow.’’’

Office o f t h e De a n

UNC selects Whitford for alumni award New College of Education Dean Betty Lou Whitford thought her involvement in her alma mater’s anniversary celebration would consist of introducing the keynote speaker.

Graduate students gain insight into experiences of female faculty members Four female faculty members shared their experiences as researchers, teachers and leaders during a February 2011 discussion hosted by the Dean’s Office.

However, her visit to the University of North Carolina’s School of Education in September 2010 involved a second trip up on stage.

The event, entitled “Women in the Academy,” was open to all graduate students as a means for them to gain insight into what factors go into becoming a faculty member in the College of Education.

Whitford accepted the school’s Alumni Achievement Award during its 125th anniversary celebration.

“I really was surprised and very pleased,” said Whitford, who began her tenure as Auburn’s education dean and Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor on Aug. 1.

The guest speakers at the event were (pictured from top to bottom) Drs. Wendi Weimar, Melody Russell, Caroline Dunn and Margaret Shippen.

“One committee planning the event had contacted me about introducing the keynote speaker. About three weeks later, I got a letter from the director of alumni affairs congratulating me on being selected for the alumni achievement award. I thought somebody in the office had mixed it up.”

Weimar, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, serves as director of the Sport Biomechanics Laboratory.

Russell is an associate professor and program coordinator of secondary science education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching.

The UNC School of Education annually presents its Alumni Achievement Award to graduates who exemplify its “commitment to support diverse and democratic communities in order to improve education in the state and nation for all children and the adults who care for them.”

Whitford, who previously served as the dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Southern Maine, has certainly fulfilled that requirement over the course of her career. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, Whitford has served as a consultant for numerous school districts, as well as school and university partnerships. She also held academic and research positions at Columbia University, the University of Louisville and UNC. She has served as an advisor to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education’s Professional Development Schools Standards Project, the U.S. Office for Educational Research and Improvement, the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Arts Education Partnership, the Appalachian Educational Laboratory, the Lucent Technologies Foundation and the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform. The latter center was founded by former UNC faculty member and associate dean of education Phil Schlechty.

Whitford, a native of New Bern, N.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies education, a master’s in teaching in political science and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction and sociology of education during her time in Chapel Hill.

“They sort of have to claim me,” Whitford joked.

Dunn, a professor in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, is the founder and director of the secondary special education master’s degree program.

Shippen is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling.

2011 Spring Awards C heck the C ollege of E ducation website – education . auburn . edu – in A pril for information on the 30 th A nnual A wards & R ecognition ceremony honoring outstanding students , faculty members and staff . T he college ’ s awards luncheon is scheduled for A pril 27.

2011 Keystone Leader S ince 2003, the C ollege of E ducation ’ s K eystone L eader - in -R esidence has introduced students to successful leaders in education , government , human services , business , community services and health services . C heck the college ’ s website – education . auburn . edu – for an update on which alum has been selected as the 2011 K eystone L eader . T his year ’ s program will be held during the fall semester .

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A Message

f ro m t h e Chair

W

ith the completion of this spring’s National Advisory Council meeting in April, I will be concluding my service as chair of the National Advisory Council.

Needless to say, it has been a wonderful and meaningful experience! Working with both Dr. Frances Kochan and Dean Betty Lou Whitford during their respective times as dean, as well as the college’s faculty, staff and Student Ambassadors, has been a highlight.

Thanks to each of you for your support, help, encouragement and friendship. You have certainly been a large part of my life the past five years while serving as your chair. You will certainly not be forgotten! Blessings to each of you.

To our alumni and friends who make so much of what is achieved by the college possible, thanks to you as well. It has been an extreme honor working on the behalf of you and our thousands of Education alumni in serving the college in this manner. You have much to be proud of in the tireless efforts of our faculty and staff, and amazing achievements of our students and your fellow alumni.

Warmest regards, and War Eagle!

James “Jim” Manley ’60 Chair, National Advisory Council

Celebrating a legacy

As part of the celebration of the deanship of Dr. Frances Kochan, National Advisory Council chair Jim Manley presented Kochan with a plaque to commemorate a new fund for excellence established in her honor. The fully funded Frances K. Kochan Endowed Fund for Excellence, which will provide financial support for College of Education students, was created through personal gifts by council members, then expanded to include support from faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends to honor Kochan. To learn how to make additional gifts to the fund, contact the college’s Development Office at 334.844.5793.

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Council taps ‘sustainers’ to help support student-led advocacy, outreach Since the inception of the college’s National Advisory Council in the late 1980s, more than 100 alumni and friends of the college have served, or are currently serving, the college through this volunteer capacity. To reconnect past members, the council recently created a “sustaining member” status available to council members who have “retired” from the council in previous years.

Just as current council members contribute each year to provide seed funding for faculty research “mini-grants,’’ sustaining members have been invited to assist with funding new grant efforts — with student leaders being the ones seeking the use of these funds.

Through the efforts of Internal Relations Committee chair Susan McIntosh Housel ’73, the council has established funding opportunities for projects that develop student leadership and create opportunities for service learning. These projects further the commitment to volunteer service fostered through academic coursework and student organization service. Such a commitment leads students to opportunities for advocacy and outreach on behalf of schools and community organizations for which this type of support is critical.

The council’s advocacy and outreach focus is built on the foundation created by the college’s AuburnVoices program (see page 27). AuburnVoices’ framework for developing advocacy in action also creates a structure for the college’s students and faculty to receive training in leadership, mentoring and grant-writing. Leaders in the college’s 15 student organizations and specific classes can pursue these “mini-grants” as they seek to assist schools, community agencies and organizations.

F or more information , or to view the council ’ s current sustaining members and future funded projects , visit education . auburn . edu / alumni / nac

Nation al Advisory Co u nc i l

2010-2011

NAC Council Executive Committee James “Jim” Manley ’60 Council Chair Retired banker, SunTrust Bank Oneonta, Ala.

Dr. Thomas N. Taylor ’60 Chair, Academic Affairs Educational constultant and retired superintendent Clinton, Miss.

Dr. Tim Alford ’68 H. Gray Broughton ’05 Exec. director, CEO/Vocational Alabama Construction Rehabilitation Recruitment Inst.

Counselor, Broughton Associates Inc. Pelham, Ala. Richmond, Va.

Council Members

Col. Hollis Messer (US Army-Ret.) ’55 Chair, Development Agent, ONO Realty Orange Beach, Ala.

William D . “Bill” Langley ’63 Chair, External Relations Business owner, Sidewinder Inc. Columbus, Ga.

Susan McIntosh Housel ’73 Chair, Internal Relations Retired elementary educator Auburn, Ala.

Donna Carpenter Burchfield ’71 Attorney and Community Volunteer Atlanta, Ga.

Nancy Culpepper Chancey ’62 Chairwoman, CH&B Inc. Enterprise, Ala.

Dr. Cynthia Ann Cox ’77 Special Education Teacher, Coronado Unified School District Coronado, Calif.

Dr. Nathan L. Hodges ’74 President, Bowling Green Technical College Bowling Green, Ky

Dr. Carol Edmundson Hutcheson ’69 Retired principal Columbus, Ga.

Dr. J. Terry Jenkins ’83 Superintendent, Auburn City Schools Auburn, Ala.

Sharon Rochambeau Lovell Former school board member, Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, Ala.

Hedy White Manry ’71 Retired vice president, IBM Americas Cornelius, N.C.

Dr. Imogene Mathison Mixson ’63 Retired community college academic dean Ozark, Ala.

Dr. Byron B. Nelson Jr. ’57 Retired school superintendent Union Grove, Ala.

Patsy Boyd Parker ’70 Education consultant collge adviser and retired school counselor Opelika, Ala.

Dr. Harold Patterson ’54 Retired school superintendent Guntersville, Ala.

Roderick Perry ’95 Sr. Assoc. Athletic Director/Director of Administration, Wright State University Athletics Department Dayton, Ohio

Kym Haas Prewitt ’86 Exec. director, Children’s Literacy Guild of Ala., and Vestavia Hills School Board Member Birmingham, Ala.

Dr. Frances Skinner Reeves ’71 Retired mental health counselor West Point, Ga.

Elizabeth Hunter “Libba” Russell ’64 Retired educator and principal Columbus, Ga.

Beth Gregory St. Jean ’70 Supervisor, Georgia Teacher Alternative Preparation Program (GATAPP) Marietta, Ga.

Dr. Paul St. Onge ’07 Research analyst, QinetiQ North America, U.S. Army Combat Readiness, Ft. Rucker Enterprise, Ala.

Dr. Ron Saunders ’70 Retired school superintendent Winder, Ga.

Dr. J. Carlton Smith ’67 Retired school superintendent Vestavia Hills, Ala.

Dr. Shirley Kelley Spears ’71 Director, B.B. Comer Memorial Library Sylacauga, Ala.

Thomas Taylor ’97 Director of Client Services, GMR Marketing Charlotte, N.C.

Dr. W. Mabrey Whetstone Jr. ’73 Director, Special Education Services, Alabama Department of Education Titus, Ala.

Susan Dryden Leslie S. Woodson ’80 Whitson ’91 Business analyst, trainer/ Former White House technical writer press secretary, EDS Corporation Office of the Alabaster, Ala. First Lady Washington, D.C.

Catherine Cary Zodrow ’72 School media instructional assistant and retired elementary teacher Auburn, Ala.

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Pruitt ’10 setting standards for science education

S

tephen Pruitt ’10 abandoned his original career plan of becoming an eye doctor after having his interest and imagination captured by a chemistry class during his freshman year of college.

In a way, Pruitt finds himself at the intersection of those two very different disciplines in his new role as the director of science for Achieve, a non-profit and bipartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. In this role, Pruitt will lead the development of the Next Generation Science Standards. He will try to ensure that the country’s next generation of science education standards are formed with a clear vision.

Pruitt, who completed a doctorate in chemistry education in 2010, will work with a core of educators and stakeholders to develop science learning expectations for American students.

You had already worked your way into various leadership positions with the Georgia Department of Education. What made you want to earn a doctorate and what was it about Auburn’s College of Education that appealed to you?

It was always a professional goal of mine to attain a Ph.D. When I was first deciding where I wanted to pursue my doctorate, I was living in Peachtree City, Ga. I realized Auburn was not too far away.

What really sold it for me was [Dr.] Charles Eick [associate professor of elementary science education], who was my major professor and ended up being on my dissertation committee. That feeling of support, the feeling of “we’ll do what we need to do to help you out’’ made an impression. They made it very clear that it was going to be a rigorous degree, but they were willing to work with me as I continued working a demanding full time job. That philosophy continued throughout my time at Auburn when Dr. Carolyn Wallace became my major professor. Auburn clearly focuses on supporting students through a very demanding and challenging degree program.

What do you see as the primary challenges of your job as director of science for Achieve?

I think the first thing to understand is that the current science standard documents are approaching or have passed 15 years old.

It’s time for those to be revised. The country as a whole is in a different place. So far, 30 states that have adopted the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics. While my effort is not technically Common Core State Standards, the

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hope is that we’ll have such a good product that states will adopt the standards. … My job is to work with a core of educators and stakeholders such as the National Academies of Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Teachers Association to develop actual learning expectations for students.

There seems to be a lot of pessimism, of late, about the United States’ status in terms of innovation and scientific achievement. So much is being said about countries like China and India. What needs to happen for the U.S. to remain a scientific superpower?

I think the first thing is ensuring that we have a rigorous set of expectations and standards in our country and that we open access to all students; that students aren’t limited by race, by economics, by an adult making a decision for them, that they have access to quality education. It’s critical that they have an opportunity to engage in inquiry, scientific argumentation and scientific discourse and not just look at science as a list of facts that turns into intellectual bulimia.

You have to give a level playing field to all students around the country. To do that, you have to partner with the leadership in each state and with important organizations like the National Science Teachers Association, the people who are on the ground working with teachers. continued on next page

Alumni Is there a particular component of science education that seems to suffer from neglect?

The importance of scientific inquiry and design, technical writing and supporting a claim or an argument with evidence are some things that are not always emphasized in classrooms, but those activities are key components of what scientists do. The content of science is always important, but a student’s ability to apply that knowledge is our goal.

What can you take away from your experience at Auburn and apply to your new job? It seems that universities can play a significant role in improving science education at the K-12 level, whether it’s through teacher training or partnerships.

I mean, who does that? To have a university professor go to work with middle school kids every day, that was just incredible to watch.

From my experience with other Auburn faculty, he reflects that kind of spirit of wanting to be a part of the community but also of wanting to make the community better. That’s what kind of led me to Auburn, that feeling of commitment to content but also the commitment to improving the educational system. University faculty like Dr. Eick and Dr. Wallace (who did the same) are incredible resources and have the ability to impact K-12 education if they are engaged in the process of developing and implementing quality science standards. It also helps me remember that my work is about students. No matter where my career takes me, it should always be about making the best education possible for all students.

I think one of the most impressive things I’ve seen is Dr. Eick taking time from his duties at Auburn to teach middle school science.

Education alum Rouze ’85 named All-American Teacher of the Year

Alabama Junior Academy of Science honors biology education alum

Kelley Rouze ’85, a mathematics teacher at Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in Montgomery, Ala., has been selected as a recipient of the All-American Teacher of the Year Award by the National Math and Science Initiative.

