INSPIRE 2017

inspire

The official magazine of the College of Education, Health & Aviation, Oklahoma State University

2017

The College of

Broadening Our Horizons

TA B L E O F

inspire

contents

M AGA ZI N E

John S.C. Romans Dean, College of Education, Health and Aviation Rachel Potts, Laura Bonser EHA Communications

New Name, New Era

Christy Lang Contributing Editor

The College of Education has expanded its name to better showcase all the facets of the college. Welcome to the College of Education, Health and Aviation. Page 16

Dorothy L. Pugh Editor Dave Malec Art Director Phil Shockley Gary Lawson Mitch Harrison Photographers

Ending the Silence In the nearly 100 years since the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, cultural silence has led to many Oklahoma residents knowing little, if anything, about the historic event. OSU’s Shanedra Nowell is working diligently to open these pages of state history to all students. Page 2

When you join the OSU Alumni Association, a portion of your membership comes back to the college to fund programs such as homecoming and other alumni events.

Contact the college for more information: 325D Willard Hall Stillwater, OK 74078-4033 (405) 744-8933 education.okstate.edu

A Future So Bright It wasn’t enough that Danielle Foster was graduating with a degree in science education from Oklahoma State University and looking forward to teaching at Wellston Middle/High School in Oklahoma. Then came alumnus Piyush Patel and his goal to put a stranger through college.

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Endowing More than a Professor The College of Education, Health and Aviation has 18 endowed professors. They give us a glance of how the additional funds from an endowment enhance their teaching and projects, which make for an even wider impact for those endowments. Page 20

College News & Notes

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INSPIRE Magazine

325D Willard College of Education, Health and Aviation Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK 74078-4033 coemagazine@okstate.edu Inspire magazine is a publication of the ­Oklahoma State University College of Education, Health and Aviation. Its purpose is to c­ onnect this college with its many stakeholders, providing information on both ­campus news and pertinent issues in the field of education. © Oklahoma State University 2017

Oklahoma State University, in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Higher Education Act), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, genetic information, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or status as a veteran, in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This provision includes, but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. The Director of Equal Opportunity, 408 Whitehurst, OSU, Stillwater, OK 74078-1035; Phone 405-744-5371; email: eeo@okstate.edu has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies. Any person (student, faculty, or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based on gender may discuss his or her concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with OSU’s Title IX Coordinator 405-744-9154. This publication, issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by (originating authority), was printed by Western Printing at a cost of $5,490/4M 01/18 7005.

FROM THE

dean’s office Greetings,

As educators, leaders and professionals invested in disciplines, we consistently strive to find inspiration and ways to inspire others — through learning, creativity, growth and change. This issue of Inspire magazine is a reflection of our own inspirational journey over the past year. I’m excited to share with you how this has truly been a landmark year for the college.

The cover illustrates the culmination of strategic planning and intentional collaboration as we proudly introduce the College of Education, Health and Aviation. This name change allows us to better highlight the breadth of our program offerings as well as to position us for added visibility and future growth. We have also upgraded the name of this magazine to better reflect our growing mission.

In addition to learning more about our historic name change, you can read about our impressive alumna Amanda Raupe, who was recognized with the prestigious $25,000 Milken Educator Award this past year. Raupe’s passion for education and commitment to her students is inspiring.

We continue to build on our longstanding partnership with NASA. In May, the college was awarded a $25 million grant from NASA Johnson Space Center’s Office of Education.

You can learn about this project and the impact it will have on underrepresented youth across the U.S. who are interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities.

Assistant professor Dr. Shanedra Nowell has used a stint at the National Teachers Institute at Yale University to expand lessons in and opportunities for teaching about the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, a subject long kept quiet in Oklahoma schools.

One of our own students experienced a life-changing moment during spring 2017 commencement when College of Education, Health and Aviation alumnus, and our 2017 Hall of Fame inductee, Piyush Patel surprised her by announcing that he and his wife would like to pay off all of her student loan debt. If you are seeking inspiration, you are sure to find it in this heartwarming story.

A new year has begun and with it comes a renewed sense of energy as we look forward to all that 2018 has in store. We remain steadfast in our commitment to inspire and challenge students to positively impact the world around them. Thank you for your continued support of the OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation.

PHIL SHOCKLEY / UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Sincerely,

John S.C. Romans Dean and Executive Director of Professional Education OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation

CONTACT INFORMATION (405) 744-3373 / john.romans@okstate.edu / education.okstate.edu

College of Education, Health and Aviation 1

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, HEALTH AND AVIATION

Teaching a Tragedy

2 I 2018

OSU ’s Nowell is sharing ways to spread the word ab out the Tulsa Rac e Riot and it s lingering impac t.

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ven though the Tulsa Race Riot occurred nearly 100 years ago, it’s not a familiar story to many Oklahomans. Oklahoma State University assistant professor Shanedra Nowell has been working for years, from Yale University to OSU, to change that.

“Although it was a tragic event, it’s important for Oklahoma students to learn about the Tulsa Race Riot as part of our state’s history,” she says.

Although Oklahoma mandated the teaching of the Tulsa riot in public K-12 schools in 2001, Nowell has discovered that fewer than 20 percent of college students know about the event. (For a brief overview of the Tulsa Race Riot, see the sidebar with this story.)

She was teaching at Tulsa’s Edison High School when she began using the event in her social studies classes. As she wrote in her 2011 curriculum unit for the National Teachers Institute at Yale: “Each school year, I talk to my high school students about the Tulsa Race Riot in my social studies classes, and I am always saddened when half have never heard of the event. Their eyes grow wide, mouths gape, and they inevitably say, ‘Not here!’”

The educator, who joined OSU in the College of Education, Health and Aviation in 2013, sees the event as a vehicle to teach multicultural education as well as Tulsa and Oklahoma history.

Currently, Nowell uses the lessons with undergraduate social studies education and elementary education students at the university.

“I love instilling the idea of seeking history about your community, wherever you end up teaching. Find those teaching moments,” she says.

And the Yale program has helped her expand her reach. Her curriculum, which can be found at okla.st/2F5jjBU, is available to educators across the country. Nowell has presented on her curriculum at a variety of conferences.

Every OSU elementary education and secondary social studies student should be able to teach it, she says.

In her lessons, Nowell discusses how to help students analyze images that were taken during the riot. She relates the event to the Holocaust, noting there are direct connections.

1921 Tulsa Race Riot

“We often take pre-service teachers to the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art in Tulsa to tour its permanent Holocaust exhibit, which highlights how both the Tulsa Race Riot and the Holocaust were events caused by prejudice and hatred,” she explains.

The legacy of the Tulsa riot continues today, she notes, citing the city’s continuing segregation as one example.

“Like many cities across the country, areas of Tulsa still struggle with racial and economic segregation. While we’ve definitely made progress since the horrific events of 1921, the city still strives to repair the lingering inequalities highlighted by the riot nearly 100 years ago,” Nowell says.

“Education is one way to do that.

Here at OSU, we hope to prepare teachers to discuss the shameful moments in our history and tackle difficult topics like racism with their future students.

That way, we can help the next generation make greater strides toward erasing inequalities.” EHA

In the early-morning hours of June 1, 1921, the Greenwood District was looted and burned by white rioters. Gov. James B.A. Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took imprisoned blacks out of the hands of vigilantes and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned. Over 6,000 people were held at the convention hall and the fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days.

Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, more than 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. In 2001, the Tulsa Race Riot Commission released a report indicating that historians now believe close to 300 people died in the riot.

— Tulsa Historical Society and Museum

COURTESY SHANEDRA NOWELL

Following World War I, Tulsa boasted one of the nation’s most affluent African-American communities, known as the Greenwood District. This thriving business district and surrounding residential area was referred to as “Black Wall Street.” In June 1921, a series of events nearly destroyed the entire Greenwood area.