Rouze, who graduated from Auburn with a degree in secondary mathematics education, was one of 18 chosen to receive the award in its first year. She teaches Advanced Placement (AP) calculus and serves as a coach and mentor to other AP math teachers in Montgomery’s five A+ College Ready program schools.

The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) created the award to recognize outstanding math, science and English teachers for remarkable contributions to their students and profession. The award is presented to teachers in each state participating in NMSI’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP). Each winner received a cash award as well as recognition at an awards luncheon in Washington, D.C., in May 2010.

While in D.C., Rouze was introduced to Alabama’s Congressional delegation.

Mary Boehm, president of A+ College Ready, said Rouze exhibits all of the qualities the All-American Teacher of the Year Award represents.

“Kelley truly makes a difference, not only for her students but also for her teachers,’’ Boehm said in a press release. “This initiative is about opening the doors of opportunity to more students, and she understands the life-changing impact possible when a teacher recognizes a student’s untapped potential.’’

Dr. Mark T. Jones ’91, a graduate of the College of Education’s biology education program and a secondary science teacher at Auburn’s J.F. Drake Middle School, received a year-long appointment from the Alabama Academy of Science.

Jones was selected for the 2010-11 Teacher Fellow awarded by the Alabama Junior Academy of Science and the Gorgas Scholarship Committee. Through his fellowship, Jones will support the growth of statewide science competitions while also encouraging increased student and teacher participation in them.

Jones, who earned a doctorate in biology education from the College of Education after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology from Auburn, serves as chair of his school’s science program and coordinates the local and state championship-winning Science Olympiad teams for Drake Middle School, Auburn Junior High School and Auburn High School. He also teaches secondary science education courses as an adjunct instructor in the College of Education and has developed inquirybased experiences for middle school students on behalf of the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative.

That background makes Jones a comfortable fit for the Gorgas-AJAS Teacher Fellowship. His goals include developing web-based resources for teachers and students and creating a database of teachers interested in making presentations on experimental design and project-based science.

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Bolton-Holifield ’90 named to Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Ruthie Bolton-Holifield ’90, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, former WNBA All-Star and College of Education graduate, earned induction into the 2011 class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Bolton-Holifield, who graduated from Auburn in 1990 with a degree in health and human performance, was one of six players, coaches and contributors selected for the hall of fame’s 13th class.

In four seasons at Auburn, Bolton-Holifield led the Tigers to a combined record of 119-13, including three Southeastern Conference championships, four NCAA tournaments and two NCAA runner-up finishes. She finished her career as the school recordholder for most games started in a season (35) and most steals in a game (10). Bolton-Holifield ranks fifth on the school’s all-time assist chart (526) and holds 21st among the program’s career scoring leaders (1,176 points).

Bolton-Holifield, a native of McLain, Miss., was just as prolific during a 15-year professional career. A member of 10 U.S. national teams, she earned gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and earned top honors as USA Basketball’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1991.

Bolton-Holifield scored more than 2,000 points in her pro career, twice earning WNBA All-Star honors.

University honors Ringer ’59 with Sheffield Award Dr. Joyce Reynolds Ringer ’59, a College of Education graduate and emeritus member of its National Advisory Council, earned the 2010 Pamela Wells Sheffield Award presented by the Office of the President and the Auburn Athletic Department.

Presented since 1991, the award recognizes women who exemplify the grace, character and community-minded spirit of the late Pamela Wells Sheffield ’65, an elementary education graduate whose husband and children also attended Auburn.

Ringer, an Auburn resident, has displayed her commitment to the university in a number of ways. Ringer, the retired executive director of the Georgia Advocacy Office, earned an elementary education degree from Auburn before earning her master’s degree in special education and a doctorate in administration from Georgia State University.

She was selected for the College of Education’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 2003 and served on the college’s National Advisory Council from 1997-2009.

“Teachers influence the future of the world,” Ringer said. “The calling of teaching is such a blessing. To be able to help support teachers and the College of Education and the professors who help guide teaching, it’s just so important for the future of the world. I’m very glad that I’ve had the opportunity to do that and I’m appreciative of the College of Education and what it does.”

She and her husband, 1959 Engineering graduate Kenneth Wayne Ringer, are members of the college’s Dean’s Circle. She has been actively involved in the Auburn Alumni Association and has also served on Auburn Magazine’s Alumni Board. Ringer has also served as president of the Auburn men’s basketball Tip-Off Club and as a student-athlete tutor. She is a current member of WINGS

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(Women Inspiring and Nurturing Greatness in Student-Athletes) and a member of the Tigerzone board.

Of the Pamela Wells Sheffield Award’s 18 recipients, eight have connections to the College of Education: • Dr. Jane Moore, the 1996 award recipient, served as a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology (formerly Health and Human Performance) for 22 years.

• Dr. Jean Welsh ’85, the 1998 winner, earned her master’s degree and doctorate from Auburn in rehabilitation and special education.

• Kym Haas Prewitt ’86, who was honored in 1999, received a bachelor’s degree in English language arts education and serves on the College of Education’s National Advisory Council.

• Dr. Debbie Shaw ’84, the winner in 2000, earned her master’s degree and doctorate in higher education administration and now serves as vice president of alumni affairs and executive director of the Auburn Alumni Association.

• Dr. Susan Sorrells Hubbard ’87, the 2004 recipient, earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics education, a master’s degree in vocational and adult education and a doctorate in education and now serves as associate dean for academic affairs in Auburn’s College of Human Sciences.

• Sandra Bridges Newkirk, honored in 2006, recently retired from the College of Education as an assistant professor of kinesiology after 40 years of service.

• Carolyn Brinson Reed ’65, who won the award in 2008, earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She has served Auburn through the AU Foundation Board and the Auburn Alumni Association.

Alumni

Muschamp ’96 trying to put chomp back into Gators After being designated the head football coach-in-waiting for the University of Texas, Will Muschamp ’96 will no longer have to bide his time to run a program.

The University of Florida stepped in to hire Muschamp in December 2010, after ultra-successful head coach Urban Meyer stepped down due to health reasons. Muschamp, who earned a master’s degree in adult education from the College of Education in 1996, will follow a coach who won a pair of Bowl Championship Series titles in six seasons.

It’s Muschamp’s first head coaching job after 16 years as an assistant with Texas, Auburn, LSU, Eastern Kentucky, Valdosta State, West Georgia and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. The move marks a homecoming of sorts for Muschamp, whose family lived 10 years in Gainesville during his childhood.

“This is a dream come true,” Muschamp said of his new opportunity. “I grew up watching the Gators and whatever other SEC team was on television. I have great memories of watching SEC football with my father on Saturdays and playing football in the backyard with my two brothers right here in Gainesville.”

Photo credits: UF Communications After graduating from Georgia, Muschamp became a graduate assistant at Auburn, working for defensive coordinators Wayne Hall and Bill Oliver in 1995 and 1996. He returned to the Plains as defensive coordinator in 2006, presiding over a unit that finished seventh in the NCAA in scoring defense.

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley introduced Muschamp as the Gators’ new head coach on Dec. 11. The 39-year-old Muschamp agreed to a five-year contract worth $2.7 million.

Werth ’95 honored for outstanding contributions to field of psychology Dr. James Werth ’95, a product of the college’s counseling psychology doctoral program, was elected as a fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association (APA), in 2010.

Werth, professor and director of the counseling psychology program at Radford University, also earned diplomate status from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He was selected as an APA fellow based on the criteria of “unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in the field of psychology.’’ The APA bestows fellowships status to individuals viewed as having advanced the field of counseling psychology well beyond the normal levels conventionally expected of professionals. Fellows are selected through peer review.

“This is an honor which only a small percentage of psychologists attain,” said Dr. Randolph Pipes, Werth’s major professor at Auburn. “We are very proud of Dr. Werth.”

Interesting reading

Janet B. Taylor, professor emerita, and graduates Nancy Amanda Branscombe (’69, ’80, ’91), Jan Gunnels Burcham (’84, ’92), Lilli Land (’80, ’82, ’89, ’98), Sandy Hollingsworth Armstrong (’90, ’00), Angela Henderson Carr (’91, ’96), and Allyson Knight Martin (’86, ’90) recently published a book, Beyond Early Literacy: A Balanced Approach to Developing the Whole Child. It offers a literacy method that promotes learning across content areas.

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Prater ’70 helps history buffs reconnect with presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt wasn’t just a president — he was a reviver of our country’s national spirit. Bob Prater isn’t just an entertainer — he’s an educator of our country’s history.

The Rev. Robert “Bob” Prater ’70 graduated from the College of Education with a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation services. This degree led him to Warm Springs, Ga., where he worked at the Georgia Rehabilitation Center (now known as Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute). After nine years in LaGrange, Ga., he returned to Warm Springs in 1993 and retired from the state of Georgia in 1998. In 1999, he and his wife, Gloria Williamson Prater, built a house in Warm Springs, which is also home to the Little White House. In this setting, Prater was able to “live in the footsteps” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR first came to Warm Springs in 1924 hoping to find a cure for the infantile paralysis (polio) that had struck him three years earlier. He built the Little White House before being inaugurated as president in 1933. Today, the Little White House serves as a popular tourist attraction. It also served as a stage for Prater to display his acting talents.

Inside the Little White House, Prater transformed himself into the famous president.

Prater began volunteering at the Little White House in 2008. The Little Prater (left) bears more than a passing resemblance to White House staff the nation’s 32nd president. recommended Prater for the position of playing Roosevelt when the previous FDR enactor retired. Prater happily accepted and has remained “President Roosevelt” ever since. While he no longer performs at the Little White House, he frequently speaks at schools, civic group meetings, state parks, service organizations and various community activities.

Prater is much more than a performer.

“As an enactor, I am not an entertainer first; I am an educator,’’ Prater said. “There have been many times that students have approached me after a performance and told me they learned more from hearing me speak than they ever learned from a textbook.”

Last May, he gave the famous D-Day speech to the Tennessee General Assembly and considers being asked one of his “greatest

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“As an enactor, I am not an entertainer first; I am an educator. There have been many times that students have approached me after a performance and told me they learned more from hearing me speak than they ever learned from a textbook.” honors.” Prater also performs at the new National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Ga., on federal holidays and other special events.

Prater’s role as FDR serves as an example of the endless possibilities that exist for the educator. His story reminds us that some of the most meaningful and memorable things we learn in life are not learned in a classroom; they are more experiential. Prater’s willingness to present history to the masses is much like the story of FDR himself; it is worthy of telling and retelling.

Prater said he owes his ability and passion for education to the courses he took while a student in the college. Prater also said his degree has helped him “to better understand FDR’s difficulties” and convey those difficulties to his audience.

Of course, not only are students able to learn from Prater, but older generations are able to remember times when they actually heard or saw President Roosevelt speak. Prater allows them the opportunity to close their eyes and travel back to those experiences and hear the confident and rhetorically powerful president once again. Knowing this about his audience is what Prater describes as one of his favorite things about doing the reenactments, which he plans on doing as long as he is able.

FDR remains Prater’s favorite president, and he considers his time as an enactor an opportunity to “live in [FDR’s] footsteps.”

Alumni

Change of course pays off for college’s 2011 outstanding alumna As a veteran of two Boston Marathons, Dr. Beverly Warren `89 can easily see the parallels between distance running and going the distance as a university administrator.

In her current role as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, Warren has found that the demands of the job often resemble those of a 26-mile race. Both call for physical and mental stamina, careful planning and, above all else, perseverance.

“I think there are some things that are transferable, such as setting goals and then developing strategies to achieve them,” said Warren, who earned a doctorate in exercise physiology from Auburn.

“In sports, you’re held accountable in a very public way for your outcomes. I think all of that is really applicable to life as a provost.”

Warren’s ability to focus on the finish line represents one of the reasons why she has been selected for the College of Education’s 2011 Outstanding Alumna Award. In addition to the endurance she has displayed as an administrator, Warren has also distinguished herself as a researcher and reinventor.

Warren began her career with a focus on the psychological and social aspects of sports. She was fascinated by the ways in which athletics foster social connections and build individual self-esteem.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Warren taught at the University of Montevallo (Ala.) and served as an elementary school physical education instructor.

She built her academic credentials, earning a master’s degree in health and physical education from Southern Illinois University, completing a doctoral fellowship in educational psychology at the University of Florida and earning a doctorate in administration of higher education from the University of Alabama.

Her career path demonstrated as much versatility as her educational background. After serving as an associate professor and director of women’s athletics at Montevallo from 1977-86, Warren re-examined her goals while serving as an assistant professor and director of graduate studies at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

“I was at Smith College and my scholarship work was more in the area of the psycho-social basis of sport,” Warren said. “While I

College of Education Outstanding Alumni: A look at the recipients since 2007. To see a full list, visit education.auburn.edu/alumni/alumniawards.html.

2010 W ayne M c E lrath ’52 2009 D r . J oseph M orton ’69

2008 D r . R on

S aunders ’70 2007 D r . J. P hillip R aley ’71

was in Northampton, I fell in love with marathon training and trained with a pretty elite group of runners. It was a lifechanger for me.”

Armed with a doctorate in administration of higher education but interested in research related to the science involved in her sport of choice, Warren reached out to former Auburn Kinesiology (then known as Health and Human Performance) department head Dr. Dennis Wilson, now retired.

He offered her an assistantship and a chance to redefine her academic and professional interests.