On the morning of May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a young black man, was riding in the elevator in downtown Tulsa’s Drexel Building with a white woman, Sarah Page. The details of what followed vary from person to person, and accounts of an incident of assault circulated among the city’s white community during the day and became more exaggerated with each telling.

Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse, where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Shots were fired, and the outnumbered blacks began retreating to the Greenwood Avenue business district.

Shanedra Nowell (second from right) was part of the 2011 cohort at the National Teachers Institute at Yale University.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 3

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Amanda Raupe (center) receives the Milken Educator Award.

Award-Winning Teaching

By Christy Lang

EH A A lumna honore d with Milken Educ ator Award.

For Amanda Raupe, teaching is more than just a job.

“I wanted to be a teacher since I was 4 years old,” Raupe says. “I helped my aunt in her classroom over the summers. In high school, I realized I was strong in math and science. I started college as an engineering major, but it wasn’t intrinsically rewarding enough for me to continue.”

Raupe changed her major to elementary education after her first year at Oklahoma State University and never looked back.

4 I 2018

To view Amanda Raupe receiving the Milken Educator Award, visit okla.st/2xpjK5e.

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hile working toward her OSU degree, Raupe participated in the ExCEL (Excellence in Collaborative and Experiential Learning) program, which allows preservice teachers to spend two semesters in an elementary school classroom in Stillwater.

“I carry my field experiences (from my undergraduate degree) with me,” she says. “I got to experience the response to intervention process and understood that as I became a teacher.

Those experiences were very valuable.”

Now in her eighth year as a firstgrade teacher at Hilldale Elementary School in the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma City, she has helped change the trajectory of her school.

In January 2017, Raupe received the Milken Educator Award, given to just 35 teachers from the across the United States in 2016-17. Members of the Milken Family Foundation, along with Oklahoma and Putnam City Schools leaders and OSU mascot Pistol Pete, surprised her with the national honor, which comes with a $25,000 prize, during a school assembly.

Raupe is the grade-level team leader and a school leadership team member.

She is considered a vital contributor to turning Hilldale — a high-poverty pre-K through fifth-grade school— around. Students catch up in her class, with each surging at least four levels on reading assessment tests in one year, and many jumping eight levels — double the expected growth rate.

Raupe, who was nominated for the Milken Award by her principal Price Brown (also an OSU graduate), believes the award is a reflection on her school.

“It’s humbling to think that they chose me,” Raupe says. “I work with incredible people. Our school has turned around the last five years. We collaborate and help each other. There is a real sense of teamwork. If anything, receiving the award inspires me to step up my game.”

Raupe’s passion for the profession and her drive to serve her students is evident.

“I get to come to work every day and love the kids. I tell them every day I love them when they leave my classroom. I don’t know if they hear it at home. My faith is important to me, and I hope that I’m displaying that to them every day.”

She mentions one student that she thinks about often, a little boy from Guatemala who knew no English when he entered her classroom.

“He had been in my class for four months. He came up to me in the middle of class and said ‘Ms. Raupe, I need a pencil.’ He spoke a full sentence in English. Seeing his confidence was incredible. He was reading basic text by the end of the year.”

The Milken Award motto — “The Future Belongs to the Educated” — resonates deeply with Raupe.

“The more I reflect on that, I think it’s so true. The great thing about teaching is that we get to educate those who will change and mold the future.

It’s exciting and overwhelming. I want to do the best I can because I want the future to be the best it can be.” EHA

PHOTOS/MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION

College of Education, Health and Aviation 5

aviation graduate soars

By Laura Bonser

O dom’s ac c omplishment s ref le c t her pa s sion for f lying.

Mackenzie Odom went above and beyond in achieving goals and setting the standard at OSU for future students.

The 2017 aviation graduate was a Top Ten Senior for the College of Education, Health and Aviation, a NIFA Women’s Achievement Award winner and a leader for several aviation organizations on campus. Her achievements at OSU reflect her passion.

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orn in Happy, Texas, Odom grew up around generations of family who were private pilots. Her father, Kyle Odom, sparked her interest and love for aviation. Capt.