“That’s when I made the transformation into exercise physiology,” she said. “I moved from Auburn to a career in the sciences and had many, many great experiences from that change in careers. I think, for me, my greatest memory of Auburn is the sense of family — the fact that Dennis Wilson took a chance on a social scientist and said, ‘Come on, we have a place for you.’”

Warren’s experience at Auburn helped set the stage for her administrative rise at VCU. After completing her doctorate at Auburn, Warren went on to serve as co-director of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University and chair and professor of physical education and exercise studies at Lander (S.C.) University. Warren left to become chair and professor in the Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Virginia Commonwealth in 2000.

Since then, she has served its School of Education as associate dean for faculty affairs (2003-05) and as dean (2005-10). Warren became the university’s interim provost and vice president of academic affairs in April 2010. It has been a long race but, just as she did while running her first Boston Marathon, Warren has learned quite a bit about herself over the course of it.

“What I’ve found over the last 11 months is how much I’ve enjoyed seeing the university from a broader perspective,” Warren said. “What I’ve always enjoyed about academic leadership is sort of being able to help connect the dots and find synergy among people and programs. That has been magnified in this office. You facilitate those connections into great outcomes for the individuals and programs on a much broader scale.”

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Alumni

Smith’s career defined by integrity and philanthropy Healthcare CEO earns Lifetime Achievement Award

The Auburn Alumni Association presented the first of its Lifetime Achievement Awards a decade ago in order to honor the extraordinary accomplishments of graduates who demonstrated equal balances of professional excellence and personal integrity.

Wayne T. Smith ’68, a two-time College of Education graduate known for his success in the healthcare industry as well as for his philanthropy, more than fits the criteria outlined by the alumni association. Smith was one of four Lifetime Achievement Award recipients honored at a ceremony in early March.

It marked the second consecutive year that a College of Education graduate had been selected.

“He’s got such a visionary ideal about things,” Cash said. “The window is never closed for Wayne. He’s courageous.’’

Village Photographers of Auburn, AL

Smith, who earned a bachelor’s in education and a master’s in school administration (1969) from Auburn, and a master’s degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, has established himself as one of the top executives in the healthcare field. Since answering a newspaper want ad for a position with Humana, Inc., he has achieved success during his nearly 40-year executive career as a leader with two Fortune 500 companies. Smith serves as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, one of the nation’s leading operators of general acute care hospitals.

Visionary leadership After joining Community Health Systems in 1997, the company’s net revenue grew from $742 million to more than $13 billion in 2010 — amounting to one of the industry’s strongest records of compound annual growth at 25 percent. Community Health Systems affiliates own, operate or lease 130 hospitals in 29 states.

Larry Cash, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Community Health Systems, said the company’s track record of success stems, in large part, from Smith’s pragmatic approach to decision making.

As a testament to Smith’s influence in the industry, Modern Healthcare Magazine has regularly named him among the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.”

Smith has also earned Institutional Investor’s “top CEO’’ designation several times. Smith, who transitioned to the

Neil E. Christopher ’55, Thomas K. Mattingly ’58, Forrest S. McCartney ’52, and Wayne T. Smith ’68 were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards in March.

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Lifetime Achievement Award About the Lifetime Achievement Award The Auburn Alumni Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors recipients for outstanding achievements in their professional lives and recognizes their integrity and stature. Other College of Education graduates to earn the award since it was first presented in 2001 include: 2010 Robert Kenneth Johns ’57 former president/COO of Sea-Land, founder/CEO of The Hampshire Management Group 2007 Earl H. (Buddy) Weaver ’62 former interim VP for alumni and development at Auburn University, past president of Auburn Alumni Association 2001 James Ralph “Shug’’ Jordan ’32 former Auburn head football coach

Wayne T. Smith watches as Vice President Joe Biden announces a deal with hospital associations to help pay for healthcare reform in July 2009.

(UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg)

healthcare industry after serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Services Corp, served with Humana, Inc., in a variety of capacities during a 23-year career with the company. He rose through the ranks, becoming president, chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors.

Committed to H elping While healthcare leaders and customers know Smith for his business expertise, College of Education faculty and students know him for his selflessness. Smith and his wife, Cheryl, also a 1968 graduate of the college, have given back to their alma mater in numerous ways.

mechanism for recruiting, rewarding and retaining talented faculty.

Smith was among the original members of the college’s National “He’s a creative thinker. He’s a visionary Advisory Council, earned the colleader, and he’s a person who gives generously lege’s outstanding alumnus award of his time, his energy, his talents and his in 1995 and served as the college’s resources without any expectation of getting inaugural Keystone Leader-inanything back.”

Residence in 2003. He has been instrumental in supporting Dr. Frances Kochan academic and scholastic Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor achievement for students The Smith legacy also extends to students. and faculty through his past efforts as chair Since 1994, the college has presented The Humana of the college’s “It Begins at Auburn” CamFoundation Endowed Scholarship in his honor. paign Committee and his current work on More than 125 undergraduates have received the the Auburn University Foundation Board. scholarship since its inception, including seven in Dr. Frances Kochan, who came to know 2010. the Smiths during her time as dean, said “It’s made such a difference in who we are and he’s the ideal recipient of the Lifetime how we’re perceived by others,” Kochan said of the Achievement Award. professorships and scholarships. “His legacy is not “He’s a creative thinker,” Kochan said. “He’s only in the giving, but in the touching of lives with a visionary leader, and he’s a person who gives his scholarships and the opening of hearts and generously of his time, his energy, his talents and pocketbooks of other people who thought, ‘Well, I his resources without any expectation of getting should do the same thing.’” anything back.”

Kochan is one of 14 current and former faculty members who have held the title of Wayne T. Smith distinguished professor. The professorship was established in 1996, and is one of two such professorships created through the generosity of the Humana Foundation and in honor of Smith, who saw a need for the college to have a

©2011, Harry Butler, Nashville

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Smith served as chair of the college’s “It Begins at Auburn’’ Campaign Committee.

K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

College Kn o w l e d g e

The College of Education thanks its alumni and friends for their support in 2010 and their continued assistance in helping to build a better future for all.

DONOR CATEGORIES as a percent of overall giving, calendar year 2010

Corporations

92.8%

Fo u n d a t i o n s

33.5%

.5%

Individuals

Programmatic Suppor t

Corporations

.2%

66.3%

2.9%

Individuals

DONOR CATEGORIES .9% as a percent of total donors, calendar year 2010

DONOR FUND DESIGNATIONS as a percent of overall giving calendar year 2010

Student Suppor t

4.3%

98.6%

Fo u n d a t i o n s

Capital Suppor t

ACTIVE ENDOWED AND ANNUAL FUNDS from which scholarships and graduate awards were made 70

15

16 44

Char t reflects outright gifts, pledges and planned gifts.

0

49

2010

39

$2,432,763

2009

36

$788,464

2008

31

$1,730,000

2006 2007

10 29

$2,060,000

2005

$1,110,000

$1,619,238

0

7

20

1,000,000 500,000

7

30

1,500,000

11

40

2,000,000

43

2,500,000

50 12

DONOR FUNDS RECEIVED calendar years 2005-2010, in millions

17

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04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 Undergraduate

Graduate

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McElrath’s generosity ensures bountiful crop of agriscience educators The many days R. Wayne McElrath ’52 spent following a mule with a plow on his family’s row-crop farm in Cherokee County, Ala., helped him gain an appreciation for hard work and for what it means to bring essential commodities to life from the soil.

More than anything, however, McElrath developed an understanding for what education meant and where it could take him.

“I realized at an early age that if I was going to improve myself, I was going to have to get a good education,” said McElrath, an Albertville, Ala., native who earned a degree in agricultural education from Auburn.

Education may have improved McElrath, an Army veteran who built a successful career with Ralston Purina before starting his own

Shirley ’00 and Rogers ’94 join Office of Development The College of Education’s Office of Development has added two additions to its staff.

Mary Shirley ’00 now serves as the college’s second director of development, while Kelly Rogers ’94 joined the staff full-time as a coordinator.

Mary Shirley graduated from Auburn with a degree in wildlife science. During her time as a student, Shirley organized several fundraisers for outdoor activities which led to her career in development. This included the position of development manager for the Western Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

She has also worked in outdoor retail, outdoor education and as a lead kayak instructor. Shirley has also served as vice president of membership for the West Carolina Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and as the annual fund manager for the Junior League of Asheville.

She is currently working on a master’s degree in philanthropy and development through St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Kelly Rogers, a Jackson, Ala., native, graduated from Auburn with a degree in criminal justice.

After working for a private investigator, she joined the college’s staff as a temporary employee in 2009 and became a permanent employee in November 2010. Rogers’ responsibilities include handling travel arrangements, processing donor gifts, overseeing stewardship, planning donor functions and performing other large and small scale tasks in support of the development officers.

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business, McElrath Farms. But for the better part of his life, McElrath has spent a considerable amount of time and money trying to improve the lives of others.

McElrath’s legacy will ultimately include the cultivation of untold numbers of agriscience educators.

His generosity has created a pair of scholarships in the College of Education — the R. Wayne McElrath Endowed Scholarship in Agriscience Education and the R. Wayne & Faye McElrath Endowed Scholarship. His generous planned gift of $1.2 million will create a plethora of opportunities for future generations of agriscience education students at Auburn.

The R. Wayne McElrath Endowed Scholarship in Agriscience Education was awarded for the first time in 2008. This scholarship is available to outstanding agriscience undergraduate students or master’s candidates.

The R. Wayne & Faye McElrath Endowed Scholarship in the College of Education, which will be presented in coming years as part of the “Spirit of Auburn Scholarship Program,’’ provides four-year renewable assistance for incoming freshmen with stellar academic credentials.

“Mr. McElrath’s contribution to our program represents the value that agricultural education holds for professionals in the agricultural sector of our state,” said Dr. Brian Parr, assistant professor of agriscience education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. “Because of this gift, many young men and women will be afforded the opportunity to pursue a degree in agriscience education and, ultimately, an agriscience teaching position.”

McElrath, a member of the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association/Poultry Hall of Fame and the Agricultural Alumni Association Hall of Honor, earned the College of Education’s Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2010.

Parr said McElrath’s decision to endow another scholarship will have a lasting effect in Alabama.

“These newly minted teachers will be responsible for educating the youth of our state concerning the importance, value and highly technical nature of agriculture in the 21st century,” Parr said. “This gift will help us attract a greater number of high-quality students to fill the ever-growing demand for agriscience educators in Alabama.”

G iv i n g

Students benefit from five new scholarship opportunities in 2010 Newly awarded scholarships provided support for eight students during the 2010-11 academic year.

The Alma Holladay Fund for Excellence, the Elaine Moore Jackson Annual Scholarship, the Coach Wayne and Charmian Pope Distinguished Endowed Scholarship, the Barbara M. Price and Richard A. Price Endowed Scholarship and the Layne Reynolds Endowed Scholarship were each awarded for the first time during the college’s annual scholarship ceremony in August 2010. Here’s a look at the awards and the people who made them possible: Alma H olladay Endowment for the College of Education A three-time Auburn University graduate who earned a master’s degree in education, Alma Holladay ’41 didn’t enroll at the university immediately after her high school graduation because her parents couldn’t afford the $50 per year tuition fee at the time. Holladay, a child of the Great Depression, never forgot the fact that her parents saved and prepared for the day when they could.

Holladay, who passed away in 2009 at age 93, used her education to help families develop successful households. She was a home demonstration agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, serving Conecuh, Baldwin and Russell counties before retiring in 1971. The Alma Holladay Endowment provides funds for excellence in the College of Education.

Elaine M oore J ackson A nnual Scholarship Kenneth Jackson Sr. and Gail Pate Jackson established this scholarship in honor of Kenneth’s mother, the first college graduate from her family. Elaine Moore Jackson taught high school mathematics for 34 years and counted two of her three children as students. She retired in 1997 while serving as a department chair for one of the largest public high schools in Georgia.

The Elaine Moore Jackson Annual Scholarship provides support for first-generation college attendees and members of historically underrepresented ethnic groups.

Coach Wayne and C harmian P ope Distinguished E ndowed Scholarship Established by Daniel and Marcia Pate, this scholarship honors two educators who had a profound effect on Daniel’s life.

Coach Wayne Pope began his teaching career at North Brewton School in 1955 and married Charmian Deuel. They shared a passion for teaching during their 40-year marriage. Coach Pope taught and coached basketball at Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, Ala., from 1958 until 1971, when he became principal. He also served 12 years as superintendent of Conecuh County Schools be-

fore retiring in 1988. Coach Pope passed away in 1996.

Daniel Pate credits Coach Pope for instilling in him a value of education. Coach Pope helped Pate earn baseball and basketball scholarships to Snead Junior College in Boaz, Ala. Pate eventually transferred to Auburn University and graduated with a degree in mathematics education in 1966.

The Coach Wayne and Charmian Pope Distinguished Endowed Scholarship provides full tuition for two years to an education student hailing from Conecuh or Escambia County.

Barbara M. P rice and Richard A . P rice E ndowed S cholarship Early childhood education alumna Barbara Mosteller Price ’83 and her husband, Lt. Richard “Al” Price ’83, a building science alumnus, created this scholarship to help early childhood education students. Mrs. Price’s career spanned more than 25 years, five states and grades K-2. She taught in public, private and parochial settings and now serves as the lead kindergarten teacher at a private school in Panama City, Fla. Lt. Price, who served 20 years in the Air Force, put his education to use with two large international construction firms and later as an independent consultant working with clients nationwide. In addition to providing assistance for students in the College of Education, the Prices endowed a scholarship for the McWhorter School of Building Science.