Odom is a successful pilot for Southwest Airlines; the OSU alumna calls him her greatest role model.

Despite being surrounded by airplanes her entire life, Odom did not consider a career as a professional pilot until high school.

“I didn’t realize how awesome the career aspect of it was until junior year, when I got to tour Southwest Airlines

6 I 2018

headquarters in Dallas, fly in a simulator, and fly around in a 737 with my dad,” Odom explains. “I was sold.”

Inspired by her dad and Southwest, Odom was determined to attend a college with an outstanding aviation program. She had a few colleges in mind when she toured OSU first. She never toured the others.

“No one in my family had ever gone to college outside of Texas, but there’s not an aviation program like OSU’s in Texas. I never toured anywhere else, and I didn’t apply anywhere else. I loved it as soon as I got here,” Odom says.

From her start at OSU, Odom was involved in the aviation program and the college as a professional pilot major with a minor in aviation management. She served as an officer for three organizations, beginning her sophomore year.

During her senior year, she was elected student president of the OSU Flying Aggies, the largest aviation organization and the second-oldest organization on OSU’s campus. The Flying Aggies promote interest in aviation and provide safe flying for its members.

As a senior, Odom made the OSU Flight Team. The Flight Team, a part of the Flying Aggies, competes in regional and national flight competitions through the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA). After winning the third straight Region VI title for OSU, Odom and her fellow

teammates competed at nationals in May 2017. The team placed in the top 10, and Odom received the first-place NIFA Women’s Achievement Award for her academic achievements, aviation involvement and community service.

For most of her college life, Odom was involved in OSU Women in Aviation, attending annual conferences around the nation, building relationships and listening to successful females in the industry speak.

“Six percent of the world’s pilot population is women. That’s including private pilots who are just pilots for fun. As your ratings get higher, that percentage gets a lot lower. (Being a woman in aviation) pushes you to really know your stuff and to be on top of it,” Odom says. “I love it. I enjoy the challenge, and when people assume you’re a girl and don’t know anything, I enjoy proving them wrong.”

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, HEALTH AND AVIATION

Odom also wanted to assist incoming students at OSU and get to know more people outside aviation. She found a perfect opportunity to do this by becoming a College of Education, Health and Aviation ambassador, where she got to meet and assist prospective students.

“Being an ambassador and having friends all throughout the college has been really fun, too.”

While pursuing her degree, Odom landed summer internships with Southwest, where she hopes to work in the future. As an intern, she worked in flight operations, where she did all the behind-the-scenes work of writing procedures, pushing out publications and keeping everything up to date.

“I want to end up at Southwest, but I wanted to know before I decided (on Southwest) if I was following Dad’s footsteps or if I really liked the company. I interned with them the last two summers in flight operations, and I’m sold. That’s where I’m going. The people are incredible.”

Before she can become a pilot at Southwest with her dad, Odom has to build flight time and experience at OSU. She is instructing students after she graduates. Odom hopes to be at a regional airline in six to nine months and then get her dream job at Southwest by the time she’s 30 to fly by her dad’s side.

“My dad retires in 13 years, so I have 13 years to fly his last fight with him,” Odom says. EHA

Mackenzie Odom (second from left) won the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Women’s Achievement Award for her academic achievements, aviation involvement and community service.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 7

Falling for Research

By Laura Bonser

OSU f re shman honore d for work on proje c t s.

There’s more to a fall than a simple loss of motor skills.

So perhaps there should be more to trying to predict the risk of a fall than merely measuring motor skills.

The idea intrigued Taryn Blackstock, a freshman majoring in applied exercise science.

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he had been selected as a Freshman Research Scholar, expanding her education beyond the classroom by engaging in research projects. Blackstock worked with College of Education, Health and Aviation faculty member Jason DeFreitas and graduate students in the Applied Neuromuscular Physiology Lab. “He had me talk to his graduate assistants about their studies and decide which one was the most interesting to me and go from there,” Blackstock says. “The idea itself wasn’t quite my idea, but I helped record the data, transfer data and analyze it.”