L ayne Re ynolds E ndowed S cholarship Layne Reynolds was honored by her niece, her seven nephews and their wives with the creation of this scholarship on the occasion of her 85th birthday.

Reynolds, a Greenville native, worked for the State of Alabama welfare agency for more than 40 years, where she saw first-hand the value of an education. Reynolds saw her brother, six nephews, two of their spouses and four of their children graduate from the university. This scholarship is awarded as part of the “Spirit of Auburn Scholarship Program,” which provides four-year renewable scholarships for incoming freshmen based on high academic achievement.

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5

1915 Named for the year in which the Department of Education (now the College of Education) was established, the 1915 Society recognizes donors whose lifetime contributions and commitments to the college have reached a cumulative total of $25,000 or more (including outright gifts, pledges and planned gifts).

R ecognizing donors at $1,000,000 or more

R ecognizing donors from $100,000 to $499,999

R ecognizing donors from $25,000 to $99,999

calendar year

2010

T o see a full list of 1915 S ociety members , visit education . auburn . edu / giving

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Birmingham, Ala.

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“The Auburn College of Education has a history of being on the cutting edge of conducting research, providing instruction, developing practical strategies and designing technological devices for DEAN ’ S support through people with disabilities.

‘Family’ contributions,Cparticipation I R C Land E encouragement will solidify Auburn’s influence in these fields of specialization. Involvement as a part of the alumni family shows N that we are ‘ALL IN’ to ensure that S of their disability E Y may have the people regardless OF K E chosen professions.

TH opportunity to excel in their War Eagle!”

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T o see a full list of the P atrons of the K eystone , visit education . auburn . edu / giving

T o join as a P atron of the K eystone or learn more about the D ean ’ s C ircle , please contact M olly M c N ulty at molly . mcnulty @ auburn . edu or 334.844.5793.

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Why did I join the

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Patrons of the Keystone believe that education is central to building a better future for all. Patrons of the Keystone demonstrate their support of the College of Education by committing a multi-year pledge of financial support to the Dean’s Circle Fund. Each year, donations to the Dean’s Circle Fund provide the resources necessary for the college to exceed current levels of excellence in advancing its tri-fold mission of academic instruction, research and outreach.

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Dr. Joyce Reynolds Ringer ’59 Auburn, Ala.

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Ken Ringer ’59 Auburn, Ala.

T HE

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The Auburn University College of Education has established The Honor Roll — a permanent listing of individuals who have been recognized by current or former students, colleagues, family members or friends through a charitable contribution of $500. The Honor Roll is a fund created to commemorate the significant roles of educators in our lives and are used to provide student and faculty support.

Why do I support

The Honor Roll?

calendar year

2010

“Joyce loved teaching and her students loved her. This is one way I can honor her years as a teacher and the Auburn University College of Education.’’

What did inclusion on

The Honor Roll mean to me?

“What a wonderful surprise and honor to receive the notice that Ken had made me a member of the COE Honor Roll — I do so value my years as an educator and am pleased to join the others who’ve been honored by family, friends and former students.’’

T here are several special occasions and reasons to honor an educator / mentor in your life : M other ’ s D ay , F ather ’ s D ay , H anukkah , C hristmas , birthday , anniversary , retirement , new job or graduation T o say “ thanks ” to that special person , please contact M olly M c N ulty at molly . mcnulty @ auburn . edu or 334.844.5793.

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Inductees receive these tokens of recognition.

T o see a full list of the H onor R oll , visit education . auburn . edu / giving

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Ke y C ontr ibutors Pillars

of Trust r ecognizing donor s w h o ha ve contr ibut ed at leas t $1,000 and mo r e

American Chemical Society Mr. & Mrs. John Howard Anderson AT&T Foundation 1915 Auburn City Board of Education Dr. Jim Bannon & Dr. Susan Bannon DC Blue Cross/Blue Shield Mr. Herman G. Broughton DC Mr. & Mrs. Robert Burkholder Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Burson DC Mrs. Nancy Tilden Campbell DC Mrs. Nancy C. Chancey 1915 DC Dr. Elizabeth S. Cheshire DC Mrs. Wanda F. Coffman Dr. Jo Anne Hamrick Coggins & Mr. Terry Coggins 1915 DC College of Education Student Council Mrs. Belva Lee Collins Comer Foundation 1915 Dr. Cynthia Ann Cox DC HR Daewon America, Inc. Mr. L. Nick Davis Miss Lorraine A. de la Croix Mr. H. Joe Denney DC Mr. & Mrs. Wesley Wilkerson Diehl Mr. & Mrs. J. David Dresher 1915 Mr. & Mrs. Paul Flowers 1915 Mrs. Connie Bomar Forester DC Rev. & Mrs. Byron Paul Franklin 1915 Mrs. Betty Thrower Freeman 1915 DC Mr. R. William Funk Mrs. Barbara Daughtry Gosser DC Halla Climate Systems Alabama Corp Mrs. Dottie W. Hankins Mr. William R. Hanlein 1915 Hanwha L&C Alabama, LLC Dr. Virginia Hayes DC HR Ms. Anne L. Henderson Mrs. Lisa V. Hourigan DC Mr. & Mrs. David Emerson Housel 1915 DC HR Dr. Floreine Herron Hudson 1915 DC

Dr. Jim Hutcheson & Dr. Carol Hutcheson1915 DC HR Hon. Kay E. Ivey 1915 DC Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Alan Jackson Dr. James T. Jenkins DC Mrs. Laura C. Jinright Mr. & Mrs. R. Kenneth Johns DC Mrs. Kay Hathaway Jones 1915 Joon, LLC (AJIN) 1915 Mrs. Martha McQueen Kennedy DC Kenny Howard Athletic Training Fellowship 1915 Ms. Kate Kiefer 1915 Dr. Maxwell Clark King Mrs. Mina Propst Kirkley DC Drs. William & Frances Kochan 1915 DC HR Mr. William Dupont Langley DC Dr. & Mrs. Gerald Leischuck 1915 The Ligon Foundation 1915 Dr. José R. Llanes DC Mr. & Mrs. James Godfrey Lovell 1915 DC HR Maj. Gen. & Mrs. Theodore Franklin Mallory DC Mr. & Mrs. James Autrey Manley 1915 DC Mrs. Hedy White Manry 1915 DC HR Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey Rev. & Mrs. Byron McEachern DC Mr. & Mrs. Richard Wayne McElrath 1915 HR Col. & Mrs. Hollis Messer DC Mr. Robert Lawrence Miller Mr. & Mrs. Walter Sammy Miller Dr. Imogene Mathison Mixson 1915 DC HR Dr. Jane Barton Moore 1915 DC HR Mr. & Mrs. Tom Munro DC Mr. James L. Murrell 1915 DC Dr. & Mrs. Byron Nelson 1915 DC Mr. & Mrs. Dewayne Newkirk 1915 Dr. Joan Vignes Newman DC Ms. Julie Rogers Nolen DC Opelika Industrial Development Mr. William Parker & Dr. Patsy Parker DC HR Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Mose Pate 1915

Dr. Harold Dean Patterson Sr. 1915 DC Mr. & Mrs. James Roger Payne 1915 Dr. & Mrs. Richard Polmatier DC HR Mr. David Scott Poole Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Powell Mr. & Mrs. John Runnels Prewitt 1915 DC Dr. Ellen Hahn Reames DC Dr. Frances Skinner Reeves 1915 DC Mr. John David Reynolds Mr. & Mrs. John R. Reynolds DC Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Reynolds Mr. & Mrs. Robert Reynolds Mr. Thomas Timothy Reynolds Mr. James Kinion Reynolds Mr. David K. Reynolds Mr. Ken Ringer & Dr. Joyce Reynolds Ringer DC HR Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Julius Russell 1915 DC Mrs. Brenda Smith Sanborn DC Dr. & Mrs. Robert Ronald Saunders DC HR Mr. & Mrs. Todd Anthony Schuster Dr. Debbie L. Shaw 1915 DC Dr. & Mrs. Stanley Sheppard DC Mr. & Mrs. Albert James Smith 1915 Dr. John Carlton Smith DC HR Mr. Jerry Franklin Smith 1915 DC HR Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Thomas Smith 1915 DC HR Mrs. Julia Huey Spano DC Dr. Ted Spears & Dr. Shirley Spears DC Mrs. Elizabeth Gregory St. Jean DC Dr. Brett Sheldon Stark Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Newton Taylor DC F. Allen & Louise K. Turner Foundation Mr. & Mrs. John W. Turrentine 1915 Mrs. Carol Cherry Varner DC Ms. Lila Lansing White 1915 Dr. Betty Lou Whitford DC Mr. & Mrs. Keir Whitson Mr. Harry R. Wilkinson DC Dr. Jim Witte & Dr. Maria Witte DC Ms. Leslie S. Woodson DC

1915 indicates a member of the 1915 Society

The Auburn University College of Education expresses its gratitude to the many alumni, friends and organizations who are key contributors to the college and its mission. This support helps the college in building better futures for all through its academic, research and outreach initiatives. This list of contributors recognizes cumulative calendar year outright or planned gifts made to the College of Education during 2010.

Pillars of Loyalty recognizing donors who h a ve g i ve n $ 5 0 0 t o $ 9 9 9 Dr. & Mrs. Timothy Opal Alford Mr. George Atkins & Dr. Leah Atkins Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Baird Dr. Pat Harris Barnes Mr. & Mrs. William Lee Barnett Mrs. Mary Jeanette Barton Mr. John Glasgow Blackwell Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Preston Bolt Ms. Linda Louise Bomke Dr. Richard E. Brogdon HR Mrs. Donna Burchfield DC Mrs. Janet Paley Coggins Mr. & Mrs. James Allen Cook Ms. Dorothy J. Dotson Mr. & Mrs. Claude Lee Eilert LTC James R. Fagersten Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Gaiser 1915 DC Mr. Robert Gannon Mr. Barry Lynn Gilliland Mrs. Virginia Horn Derby Grimes Dr. J. Floyd Hall 1915 Mr. & Mrs. William Forrester Ham HR Mr. & Mrs. Joe McCarty Hill Dr. Nathan L. Hodges Mrs. Joan Mize Holder Dr. Bessie Mae Holloway Ms. Dale Marie Hunt Dr. & Mrs. Don Edward Jones Mr. Robert B. King Dr. & Mrs. Donald Lambert 1915 Mr. Larry Wayne Little Mrs. Lucia Alston Logan Col. William Long Jr. Dr. C William McKee Mrs. Paula Stapp McMillan Ms. Luellen Nagle Mrs. Karen Stapp O’Brien Mrs. Marjorie H. Parmer Mr. Aaron E. Pate Mrs. Sharon K. Peterson Ms. Elizabeth A. Ponder 1915 HR SCA, INC SJA, Inc. Dr. Suhyun Suh Dr. & Mrs. Wayne Teague Mr. & Mrs. Todd Pershing Thornell Mrs. Joan Dickson Upton Dr. Susan K. Villaume

DC indicates a member of the Dean’s Circle

Mr. & Mrs. Charles Wear Mrs. Lucy Hargrove Weigle Mr. & Mrs. Robert Williams 1915 Mrs. Edna Hulme Willis Mrs. Cynthia Lee Wilton 1915 DC HR Dr. Emmett Winn & Dr. Susan Brinson Dr. Katrina Yielding

Pillars

of Hope r e c o g n i z i n g donor s who h a ve g i ve n $100 t o $499 Ms. Emily Jeanette Abston Ms. Loria Darlene Akin Dr. Katrice Annette Albert Mr. F. Reg Albritton III Mrs. Julia S. Alexander Dr. Lydia Lewis Alexander Mr. Clarence Terrell Alford Mrs. Leigh Cannon Allbrook Mrs. Paula H. Allen Mrs. Martha Harris Allison Mrs. Lydia Moore Almand Dr. Anne W. Amacher Dr. & Mrs. Stanley Gene Aman Mrs. Tammy D. Anderson Dr. Carl Angstrom & Dr. Anne Angstrom Ms. Mary Ann Pugh Arant Mrs. Jovette Gonzalez Arbona Mrs. Margaret A. Armor Dr. & Mrs. Richard Crump Armstrong Mrs. Alice Johnson Atkins Dr. James Austin & Dr. Barbara Austin Ms. Brenda Joyce Austin Mrs. Carol Dent Auten Ms. Laurie E. Averrett Ms. Ginger Avery-Buckner Mrs. Linda Garrett Awbrey Dr. Nick Backscheider & Dr. Paula Backscheider Mrs. Elizabeth Gardner Bailey Dr. William Baird & Dr. Samera Baird Mrs. Amy Elizabeth P. Balkcom Dr. William Roy Barfield Mrs. Stacia M. Barnes Ms. Reanne Denise Barnes Ms. Barbara Lazenby Barnett Ms. Susan H. Barron Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie Bruce Barrow Dr. Mary Sue Barry Mrs. Cecily Reid Bates Mrs. Patricia Brown Baughman Mrs. Connie Tebo Baughman