Her efforts were recognized with the OSU Library Undergraduate Research Award and the Wentz Research Grant to support future research.

8 2018

The library honor included $1,500 to fund her research project, “The Reactive Leg Drop: A Simple and Novel Sensory-Motor Assessment to Predict Fall Risk in Older Individuals.”

She was interested in combining sensory and motor assessments rather than just focusing on the motor functions of older adults to predict falls. Her research showed that many of the past tests that were used to look at older adults’ functional ability were only focused on motor functions. After finding this, she researched how she could combine sensory and motor ability into one test that could more accurately predict fall risk in older adults.

“We had sensors to record when the muscles were activated (sensory), and we had a video to record when there was actual reaction from their leg to kick back up (motor) to determine when the muscles reacted in relation to when the participant produced their motor reaction,” Blackstock says.

Taryn Blackstock worked in the Applied Neuromuscular Physiology Lab on her Freshman Research Scholar research.

GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

“My experience as a Freshman Research Scholar really set the tone for my path in college,” she says. “My mentor and the graduate students I worked with helped me to realize my potential and show me how important research is.”

Jason DeFreitas, assistant professor in exercise physiology, serves as Blackstock’s mentor and says that working with her has exceeded his expectations.

“Taryn is passionate about the field, works hard and ultimately has the potential to rival some of my doctoral students in quality and productivity,” DeFreitas says. “She is a promising young scientist.”

Blackstock also received the Wentz Grant, provided by OSU and the Lew Wentz Foundation, which supports undergraduate students conducting independent research in their fields of study. Her project was titled, “Is fatigue in your head? The use of deception to study the psychology of strength and anaerobic fatigue.”

Blackstock’s research project was reviewed by a faculty committee and evaluated in a blind review process based on criteria including originality, creativity and methodology.

The OSU student from Prosper, Texas, was one of 40 students to receive the grant and $4,500 to fund the research.

“It has truly felt surreal to receive all of these research awards, and I feel so honored,” Blackstock says. “Getting these awards has really helped me to become more confident in myself and my abilities.”

Blackstock hopes to get her doctorate eventually.

“I hope to one day be able to see patients and practice physical therapy while being able to still research and better my field of study.” EHA

College of Education, Health and Aviation 9

OSU NEWS

Oklahoma State University and several partner organizations have been awarded a $25 million NASA grant to support education programs, such as the NASA Micro-g NExT program, where undergraduate students work with divers at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The divers test prototype tools designed and made by the students for use in space.

granted: $25M

By Laura Bonser

C ollege and it s par tner s win N ASA f unding.

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he Oklahoma State University College of Education, Health and Aviation has launched a new NASA Education Project, thanks to a $25 million grant from NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Office of Education. The NASA STEM Pathway Activities-Consortium for Education (NSPACE), creates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities for under-represented students in grades kindergarten through college, highlighted across eight states in the central U.S. and nationally.

“This highlights our expertise in instructional design and facilitating projects for increasing student participation in STEM,” says Dr. John Romans, dean of the College of Education, Health and Aviation. “We’re a national leader in this.”

10 2018

The five-year NSPACE grant is the latest NASA award for the college, which has had a continuous collaboration with NASA Education Projects since 1968.

“NASA has confidence in Oklahoma State University to implement their programs,” says Dr. Steve Marks, co-investigator along with Dr. Susan Stansberry for the NSPACE grant.

“Their emphasis has been to get more minorities involved in STEM. It’s a national priority and a priority of Oklahoma State.”

For NSPACE, the OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation will leverage the skills and expertise of a group of innovative partners, including 13 institutions within the Texas A&M University System, Langston

STEM on Station, which leverages the International Space Station and human space exploration to engage students in STEM learning; Microgravity University, where educators and students visit JSC to test experiments in a microgravity environment; High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH), a program that empowers and inspires students through projectbased learning where students have the opportunity to participate in the design of real world valued products for NASA; and the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars, an interactive online learning opportunity for students highlighted by a three-day experience at NASA.