HR indicates an Honor Roll donor or honoree

A Key s t one in Building a Better Future f or Al l

*deceased

63

Mr. Fred Denard Baxter Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Lawrence Baynes Dr. Mark Bazzell Mr. & Mrs. Jere Locke Beasley Mr. Timothy Mack Beasley Ms. Alice Beattie Mrs. Miriam Rhyne Beck Mrs. Shirley Krchak Bell Ms. Marian Collins Bentley Mrs. Barbara S. Berman Mrs. Deborah H. Berry Mrs. Patricia J. Bethel Mrs. Janet Moore Blackwood Mrs. Jane M. Blankenship Lt. Col. Daniel Wilson Bloodworth Jr. Dr. William O’Neil Blow Mr. Stephen Douglas Boling Mrs. Jane Sharp Bolinger Mrs. Sally Pearce Bolling Mrs. Patricia Hughes Bolton Mrs. Joan H. Bomar Mrs. Elizabeth M. Booth Ms. Mildred Diane Boss Mrs. Jennifer Anne Bounds Mr. Roger Wayne Bowen Ms. Bethel Bradford Ms. Sara Nettles Bradley Mrs. Julee Jambon Brandt Dr. Eulie Ross Brannan Dr. Nancy Amanda Branscombe Mrs. Peggy L. Branyon Mr. Lance Patrick Brauman Mrs. Carol Breeding Mrs. Mildred May Bridges Mrs. Joeva Nagle Briggs Ms. Ellanee Dianne Bright Dr. James A. Briley Ms. L Rebecca Britton Mr. & Mrs. William Broadway Mr. James Wesley Brooks Mr. Richard C. Brooks Mrs. Judilyn Brooks Mrs. Elizabeth Copper Brooks Ms. Beverly E. Brown Mrs. Kathy Zeigler Bruce Mr. R. L. Bryant Mrs. Lucy E. Bumpers Dr. & Mrs. Ernest Burdette Dr. Ray G. Burnham Mrs. Pallie J. Butler Mr. & Mrs. Rodney William Byard Ms. Gloria A. Byrd Mr. Dustin Ryan Byrd Mr. J. Rickey Byrd Mr. Milton Fred Cadenhead Mr. Kermit Caldwell Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Callahan Mrs. Donna McClung Camp Mr. Douglas C. Camp Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Eugene Campbell Dr. Jennifer Kirkland Canfield Dr. Dwight Carlisle Jr. Mrs. Molly M. Carmichael Mr. & Mrs. David William Carmon Dr. Jamie Carney Mr. & Mrs. Charles Carter Dr. & Mrs. Paul Lewis Cates Mrs. Debra Nathan Caudill Ms. Kristen Lynn Cawthon Mrs. Lea Crumpton Chaffin Mrs. Margaret Greer Chambers

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Anderson Chambliss Dr. Russell L. Chandler Mrs. Rita R. Chandler Ms. Charlene T. Chapman Mrs. Terrell Smyth Cheney DC Mrs. Nondis L. Chesnut Ms. Tanya Densmore Christensen Mrs. Lori L. Chumley Mrs. Mary Morris Clackler Mr. David Henry Clark DC Ms. Caroline R. Clark Mr. Daniel L. Clay Mr. & Mrs. Cliff Clegg Mr. Dwight L. Cobb Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Cobb Dr. John E. Cochran Jr. Mr. Wilson James Cochran III Dr. Daniel Joseph Codespoti Mrs. Louise Jackson Cole Mr. Edwin Paul Collier Jr. Mr. Shane E. Colquhoun Mrs. Deirdre Bailey Colter Mr. James O. Conway Dr. Milton Olin Cook Dr. Reginald Larnell Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Calvin Gregory Copeland Mrs. Elaine Rhodes Copham Mrs. Lettie Green Cornwell Mr. & Mrs. William Thomas Cottle Dr. George Stanley Cox Mrs. Barbara B. Crabbe Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Thomas Craig Ms. Betty Cynthia Crenshaw Dr. Franklin R. Croker Mrs. Dorothy Hackney Crook HR Mrs. Diane Myrick Cropp Ms. Lillian Belle Cross 1915 Ms. Jill T. Crow Mr. James Lloyd Crowe Mr. & Mrs. James Rudolph Culbreth Ms. Rita Faye Cunningham Mrs. Paula Marie Curtis Dr. John Dagley & Dr. Peggy Dagley Mrs. Beatrice Dominick Dallas Lt. Col. John Damewood & Dr. Judith Damewood Mrs. Rochelle Morriss Davis Dr. Homer Alphonso Day Dr. Joseph J. Day Jr. Mrs. Marjorie Sellers Day Mrs. Emily Jarrells Day Mrs. K Bene Deacon Mrs. Brenda Glenn Dee Ms. Pamela C. Deem Mr. & Mrs. S Eugene Dekich Mrs. Laverne Annette Dignam Mr. Thomas R. Dixon Mrs. Faye Hicks Doane Mrs. Suzette Lauber Doepke Ms. Lindsay Catherine Donohue Mrs. Ruby Long Dorland Ms. Dorothy Wilson Doten Dr. & Mrs. James Dotherow Mrs. Sherida Hooke Downer Ms. Kathryn R. Driscoll Mrs. Juliet Ingram Dudley Mrs. Sheila R. Duffield Mrs. Betty Legg Dumas

Mrs. Elise Petersen Dunbar Dr. Marla Hooper Dunham Mrs. Julie F. Durrance Dr. Amelia Ruth Dyar Col. & Mrs. Charles William Eastman Ms. Anne Elizabeth Edwards Dr. & Dr. Charles Joseph Eick Mrs. Dina Phillips Elder Mr. Timothy Raymond Elliott Mr. John Russell Ellison Mr. Jason Eric Exner Mrs. Jodie Brantley Faith Capt & Mrs. Allen Fancher Mr. & Mrs. Timothy Eugene Farley Mrs. Rebecca L. Farris Mr. & Mrs. Fulton Faulk Dr. Richard Featherston III Mr. Matt Feldmann Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Fell Dr. Linda Felton-Smith Ms. Ann Marie Ferretti Dr. William Barnard Finney Mr. John Arnold Fitzgerald Mr. John Henry Flathman Mr. & Mrs. James Luther Flatt Mr. Wade H. Fleming Dr. Connie Sturkie Floyd Dr. Jenny G. Folsom Mrs. Brenda Hardman Forbus Mrs. Laura Tyrrell Ford Ms. Leigh A. Forman Mr. & Mrs. Glenn Wayne Forrester Mr. & Mrs. Robert D. Fortner 1915 Mr. Douglas Barton Franklin Mr. Rex Frederick Mr. Robert J. Fritz LTC Hank Galbreath Mrs. Melissa T. Gambill Mr. Ronald L. Garrett Mrs. Elizabeth H. Garrett Mr. Phillip L. Garrison The Hon. Henry Victor Gaston Mrs. Sara Greeley Gerry Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Eugene Gess Mr. John W. Gilbert Dr. Bobby J. Gilliam Mrs. Cynthia Ross Givens Mr. Thomas A. Glanton Mrs. Diane Schirmacher Glanzer Mr. Robert Gladney Glover Dr. John M. Goff Ms. Rebecca Nell Goggins Mrs. Anne Carpenter Goodell Ms. Candace Brooke Goodwin Mr. Willis Marion Goolsby Mrs. Ann Clay Gordon Mrs. Kathy Sudduth Graben Mrs. Doris Jones Graves Dr. Richard L. Graves Ms. Diana S. Gray-Williams Mr. William Roger Green Mrs. Anna Holmes Greene Mr. & Mrs. James Greene Mrs. Sue W. Gresham Ms. Carole S. Griffith Mrs. Mary Chambers Gross Mrs. Sylvia Ballow Gullatt Mr. James Ross Gurley Mrs. Candis Hamilton Hacker Mrs. Cindy Nunnelley Hafer Mr. & Mrs. Brian Hage

DC indicates a member of the Dean’s Circle

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

LTC & Mrs. James Hunt Hall Mr. Thomas Lynn Hall Mrs. Helen Johnson Hall Dr. Jane Nelson Hall Mr. Lynwood Hector Hamilton Mr. & Mrs. David Timothy Hanes Mrs. Jennifer Minor Hannah Mrs. Jean L. Hanson Dr. Jacqueline Terrill Harbison Dr. Martha Brown Harder Mr. & Mrs. John Clinton Hardin Mrs. Jennifer Sims Hardison Lt. Col. Edgar Harlin Jr. Mr. Terry W. Harper Mr. & Mrs. Gary Harris Mr. & Mrs. James Wendell Hart Mrs. Brenda J. Hartshorn Dr. Rebecca Parrish Harvard Dr. Amal Ghorayeb Hashimi Ms. Gwendolyn Elaine Hatcher Ms. Kathryn S. Hawkins Mrs. Linda Oliver Hay Mrs. Mary Hunt Hayes Mrs. Cynthia H. Haygood Ms. Reba Carol Haynes Mr. Richard Stanley Headrick Mrs. Clara Heisler Ms. Ann Wynell Helms Mr. William Derek Hembree Mrs. Linda Moore Henderson Dr. Mary Catherine Henderson Mrs. Barbara Reed Hester Mrs. Carolyn Kerr Hickerson Mrs. Jane N. Higginbotham Mr. Roger Alan Hildebrandt Mrs. Anita Griffith Hill Mrs. Sara Wade Hill Mr. & Mrs. Michael Wayne Hill Mrs. Holli Carter Hiltbrand Dr. Ethel McCray Hines Mrs. Linda Turner Hinson Mrs. Cathy H. Hoefert Ms. Leah Dawn Hoffman Mrs. Deanna Lee Holley Mr. L. G. Holloway Jr. Mrs. Kathryn Sansocie Hoppe Mr. William Patrick Horton Ms. Vicki Evans Hough Mr. Jeffrey Hinton Howerton Mrs. Susan Spratlin Hudson Mrs. Harriette H. Huggins Mrs. Betty T. Humphrey Mrs. Jill Sprague Hyers Mrs. Peggy Kling Iber Mrs. Kathleen Hogan Ingram Mr. & Mrs. John Ireland Dr. Teresa Singletary Irvin Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Jackman Mr. Martin Turner Jackson Mr. & Mrs. Luther Burl James Dr. Hollis Edward James Mrs. Susan Shaw Jensen Mr. James H. Jernegan Col. & Mrs. David Scott Johnson 1915 Dr. Harold Johnson Dr. Thomas Franklin Johnson Ms. Rebecca Graves Johnson Mrs. Patricia R. Johnston Mrs. Kittie Helms Johnston Ms. Doris Jeanne Jones Mrs. Glenda Franklin Jones Mr. Carlton Richard Jones Mr. Ole Martin Juve Mr. & Mrs. Edward Kaiser

1915 indicates a member of the 1915 Society

Mr. Robert Webb Kearney Dr. Betty Harrison Kennedy Mr. & Mrs. James Thomas Kerr HR Mrs. Erwin D. Key Dr. Joseph A. Kicklighter Mr. Lester Killebrew Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Michael Torace Kimberl Mr. & Mrs. Michael Kinard Mr. Stephen Patrick King Dr. Bernard C. Kinnick Mrs. Rachel Sauder Kinsman Mr. & Mrs. Timothy Lee Kline Mr. Jerry Knight & Dr. Jane Knight Mrs. Janis Ziegler Koehler Mrs. Joye Burns Kralovec Mrs. Kathy Twinem Krausse Dr. Jane Marie Kuehne Dr. Richard Kunkel & Dr. Dawn Ossont Mrs. Judy Liles LaFollette Mrs. Barbara Jean Lammon Mrs. Kathleen High Land Mrs. Betty McFaden Lange Mr. & Mrs. David Gaines Lanier Lt. Col. & Mrs. Edward Latham Mr. Larry Charles Lawhon Mrs. Gail Cartledge Laye Mr. & Mrs. Paul Harvey Leaver Rev. & Mrs. Lowell Ledbetter Mr. & Mrs. Donald Ledford Mr. Stephen E. Lee Mrs. Carol Thompson Lewis Mrs. Janet McCray Lewis Mrs. Brenda G. Lewter Mrs. Terri Lea Lindley Mrs. Dorothy C. Lindsey Mrs. Elizabeth M. Little Mr. & Mrs. James Alton Lockett Mr. & Mrs. Jack Locklear Mrs. Lela Melson Lofton Mr. James Albert Lovell Rev. & Mrs. W. Vernon Luckey Ms. Ellen G. Lucy Dr. Cynthia Brackin Lumpkin Mrs. Jeanne Hall Lynch Mrs. Eileen Eyles Lynch Mr. Robert O. Lynd Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Howard Maloy Mrs. Sherry Nunn Manley Mr. & Mrs. Steve Leslie Mann Mr. & Mrs. James Homer Maples Mrs. Beverly J. Marion Mrs. Antha Renise Marks-Beaver Mrs. Kristin B. Marsh Dr. Margaret J. Marshall Dr. Gary Martin & Dr. Marilyn Strutchens Dr. & Mrs. Harold Martin Dr. & Mrs. James Martin Mr. Bernard Thomas Martin Dr. & Mrs. John Michael Mason Mrs. Nancy Sharpe Mason Mrs. Mary Griffin Mastin Ms. Nell Mathes Mrs. Carolyn G. Mathews 1915 Mrs. Margaret Porter Mavity Mrs. Linda Kay P. McCartney Mr. Wallace Alfred McCord Dr. Theresa Marie McCormick Dr. William T. McCown III