“OSU is the trusted overseer of this entire array of programs because NASA has traditionally connected with Oklahoma State University’s known space education expertise,” says OSU Vice President for Research Kenneth Sewell.

EHA

“NASA has confidence in Oklahoma State University to implement their programs.”

— DR. STEVE MARKS

REGAN GEESEMAN

University, OSU’s Center for Sovereign Nations, Northern Oklahoma College, the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation and the Technology for Learning Consortium.

In addition, the OSU Research Foundation assists in administering these cooperative agreements.

The college will use NASA funding to support STEM activities at Johnson Space Center for K-16 students, educators, community college students and undergraduate students. OSU will base a team of education specialists at Johnson Space Center, led by assistant director Richard Adams, to implement NSPACE. Many activities involve both online and onsite learning experiences in Houston at JSC. Activities include

The $25 million NASA grant awarded to OSU and its partners will support a variety of education programs at the space agency including the High School Aerospace Scholars program at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 11

GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

OSU alumnus Piyush Patel, Digital-Tutors founder

Changing a Student’s Future

By Christy Lang

Commenc ement speaker pays of f OSU graduate’s loans.

12 2018

COUR

T

A N IE ESY D

LLE F

OSTE

R

teachers change the world

College of Education, Health and Aviation 2017 graduate Danielle Foster

“Put a stranger through college.”

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he goal made it onto Piyush Patel’s bucket list 10 years ago.

And during Oklahoma State University’s spring 2017 commencement, he crossed it off that list.

The commencement speaker announced that he and his wife, Lisa, were paying off graduating science education senior Danielle Foster’s five-digit student loans.

“It was a real struggle for Lisa and I to put ourselves through college, and the loans were over our heads until we paid them off,” Patel says. “I’ve given enough bonuses to my employees when I had my company to pay off loans, and I could see the freedom in their eyes when they crawled out from the debt.”

When OSU President Burns Hargis asked him to give the commencement speech for the College of Education, Health and Aviation and College of

Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources ceremony, Patel knew the time was right.

“All I could think about sharing was this idea of changing people’s lives through our actions,” he says.

Patel spoke about the impact his parents have had on his life. His family came to the United States from England in 1978 when Piyush was 4 years old. Until recently, Ramesh and Nirmala Patel worked seven days a week running a motel in El Reno, Okla.

Piyush saw the manual labor, the getting up in the middle of the night and other sacrifices his parents made to put food on the table. They encouraged him to get an education.

Piyush arrived at Oklahoma State University in 1994 as an electrical engineering major, but during his junior year he realized his true calling was education.

“I owe who I am today to the teachers who said that one day I would change the world — that I’m valuable and needed.

There are a lot of teachers and administrators at OSU who said to me personally, ‘One day you are going to make a real difference.’ I had no idea what they saw in me, but I started to believe it.”

Patel graduated with an elementary education degree in 1998. He started his career as a science teacher at Stillwater Middle School and later moved to Northern Oklahoma College, where he ended up leading the digital media program. Through his years of teaching, Patel found no easy way to learn graphic design and complex software applications. In 2004, along with Lisa and a few friends, he started DigitalTutors, an online training program providing affordable, on-demand tutorials for graphic design and software programs for students and developing artists. Digital-Tutors became a pioneer in the industry, adding more than 40 employees, teaching 1.5 million students and providing graphic design consultation for animation giants Pixar and DreamWorks.

“I’m a proud education graduate,” Patel says. “I don’t think you go into education to be rich and famous. It’s been a passion of mine to be a teacher and to help others. I have been blessed tenfold by helping others.” continues

College of Education, Health and Aviation 13

I

Rising out of poverty Growing up in Stroud, Okla., Danielle Foster did not have much. Her grandfather lived in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, leaving for California but returning later. Foster says her family never really got out of poverty.

“There’s a much higher chance that I would not be doing anything, as opposed to graduating from college,” she says.

Her grandmother, Treva Foster, had different plans for the granddaughter she was raising.