HR indicates an Honor Roll donor or honoree

*deceased

G iv i n g Mr. & Mrs. Gary Davis McCrory Dr. Dorothy Cowart McGehee Mrs. Suzanne Watson McGlothin Mr. & Mrs. James McGowen Mr. Mark Andrew McIntyre Dr. Andrew John McLelland Mrs. Anne Garrett McMahan Mr. Richard Joel McMillon Mrs. Molly Bridgers McNulty Mrs. Virginia P. McPheeters Mr. John F. Meagher Jr. Mr. Clyde R. Meagher Jr. Mrs. Barbara M. Merrill Mr. Roy Gene Mezick Col. Martin J. Michlik Ms. Suzanne Marie Mickles Dr. Ashley Maria Miles Mrs. Marilyn Carlson Miller Mr. Chipley Shaun Miller Mrs. Jennifer Lynn Miller Mrs. Constance Brow Miller Mr. Joseph Marvin Mims Mr. Theodore V. Montgomery III Mr. Hal Lamar Moore Dr. Jemelene Chastain Moore Rev. & Mrs. Robert Morgan Dr. Joseph Bruce Morton Dr. John H. Mosley Mrs. Deborah Hayes Mossburg Mrs. Betty Steger Moulton Mr. Bruce Roger Mullin Mrs. Karen H. Mullins Dr. Russell Muntifering Mr. Michael Peeples Murphy Dr. Bruce Murray Mr. Larry Gilbert Myers Jr. Mrs. Nan Timmerman Nabors Mrs. Lisa Parker Napier Dr. & Mrs. James Nave Mr. Harry E. Neff III Mrs. Brenda Bowen Neisler Dr. Susan Rhodes Nelson Mrs. Sandra M. Nesbitt Dr. Charles W. Newell Mr. & Mrs. Michael Newton Mr. Thomas Hiliary Nicholas Mr. John David Nicholson Mr. & Mrs. Carl Adams Niven Dr. Christine E. Noe Mrs. Saranne Noblin Northrop Dr. Norma L. Norton Dr. Melvin C. Norwood Mrs. Joy Camp Nunn Ms. Patsy Ann Nutt Dr. David Franklin Oates Mr. & Mrs. Russell Julius Olvera Mr. Bob Osborne Dr. Norman Lewis Padgett Mrs. Emily Jones Parham Ms. Jessica E. Parker Mrs. Amy Black Parker Mrs. Dorothy Crump Parker Mrs. Diane Taylor Parks Mr. H Allen Parnell Jr. Dr. David O’Neil Parrish Ms. Lynn Parrish Ms. Danielle Parrott Mrs. Deborah Smith Pass Ms. Cameron Smith Pass Dr. Gordon D. Patterson Sr. Ms. Cherise M. Patterson Dr. Robin E. Pattillo Ms. Karen Payne Dr. & Mrs. Charles Payton

Mrs. Susan McKay Peacock Mrs. Martha Woods Peake Mrs. Betty Harp Pearce Mrs. Virginia Boyd Pearson Mrs. Sue Atchison Pearson 1915 Mr. & Mrs. Joe Douglas Pearson Mrs. Amelia Reid Pearson Dr. Gwendolyn Smith Pearson Mr. & Mrs. Jack Jones Pease Dr. Karen Lee Pell Mrs. Gail Roberts Pellett Mr. Roderick Durand Perry Dr. Martha Pettway Mrs. Lucinda O. Petway Mrs. Leigh Farrar Pharr Mr. & Mrs. Brian Keith Phillips Mr. Jordan Eric Phillips Col. & Mrs. Walton Phillips Ms. Ellis Elizabeth Phillips Mr. Jerry Frank Phillips Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Piedmont Mrs. Lisbeth Daniell Pierce Mr. Shawn Robert Plumb Mrs. Sue Miller Pogue Lt. Col. & Mrs. Carl Poteat Mrs. Judy Terry Powell Mrs. Elizabeth C. Powell Mr. Donald B. Powers Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Charles Cade Pratt Mr. Patrick Desire’ Prins Lt.Col. & Mrs. Charles Pritchett Mr. John David Puckett Dr. Karen Jackson Rabren Dr. Polapragada K. Raju Mr. John Belton Ramage Mr. James William Rane Sr. Ms. Donna Joy Ray Dr. Cynthia J. Reed Mrs. Susan Howes Retzlaff Dr. William E. Rickert Mrs. Laura Hill Rigsby Mr. Raymond Edward Ringer Mrs. Dorothy Laumer Risley Mrs. Caroline Hume Ristad Mrs. Patricia Farmer Robbins Mrs. Pamala C. Roberts Dr. William Ladon Roberts Mrs. Stephanie D. Roberts Mrs. Shannon D. Robertson Mrs. Katie Jones Robertson Mrs. Patricia V. Robinson Mr. Robert W. Rogers Dr. & Mrs. Wilmer Rogers Ms. Tracy Yancey Rogers Mrs. Martha Hargrove Roman Ms. Jill Courtney Romine Mrs. Joan Rose Mrs. Lisa Hoffman Ross Dr. Mark A. Rowicki Dr. & Mrs. Robert Ellis Rowsey HR Mrs. Brenda P. Rutland Mrs. Karen Kennedy Rutledge Mrs. Beth Sabo 1915 Dr. & Mrs. John Saidla Mrs. Patricia Smith Sanders HR Mr. Robert L. Sanders Ms. Jana Arrington Sanders Ms. Myra Sanderson Mr. & Mrs. James Sands Mrs. Cathy Roberts Sapp Ms. Christina Sarmir Dr. William Sauser & Dr. Lane Sauser DC Dr. & Ms. John Saye Mrs. Silvia Davis Scaife

Mr. Roger P. Schad Mrs. Margaret N. Schaeffner Mrs. Sharon Langham Scheer Mr. Anthony P. Schilleci Mr. Mark A. Schlagheck Mrs. Amy Sue Schmitt Dr. & Mrs. Stewart Schneller Mrs. Joanne Smith Schrantz Mr. & Mrs. William Scott Ms. Elizabeth Ann Scott Mrs. Cynthia Coleman Scott Mrs. Donna Swift Scroggins Mrs. Judy Kell Scully Mrs. Martha Jones Senkbeil Mrs. Amanda McDonald Sheff Ms. Kathryn Milner Shehane Mrs. Elizabeth T. Sheppard Mrs. Carol Curtis Sheridan Mr. Gordon Mack Sherman Mrs. Connie Lynn Shewchuk Mrs. Kathleen B. Shivers Dr. & Mrs. Charles Herbert Shivers Mr. Paul G. Shoffeitt Dr. Gary Lynn Sigmon Dr. Lois Angela Silvernail Mrs. Mary Nash Simpson Mrs. Ann Blizzard Sims Mrs. Joanne Benton Singleton Mr. & Mrs. Charles Eugene Skinner Mr. & Mrs. W. Reese Slaughter Mr. Robert N. Smelley Mrs. Emily Sellers Smith Mrs. Bonnie Lavonia Smith Dr. Mary Alice Smith Mrs. Susan C. Smith Dr. Agnes Earle Smith Mr. & Mrs. Jason Wayne Smith Mrs. Melanie Whatley Smyth Mrs. Jacqueline Lee Sneed Dr. William A. Spencer Mr. & Mrs. F. Russell Spicer Ms. Jacquelin J. Spike Dr. & Mrs. Glenward Ledon Spivey Ms. Joan C. Stamp Mrs. Gloria Cardwell Standard Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Richard Stanley Mr. John Kenneth Stegall Ms. Susan Shahan Stelly Mrs. Patricia H. Stemsrud Mrs. Robbie Q. Stephenson Mrs. Dena Murphy Stephenson Mrs. Linda Long Stewart Rev. & Mrs.* Marcus Crowder Stewart Mrs. Helen Leverette Stewart Mr. Dusty Wesley Stinson Mrs. RoseLyn G. Stone Dr. Stephen Paul Stratton Mrs. Gladys K. Street Mrs. Jane Paxton Street Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Singley Strong Ms. Nell Whelan Stuart Dr. Nancy Boyd Stubbs Mrs. Carra Caruso Summers Mr. Randall Harold Swann Mrs. Patricia H. Swecker Mr. & Mrs. David Joseph Szymanski Dr. T. Lavon Talley Mrs. Loren Waller Tanner Mr. Thomas Lee Tate

DC indicates a member of the Dean’s Circle

Mrs. Gail Watford Taylor Ms. Sonja Kim Taylor Dr. & Ms. Charles Taylor Mr. Michael Douglas Tedder Dr. John Waits Teel Mr. & Mrs. Richard Graham Tenhet Mr. Roger Lee Terry Mr. Calvin E. Thames Mrs. Linda Pritchett Thomas Mr. Foy Campbell Thompson Mrs. Anne Lees Thompson Mrs. Elizabeth Lee Thompson Mrs. Mary Alice Townsend Dr. & Mrs. James Trott Mrs. Durelle Lamb Tuggle Mr. & Mrs. Michael Joseph Tullier HR Ms. Lynda S. Turner Mrs. Kelli Crockett Turner Dr. Harold Lee Underwood Mr. & Mrs. Randall Scott Uthlaut Mrs. Rhonda Burks Van Zandt Dr. Martha Hay Vardeman Mr. Ronald Gray Vaughn II Mrs. Nancy Brown Veale Mrs. Susan Carr Wadsworth Mrs. Carol Anthony Waggoner Mrs. Tony Melinda K. Waid Mr. Nicholas V. Walker Mrs. Bonnie W. Wall Mrs. Norma McDonald Wall Mrs. Martha M. Wallace Mr. Arnold D. Wallace Mrs. Jean Cash Wallace Mrs. Nancy Grooms Walters Mrs. Amy Lawrence Walton Ms. Jennifer Leigh Walz Ms. Nancy Wood Ward Ms. A. Alice Ware Mrs. Virginia Barnett Warren Dr. Douglas Delano Warren Mrs. Jacqueline H. Watkins Mr. Harold Otto Watson Dr. Jacquelynn Wattenbarger Mrs. Marilyn A. Watts Mrs. Sarah Byrd Weaver Mrs. Giscene Rister Weaver Mrs. Shanna Loren Weaver Mr. & Mrs. Robert William Wellbaum Mrs. Reda Rivers West Dr. W. Mabrey Whetstone Jr. Mr. & Mrs. James Jerome White Ms. Barbara Brown White Mrs. Leann Sampson White Mrs. Tamblyn Garrison White Ms. Marilyn L. Whitley Mr. Donald Earl Whitlock Mrs. Dawn Tyson Whitted Mrs. Christine T. Wiggins Mrs. Lisa Upchurch Wiggins Dr. Jonnie W. Wilbanks Mrs. Carol S. Williams Mr. & Mrs. J. Knox Williams 1915 Mrs. Regilynn Williams Dr. Jerry Frank Williams Dr. Wes Williams & Mrs. Sara Doornbos Ms. Amy Davis Williams Ms. Jane Kerr Williamson Mrs. Pamela B. Willoughby-Ray Mrs. Vickie Mayton Wilson Mrs. Kerri Crew Windle

1915 indicates a member of the 1915 Society

Mrs. Carolyn Sutton Wingard Mrs. Patricia F. Wingfield Mrs. Virginia Lee Woods Wood Ms. Linda S. Wood Mrs. Theles S. Woodfin Dr. Shirley H. Woodie Mr. & Mrs. L. Shelton Woodson Mrs. Emily Corcoran Woste Mrs. Lissa McCall Wright Mrs. Beth Morgan Wright Mr. & Mrs. Robert Wyrick Dr. Elizabeth Yarbrough & Dr. Mary Helen Brown Mr. & Mrs. James William Yoder Mrs. Leigh Ann S. Young Mrs. Marty King Young Mr. Kevin P. Yoxall Mrs. Marie M. Zaminer Mrs. Catherine C. Zodrow Mrs. Kathy Zoghby

HR indicates an Honor Roll donor or honoree

A Key s t one in Building a Better Future f or Al l

*deceased

65

Corporate-funded program helps local educators connect with Korean students As more Korean companies establish locations along the Interstate 85 corridor, the College of Education will help the children of new residents feel at home in local classrooms.

The college’s Global Initiative on Education Project, supported by a $51,500 gift from AJIN USA and additional support from Auburn’s Office of University Outreach, will enable 14 local educators

help local communities through the company’s involvement in the Auburn-Opelika educational system.

Dr. John Dagley, co-director of the project and an associate professor in the college’s Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, said the Global Initiative on Education Project sends a message to new members of the business community.

“If you want to affect the community, you do it through teachers,” Dagley said. “[Teachers] want to back up that caring with a deeper understanding.

“It’s another way for us to say to companies that we appreciate your locating here and we are going to serve your families.”

Suh said nearly 40 Auburn City Schools educators attended an early informational meeting about the project, indicating a “great interest among teachers’’ in the program. The 14 educators who will travel to Korea were selected in November 2010 through a competitive process.

to learn how to better serve Korean-born students. Beginning in June 2011, 14 Auburn, Opelika and Loachapoka educators will join College of Education faculty on a trip to Korea to learn about the country’s culture and educational system.

Dr. Suhyun Suh, project co-director and associate professor in the college’s Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling, said it’s critical for local educators to learn more about Korean culture due to the demographic changes in East Alabama.

Suh said close to 300 Korean-born and Korean-American students are enrolled in Auburn and Opelika City Schools for the 2010-11 school year.

“We identified the need for teachers to know more about Korean culture because they get frustrated when they feel unsure how to effectively meet the educational needs of Korean students by a lack of knowledge about their culture,” Suh said. “Once the teachers get a better knowledge about the Korean school system, the culture and lifestyles, they can actually teach that content to not only Korean students, but all students. They can better understand why Korean students behave in certain ways and better serve their needs.”

AJIN USA President Jung Ho Sea said his company provided support for the project because more Korean families are likely to call the region home in coming years. Many employees of AJIN USA, a metal stamping company that supplies parts for Kia and Hyundai from its Chambers County facility, reside in Lee and Chambers counties. Sea expressed excitement for the opportunity to

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K e y s t o ne V ol ume V II, 2010

Assistant Provost for International Programs Andy Gillespie (left) and AJIN USA President Jung Ho Sea discuss the new program.

The 17-day trip to Korea, scheduled from June 26 to July 12, will include visits to the College of Education at Ewha Womans University and exposure to K-12 educational settings. The Auburn educators will attend four hours of classes each day in an effort to learn more about the Korean educational system, history and culture. At the end of their stay, the group will visit Jeju Island, a popular tourist destination.

AlumniNOTES 1960s Gloria Bond Daniel [B ’66, elementary education] is retired after working as a counselor for Hartselle City (Ala.) Schools.

Anna Holmes Greene [B ’63, mathematics education] teaches high school math in the Poteet (Texas) School District.

Kay Ivey [B ’67, speech communications education] was elected Alabama’s 30th lieutenant governor in November 2010. She previously served as state treasurer, and as director of government affairs and communications for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. Ivey is a past member of the college’s National Advisory Council, and its 2005 Keystone Leader-in-Residence.

Linda “Lynn” Bowen Pearson [B ’64, social science education] is president of The Reading & Math Center Inc., in Birmingham, Ala. Donald Rooks [B ’62, health and physical education; M ‘63, education administration] is president of Rooks Educational Services in Marietta, Ga. He received the Georgia School Boards Association’s highest award, the Friend of Education Award, in 2009.

Jane Schulz [B ’66, elementary education; D

professor emerita of Western Carolina University after 20 years of teaching, has published Grown Man Now, which describes the challenges and joys of being the parent of a child with Down syndrome. She has also co-authored numerous academic textbooks, book chapters and journal articles on teaching children with disabilities, including “Mainstreaming Exceptional Students: A Guide for Classroom Teachers,” which is considered a landmark text in the field.

Melinda Knowles Waid [B ’66, elementary education] retired after working as a school counselor for Carroll County (Ga.) Schools.

1970s Martha Lynn Gardner Baker [B ’75, early childhood education] retired from Cherokee County (Ala.) Schools in June 2010 after 33 years as a second-grade teacher in Alabama.

Pamela Goodwin Farley [B ’76, English language arts education] works for Mustang Engineering in Houston, Texas.

James W. Holder [B ’77, general education] recently retired as a school administrator in Douglas County (Ga.) Schools.

’71, mental retardation], who recently retired as a

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S ubmit your

news , as well as updates to your contact information , by clicking the alumni update link on the homepage of education . auburn . edu .

Marcia Veal Johnson [B ’74, M ’77, counselor education; D ’10, administration of elementary and secondary education] is the director of instruction and personnel for the Russell County (Ala.) Board of Education.

Karissa Everett Lang [B ’01, elementary education] is now assistant principal in Decatur (Ala.) City Schools.

Jan Cheshire Letts [B ’74, early childhood education] is director of technology for CLASS Leadership Development in Chicago.

Renee Denise Lloyd [B ’79, business education] teaches at the Autauga Co. Family Support Center in Prattville, Ala.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Noll Logan [B ’78, art education] received the Alabama Art Education Association’s Marion Q. Dix Leadership Award

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The Spirit of Auburn credit card is made possible by the Auburn Spirit Foundation for Scholarships (ASFS), which is affiliated with Auburn University. For information about the rates, fees, other costs, and benefits associated with the use of these cards or to apply, visit www.auburn.edu/spiritcard and refer to the disclosures accompanying the online credit card application. This credit card program is issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Bank of America and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association and is used by the issuer pursuant to license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated, and is used by the issuer pursuant to license. Platinum Plus and WorldPoints are registered trademarks of FIA Card Services, N.A. © 2011 Bank of America Corporation.

B: bachelor’s (B.S./BMED)

M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

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for 2010. She teaches art at Auburn (Ala.) Junior High School.

Mary Sue Barnette McClurkin [B ’71, family and child development] was elected to her third term in the Alabama House of Representatives, representing the state’s 43rd district, which includes Jefferson and Shelby counties. She is the owner of McClurkin Enterprises.

Amy Sue Meredith [B ’75, recreation administration] is an attorney-at-law for the Department of the Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Janice Cheatham Saunders [B ’70, speech communications education] retired after 30 years of teaching in Butler County (Ala.) Schools.

Ginger Jay Smith [B ’70, social science education] is one of several contributing editors for The Dictionary of Developmental Disability Terminology, 3rd Ed. (Brookes Publishing Co.). The text is a jargon-free reference for medical professionals, educators, parents and students working in the disability field. Smith has worked in special education as a teacher, diagnostician and specialist since the 1980s. She is currently an educational consultant in the Child Development Clinic at Children’s Hospital in Richmond, Va.

Linda Veren [B ’78, behavior disturbances; M ’79, adult education] is a special education teacher for Huntsville (Ala.) City Schools.

Mary Oliver Watkins [B ’76, English language arts education] teaches in the Talladega County (Ala.) School system.

1980s Donna Armstrong [B ’83, social science education; M ’02 elementary education] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Wacoochee Junior High School, part of the Lee County (Ala.) Schools system.

Valerie Arnold [B ’79, speech pathology edu-

This year we induct the class of 1961 and honor the classes of 1956, 1951, 1946, and 1941. The weekend will be filled with presentations, tours, special events, dinner at the home of Auburn president Jay Gogue and an induction ceremony followed by a dance featuring the Auburn Knights. Call today!

(334) 844-1150 or register online at: www.aualum.org/groups/ golden-eagles.html.

cation] is a speech-language pathologist for the Northwest Regional Education Service District in Hillsboro, Ore.

Lloyd James Austin III [M ’86, counselor education] was appointed as commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq in a Sept. 1, 2010, in a ceremony presided over by Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chief Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen. Austin previously served under Mullen as director of the Joint Staff, a position he held from August 2009 until beginning his command in Iraq.

Susan Hare Bolen [B ’85, elementary education] is an elementary instructional coach for the Clarke County (Ga.) School District.

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B ased on the number of graduates from the C ollege of E ducation and other A uburn U niversity disciplines earning

N ational B oard C ertification in 2010, A uburn U niversity is in the top 100 of the nation ’ s 1,400 teacher preparation institutions .

Lynne Elliott Burgess [B ’85, office administration] of Calhoun County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh [B ’89, science education] was elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission in November 2010. A former school teacher, her public serivce includes deputy chief of staff and a senior advisor to Gov. Bob Riley; member of Rep. Sonny Callahan’s Washington, D.C., staff; both executive director of the Alabama Republican Party and member of the Republican National Committee staff; and state director of Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Cheryl Baggott Chappell [B ’84, elementary education] was named 2011 Elementary Teacher of the Year for Montgomery (Ala.) Public Schools.

Suzanne Bishop Culbreth [B ’82, science education] teaches at Spain Park High School in Birmingham, Ala.

Mary Elizabeth Dekle [B ’86, home economics education] of Seminole County (Ga.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Victor Gaston [D ’80, administration of elementary and secondary education] was selected speaker pro tempore of the Alabama House of Representatives after being elected to his seventh term of service. First elected in 1982, Gaston is a retired school administrator and timber farmer now representing Alabama’s 100th District, which includes Mobile. Gaston is a former member of the college’s National Advisory Council.

Michelle Lister Hammonds [B ’89, elementary education] is a third-grade teacher for the Conecuh County (Ala.) Board of Education.

Norma Wynn Harper [B ’85, M ’87, mathematics education] is dean of the Charleston Southern University School of Education in Charleston, S.C.

Patricia “Tricia” Shipman Hudson [B ’82, science education] is an elementary gifted education program teacher at J. Larry Newton School in Fairhope, Ala.

M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

Al um n i n o t e s Craig Huff [B ’87, human exercise science]

Thomas Bouldin [B ’89, M ’91, D ‘10, music education] teaches for the Muscogee Co. (Ga.) School District.

Nancy W. Chandler [M ’80, D ’90, mathematics education] became the first female president of Enterprise-Ozark Community College in 2009.

Nancy Sellers Klooz [B ’80, art education] of Baldwin County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Brigiete Sperr Carey [B ’92, elementary

Amy Hill [M ’93, English language arts educa-

education] is a home-school teacher in Huntsville, Ala.

Simone Lipscomb [B ’82, recreation adminis-

vices] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Opelika (Ala.) Middle School, where he teaches science. He was later selected as Opelika City Schools’ 2010-11 Secondary Teacher of the Year.

tion] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Beauregard High School, part of the Lee County (Ala.) Schools system. She was later named Lee County Schools’ 2010-11 Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Katherine Horne Hart [B ’99, mathematics

Christy Cha [B ’98, early childhood education] is a kindergarten teacher for Gwinnett County (Ga.) Schools.

Mitchell Harte [B ’93, social science education;

teaches K-5 physical education at Windsor Springs Elementary in Augusta, Ga.

tration] is a self-employed writer and photographer. Her second book was released in October 2010. The hardcover book, Place of Spirit, is filled with nature photographs and poetic prose.

Kim Williamson McCown [B ’89, early childhood education] was named 2009-10 Teacher of the Year at Helena Elementary School in Shelby County (Ala.), where she teaches kindergarten.

David Carpenter [B ’94, rehabilitation ser-

education] of Hoover City (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

M ’98, behavioral disturbances; M ’09 administration of elementary and secondary education]

Louisa Harrell Patterson [B ’84, mathematics education] teaches math in Auburn, Ala. Her husband, Paul Patterson ’85 is the associate dean for instruction in Auburn’s College of Agriculture.

Tammy Pennington [B ’88, elementary education] of Talladega County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Amy Caroline Scruggs [M ’82, English language arts education] of Hoover City School District (Ala.) was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Charlene Baker Sinquefield [B ‘84, early childhood education] is now an autism teacher in Cobb County (Ga.) Schools.

Lynn Stallings [B ’84, mathematics education] is chair of the Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics and professor of mathematics education at Kennesaw (Ga.) State University, where she has taught since 2000. She is currently serving as the president of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Math.

Cynthia Sanders Watson [B ’82, speech pathology education] is a speech-language pathologist for the Henry County (Ga.) Schools.

1990s Alana Kay Archer [B ’92, mental retardation] of Boaz City (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Wendy Bass [B ’93, elementary education] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Beauregard Elementary School, part of the Lee County (Ala.) Schools system.

Julie Smoot Beasley [B ’99, elementary education] of Chambers County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Alumni S potlight 2010 election cycle places grads in key state positions While many College of Education graduates have guided classrooms, individual schools and school districts, a handful of alums are providing leadership as elected officials.

The list of policymakers includes Alabama Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey ’67, Rep. Victor Gaston ’80, Rep. Mary Sue Barnette McClurkin ’71 and Public Service Commissioner Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh ’89.

In January, Ivey added another milestone to her distinguished post-college career by taking the oath of office as Alabama’s lieutenant governor. As an Auburn student, she was the first woman elected student body vice president and president of the SGA Senate. Ivey also served as the College of Education’s first female Keystone Leader-in-Residence in 2005 and was one of the first to serve on its National Advisory Council.

Ivey, the former state treasurer, continues to support the College of Education through her membership in the Dean’s Circle and 1915 Society.

Gaston, the speaker pro tempore of the Alabama house, recently completed a term of service on the College of Education’s National Advisory Council. He represents Alabama’s 100th district, which includes Mobile.

McClurkin, who graduated from Auburn with a master’s degree, is the owner of McClurkin Enterprises. As a resident of Indian Springs, she represents the state’s 43rd district, which includes Jefferson and Shelby counties.

Cavanaugh, a science education graduate, taught school in Montgomery before going into politics. She served former Gov. Bob Riley as his deputy chief of staff and as a senior advisor.

B: bachelor’s (B.S./BMED)

M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

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A lumni S potlight Austin ’86 returns to Iraq to lead U.S. forces Gen. Lloyd James Austin III, a 1986 counselor education graduate, returned to Iraq in September 2010 as the top commander of U.S. forces stationed in the country — an assignment accompanied by a promotion to a four-star general and confirmation by the U.S. Senate on June 30. He took over command from Gen. Ray Odierno in a ceremony presided over by Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.

Austin previously served in Iraq from February 2008 to April 2009 as the No. 2 U.S. commander under Gen. David Petraeus, overseeing day-to-day operations for 160,000 combat troops from the United States and 20 allied countries. He returned to the United States in April 2009 and assumed his previous command of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg (N.C.) — a position he was initially appointed to in 2006.

Before accepting his current command in Iraq, Austin served as director of the Joint Staff under Mullen beginning in August 2009.