“She pushed me every day, helping me realize how important education is,” Danielle Foster says. “She really pushed me to do my best and celebrated successes with me. Thanks to her, I knew that going to college was what I was going to do.”

Danielle arrived at OSU in 2012, the first person in her family to go to college. Though she says part of her had always known she wanted to teach, she began as a pre-nursing major. She changed to English education, but that wasn’t quite right, either. With an eye toward becoming a veterinarian, her adviser in the College of Education, Health and Aviation suggested she major in science education. This would prepare her for veterinary school and give her an option to teach science.

Foster began taking education classes as a junior and had her first opportunity to interact with students in science classes.

“I was hooked,” she says. “In my science education courses, I felt like I had finally found it.”

As part of the science education degree program, Foster attended the National Association of Biology Teachers Conference with Dr. Julie Angle, the Bill and Billie Buckles Endowed Profes-

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sor in Rural Education and a science education faculty member. She also had the opportunity to do research with other OSU faculty members and was a teaching assistant for Biology 1113.

“Dr. Angle provided so many opportunities to grow and be involved in the science education community,” Foster says. “I’m so thankful to her for providing these opportunities. She is incredibly passionate and cares so much.”

As graduation approached, Foster was busy wrapping up her student teaching internship in Wellston, Okla.

She had lined up a position with Upward Bound to teach science during the summer, but knew she would need to find a full-time teaching job.

“I needed to be able to pay my student loans after the grace period,” she says. “I knew that it would take a chunk out of my paycheck, and that I would be paying for years.”

SiT-AT,E UNIVERSITY CANDIDATES DEGR££

SPRINGZOJ7

There are many ways you can change a student’s trajectory by giving to Oklahoma State University.

Find your Orange Passion today at OSUgiving.com.

COURTESY DANIELLE FOSTER

14 2018

Announcing gift Little did Foster know that things were about to change.

A couple of weeks before graduation, Leslie Evans, the College of Education, Health and Aviation’s director of student services and Foster’s adviser, requested to meet with her.

“I was worried,” Foster admits.

She wondered if something unforeseen had come up and she wasn’t going to be able to graduate. Evans assured her that the purpose of the meeting was good.

“The night before, all I could think is, ‘What could it be?’” she says.

The next day, College of Education, Health and Aviation Dean John Romans and Evans told Foster that a generous donor had established a scholarship to pay off her student loans.

“I was shocked. I thought, ‘Why me?’” Foster says.

She was the beneficiary of Patel’s bucket-list item to put a stranger through college. As with any scholarship established by a donor, university officials worked with Patel to set criteria for the award — a hard-working science or math education graduating senior with proven academic excellence and student-loan debt. A college committee selected Foster.

During Patel’s graduation speech, he asked Foster to stand.

“Seven minutes ago, I was a total stranger to you, and we have yet to meet,” he began. “I’ve been told that you are outstanding and an incredibly hard worker. If I can change your trajectory, you can change the trajectory of hundreds of kids. Danielle, my wife and I would like to pay off your student loans so you can start your career with no constraints.”

Piyush Patel announced his gift at 2017’s spring graduation.

Gasps greeted his announcement.

“Graduation day is already such a big day, and it was multiplied by 1,000,” Foster says. “I will never forget it. It was a great moment.”

The recognition couldn’t have fallen on a better person.

“She’s such a humble young lady,” Angle says. “She is so creative and never turns down a challenge.”

For Foster, it is difficult to put into words her gratitude for the Patels.

“Growing up with nothing makes you so thankful for what you do have, even as a broke college kid. (The Patels’ gift) is life-changing,” she says. “It also

motivates me even more to go out and make a difference and to come back and help.”

For now, Foster is determined to honor the investment through her work as a science teacher. She has accepted a position at Wellston Middle/High School in Oklahoma.

“I want to be someone at that high school level to help instill love for science in students,” she says. “Every day, I will have the opportunity to change students’ trajectories. This experience made me realize you can make such a difference in someone’s life, and it can be in a moment.” EHA

Watch the moment of the announcement at commencement:

okla.st/Patel_Gives_Commencement_Gift

College of Education, Health and Aviation 15

A College

by Any Other Name...