Austin’s 35-year military career has included three tours in war zones over the past decade, including as a commander with the 3rd Infantry Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and later as commander of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. He is a West Point graduate, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy and a master’s in business management from Webster University (St. Louis, Mo.).

His extensive list of awards and decorations for distinguished service and heroism includes the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Gen. Austin’s wife, Charlene, is a fellow Auburn graduate, having earned a master’s in school counseling in 1985. was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Beulah High School, part of the Lee County (Ala.) Schools system.

Terry Joe Holder [B ’88, M ’90, agricultural education] of Jefferson County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Jerlando F. L. Jackson [M ’97, higher education administration], associate professor of higher and postsecondary education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has published his fourth book, Introduction to American Higher Education (Routledge), along with Dr. Shaun R. Harper of the University of Pennsylvania. In May 2010, he established Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory, an externally funded research lab

housed within the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research and dedicated to researching topics of equity and inclusion in education, with a particular focus on higher education.

Emily Coats Lambert [B ’92, M ’93, elementary education] of Lauderdale County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Rebecca McConnell Loiacano [B ’99, M ’01, health promotion] received her doctorate from Sage College of Albany in 2009 and is now working as a physical therapist for the Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, Fla. Tracey McDonald [B ’99, early childhood education] is a special education teacher for the EsB: bachelor’s (B.S./BMED)

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cambia County (Fla.) Schools. She is department head at Pine Meadow Elementary in Pensacola.

Scotty Raymon Overdear [B ’92, mathematics education] of Jackson County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Celeste Padgett [B ’92, rehabilitation services] is an occupational therapist for Champion Partners in Rehabilitation in Sylacauga, Ala.

Christine Scott Reid [B ’97, elementary education] of Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Susan Ryals [M ’92, rehabilitation and special education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Southview Primary School in Opelika, Ala., where she teaches special education.

Harrow Strickland [M ’94, elementary education; M ’99, library media] of Auburn City Schools was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Jason Vandergrift [B ’98, social science education] is a science and business electives facilitator at Forsyth Academy, a non-traditional charter high school in Forsyth County, Ga. Chandra Lorene West [M ’93, D ‘10, English language arts education] teaches at Opelika (Ala.) High School.

Felicia Renae Williams [B ’92, home economics education] of Tallapoosa County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

2000s Shelley Henthorne Bailey [B ’01, mild learning disabilities; M ’03, collaborative teacher special education; D ’09, rehabilitation and special education] is a special education teacher for Sylacauga City (Ala.) Schools.

Elizabeth Bass [B ’05, elementary education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Dean Road Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., where she teaches fifth grade.

Kimberly Neuendorf Blackenburg [B ’05, elementary education] of Jefferson County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Sara Brown [M ’08, English language arts education] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Samford Middle School in Opelika.

Brooke Burks [M ’02, D ’10, English language arts education] teaches English at Opelika (Ala.) High School. She has also published a collection of short stories entitled Tawanda’s Quest.

Scott Taylor Cooper [B ’00, physical education; M ’10, administration of higher education] M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

Al um n i n o t e s of Trussville City (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Glenda Sue Davis [B ’05, elementary education] of Selma City (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Desmond W. Delk [M ’10, physical education] is a health education lecturer at Savannah (Ga.) State University. He also works with the university’s band as its wellness coordinator.

Emily DeVane [B ’08, M ’09 early childhood special education] is a special education autism teacher for Dugan Elementary School in Douglasville, Ga. She was named Rookie Teacher of the Year for the 2009-10 school year.

Lindsay Donohue [B ’06, social sciences education] teaches at Hixson (Tenn.) High School and received the Outstanding New Educator of the Year award for Hamilton County in 2008-09.

Caleb Doster [B ’09, music education-instrumental] began teaching music at Cary Woods Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., during the 2010-11 school year.

Deidre Fenn [B ’00, early childhood education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Jeter Primary School in Opelika, Ala, where she teaches first grade.

Cara Michel Gilpin [B ’04, M ’05, collaborative teacher special education] of Danville (Ky.) Independent School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Kasandra Kraeger Granger [B ’03, M ’04, elementary education] teaches in Enterprise

(Ala.) City Schools.

Rachel Greer [B ’10, elementary education] teaches fifth grade in Randolph County (N.C.) Schools.

Nicole Griffin [M ’08, elementary education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., where she teaches first grade.

Elizabeth Grace Harris [B ’03, early childhood education; M ’10 elementary education] teaches at West Forest Intermediate School in Opelika, Ala. Dustin Hastings [B ’08, science education] teaches seventh grade life science at Bumpus Middle School in Hoover, Ala. Brittney Herring [B ’09, M ’10, elementary education] teaches fourth grade at Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn, Ala. Cheron Hunter [B ’00, M ’02, elementary education; D ’10, reading education] is an assistant professor at Troy University’s Phenix City (Ala.) campus.

Anna Elise Jones [B ’00, elementary education] of Talladega County (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Bob Karcher [M ’93, community agency counseling; D ’08, educational psychology] is now assistant dean of engineering student services in Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

Allison Youngblood Kirkland [M ’10, English language arts education] teaches seventh grade language arts at J.F. Drake Middle School in Auburn, Ala.

Lauren Lee [B ’07, M ’10, elementary education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at West Forest Intermediate School in Opelika, Ala., where she teaches third grade.

Robert Lyda [M ’05, music education-instrumental] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year for Notasulga (Ala.) High School. He was named by Macon County Schools as its systemwide Teacher of the Year. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in music education at Auburn.

James Mantooth [D ’10, educational psychology] is the director of division initiatives in Auburn University’s Division of Student Affairs.

Kristin May [B ’04, early childhood education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Auburn (Ala.) Early Education Center, where she teaches kindergarten.

Courtney Hamby McFaull [B ’05, elementary education] teaches in Cumberland County (Ala.) Schools.

Gerald McQueen [M ’10, adult education] is a regional extension agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

W. David Miller [M ’10, administration of higher education] is a scholarship advisor in Auburn’s Office of University Scholarships.

Casey Breslin Murphy [M ’06, D ’09, exercise science] lectures for the Department of Kinesiology at Towson State University in Maryland. She was named of the “Annapolis Finest 40 under 40” for her community involvement and career accomplishments.

Jennifer Erin Pang [B ’02, elementary education; M ’04, library media] of Vestavia Hills (Ala.)

War Eagle!

Your alumni association is a group of more than 46,000 Auburn alumni, friends and family who support Auburn University. This active association offers something for everyone! Last year we welcomed 448,000 visitors to our website and reached 18,500 people through our Auburn club program. Almost 5,000 alumni attended our first-ever Tiger Trek, an Auburn club tour to 11 cities featuring coach Gene Chizik and Aubie. We distributed 180 scholarships and awards to students and faculty. We served more than 2,000 hot dogs per game at our Alumni Hospitality Tent before home football games. Nearly 200 alumni and friends chose to vacation with us last year, and about 2,000 traveled to Arizona for the BCS National Championship game. We invite you to join one of the strongest alumni associations in the nation.

w w w. a u a l u m . o r g / j o i n

B: bachelor’s (B.S./BMED)

M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

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City School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Carey Chadwick Paris [D ’10, adult education] teaches in Auburn City (Ala.) Schools.

Rick Pavek [M ’00, science education] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at Loachapoka High School, part of the Lee County (Ala.) Schools system.

Sarah Burkart Schrader [B ’06, music education-vocal] was named the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year at George Washington Carver Elementary in Tuskegee, Ala., where she has taught since completing her bachelor’s at Auburn in 2006.

Alison Kenpey Shockey [B ’00, elementary education] is now a teacher for Duval County (Fla.) Public Schools.

Kristin Siegel [B ’06, M ’08, elementary education] teaches sixth grade at Orange Beach (Ala.) Elementary School. She was recently named the school’s 2010-11 Teacher of the Year.

Michele Brown Stephens [M ’00, community agency counseling] is the learning support coordinator for Rockdale County (Ga.) Public Schools.

Elizabeth Walter Stewart [B ’03, collaborative teacher, special education] of Homewood City (Ala.) School District was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Jennifer Strekas [M ’06, English language arts education] of Sanford Middle School in Opelika, Ala., was among the 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in 2010.

Dianna Davis Tullier [M ’00, early childhood special education] is an early intervention specialist with the Babies Can’t Wait state early intervention program in Columbus, Ga. Kristi Weeks [M ’08, elementary education] was selected as the 2010-11 teacher of the year at Richland Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., where she teaches second grade. She was later selected as Auburn (Ala.) City Schools’ 2010-11 Elementary Teacher of the Year

Ashley Wild [B ’07, early childhood education] is a preschool teacher for Little School at Grace Church in Charleston, S.C.

Phil Wilson [M ’07, music education-instrumental] of Ogletree Elementary School (Ala.) was named Alabama’s Teacher of the Year in May 2010. He became one of 8,600 new National Board Certified Teachers in fall 2010.

Katherine Zessin [B ’10, exercise science] was selected as one of 24 students to be a part of the physical therapy doctoral program’s Class of 2013 at Alabama State University in Montgomery.

Alumni S potlight Wilson ’07 named top teacher in Alabama For Phil Wilson, helping students at Auburn’s Ogletree Elementary School learn everything from U.S. history to mathematics through music is as easy as Pi. Wilson, a 2007 College of Education graduate who has taught all levels of band and choral music for the last eight years, has continually developed creative methods to help students in grades 1-5 relate to all manners of material. In addition to enriching the learning of his students, Wilson now serves as an example to fellow educators.

Wilson earned Alabama Teacher of the Year honors during the 2010 Alabama Stars in Education Awards ceremony held in Montgomery on May 12.

“Phil Wilson is the teacher everyone wishes they had — parents, students, principals and other teachers,” said Cristen Herring, assistant superintendent for Auburn City Schools. “Mr. Wilson teaches far more than music. Whatever the lesson — Pi, insects, U.S. Presidents, state names — Mr. Wilson has a song that will connect to the curriculum.”

Colleagues and students are all quick to sing the praises of Wilson, who earned a master’s degree from Auburn in music education.

“His ability to integrate music with the rest of the curriculum inspires his students, their parents and his colleagues,” said State Superintendent of Education Joseph B. Morton, a 1969 graduate of the College of Education.

In earning Alabama’s Teacher of the Year award, Wilson became the state’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year. Part of his function as Alabama’s Teacher of the Year involves serving as an ambassador for the teaching profession and public education during the 2010-11 school year.

“I hope to encourage and inspire teachers, through my life story and experiences, to continue to inspire the students they teach daily,” Wilson said. “Everyone remembers that one teacher who encouraged them to be the best they could be. Shouldn’t all teachers inspire their students in this way? My message will be for teachers to renew their commitments to their students, their profession and, ultimately, to the future of our state.”

The nomination process for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year award begins with the individual school systems. Each is allowed to nominate one elementary and secondary teacher, respectively.

A state selection committee selects four teachers from the eight school districts’ pool of 16 nominees to be interviewed for state teacher of the year and alternate teacher of the year.

Wilson’s selection generated plenty of excitement in the community. Ogletree Elementary School celebrated Wilson’s selection as Alabama Teacher of the Year with a parade.

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M: master’s (M.S./M.Ed.)

D: doctorate (Ph.D./Ed.D.)

Keystone VO LU M E V I I I , 2 0 1 1

MAGAZINE

Keystone

page 6

Teacher-in-Residence Marcia Webb helps pre-service educators combine theory with practice

MAG AZINE

VOLUME VIII, 2011

The Keystone is an annual publication of the Auburn University College of Education, produced and distributed to alumni and friends of the college through the generous contributions of private donors.

D ea n

Dr. Betty Lou Whitford D i r ect o r o f E x te r n al Relat i o n s

Michael Tullier, APR

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K e y s t o n e ed i t o r

Educators help Korean students acclimate to East Alabama classrooms

Troy Johnson L ayo ut, D e s i g n a n d P h o t o g r ap h y

Amanda J. Earnest C o n t r i but i n g W r i te r

Amber Harrelson

O n t he C over : Researchers in the college’s Center for Disability Research and Service investigated the effectiveness of Apple iPads as communication tools for children with autism. We’ve used the device’s photo application to show some of the college’s highlights from the last year.

Thanks to the Auburn Office of Communications and Marketing for contributing content.

Additional photography by Auburn Photographic Services, Holocaust Museum Houston, Dr. JoEllen Sefton, UF Communications, Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics and VCU Creative Services.

Send address changes to eduinfo@auburn.edu or by mail to the attention of Michael Tullier, APR. Auburn University College of Education Office of External Relations 3084 Haley Center Auburn, Alabama 36849-5218 334.844.4446 education.auburn.edu eduinfo@auburn.edu

AU BU R N

AU BU R N

N AU BU R

Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer. ©2011, Auburn University College of Education

Show your Auburn pride and spirit to the world, or at least to other drivers in Alabama (or wherever the road may take you) by purchasing the Auburn University car tag. The tag can feature up to six characters for optimum personalization; personalize your tag at no additional cost.

Buy your tag at the county tag office—make a difference and share the spirit in welcoming new students to the Auburn Family by supporting scholarships.

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Warrior Research Center assists “soldier-athletes’’ on multiple levels

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Find a link to all our social networking groups at education.auburn.edu/alumni/groups

2 011 K e ys t o n e , vo l u m e V i i i

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Keystone VOLUME VIII, 2011

Instruction and research serve as launching pad for innovation

MAG AZINE