By Karolyn Bolay

Broadening a brand brings a new atmosphere of e duc ation.

16 2018

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Growth is a key part of education — you can’t really have one without the other. And the Oklahoma State University College of Education knew that when it considered showcasing just how much it has grown with a new name.

In the fall of 2017, the OSU College of Education underwent a significant and historic change, becoming the College of Education, Health and Aviation.

“Our college is unique in comparison with our peer institutions. In addition to teacher preparation and educational leadership programs, we have a strong array of health-related programs, including health education and promotion, nursing, mental health counseling, counseling psychology, recreational therapy and leisure studies, as well as aviation and space degrees,” says Dr. John Romans, dean of the College of Education, Health and Aviation.

“The new name represents the breadth of academic programs and research in our college and provides important visibility to prospective students and other partners.”

The change in the college’s name wasn’t taken lightly. In fact, strategic planning around the name was in the works for the past two years. The process was initiated by faculty and administration to address the challenges of large academic units and growth in the health and aviation areas.

The planning process included faculty, staff, administrators, students and outside constituents including alumni and donors. These groups participated in the process to find the configuration and naming that would best represent the programs and growth the college is experiencing.

The college also reorganized its academic structure, shifting from three schools to four. The new academic units are School of Teaching, Learning and Educational Sciences; School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation; School of Community Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psychology; and School of Kinesiology, Applied Health and Recreation.

The College of Education, Health and Aviation has expanded its offerings to better serve students, education and industry. Over the last two years, it has introduced degree programs such as a Master of Arts in Teaching; a Bachelor

of Science in Applied Exercise Science; a Bachelor of Science in Sports and Coaching Science; and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, RN to BSN baccalaureate degree completion program.

The growth in these areas proves that the name change is fitting as the academic programs change to fit the needs and interests of students.

This inclusion of health in the college name will also address the confusion behind health and education working together so closely, which Dr. Julie Koch, head of the new School of Community Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psychology, says actually makes perfect sense. continues

College of Education, Health and Aviation 17

The new college name will unite all the areas of education, health and aviation.

GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

“A big part of our program is prevention through education,” she says. “If I can teach a kindergartener how to brush their teeth, which is a big part of health education, and I can also teach them anti-bullying techniques in their school, then that prevention goes a long way for them in their future life. So that is an example of what ties the health education and prevention with the mental health counseling and counseling psychology.”

This part of the College of Education, Health and Aviation is unique because it is combining health education and prevention with the counseling and counseling psychology programs.

“We see all of our degree options as being integrated or as being similar because we’re talking about physical and mental health, and you can’t always address physical health without talking about mental health, and you can’t address mental health without talking about physical health,” Koch says. “And that is really the way that the national trend is going — to integrated health care.”

18 I 2018

Students are already getting hands-on experience with integrated health care.

“Our counseling students are actually working in medical facilities,” Koch explains. “They are working in Veterans’ Affairs centers, medical hospitals or they are working in juvenile corrections, which are integrated health care settings.”

The change from the College of Education to College of Education, Health and Aviation also brings light to the programs, departments and areas of the college that aren’t quite as well known.

“Our programs have been available for a long time,” says Koch. “It is great to see these health care programs get the recognition with this new college name.”

The new School of Community Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psychology has already seen a significant increase in the number of people interested in its programs, which will only continue as the name becomes more recognizable.

“The visibility has already made a huge difference and an impact,” says Koch.

It is also an opportunity to expand the different programs available to students.

“We have talked about all kinds of new, potential, innovative programs that we can offer,” says Koch. “We see the potential for growth, especially in the nursing program, and the possibility of a new major that would integrate the different areas of health education and prevention with the counseling and counseling psychology areas.”

This increase in recognition has also led to the development and continued growth of relationships and collaborations with outside partners such as OSU’s Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa and the OU Medical School in Oklahoma City, says Koch.

The new name will also bring recognition and visibility to the many aviation programs within the college. The department was established in 1987, but flight training has a rich history

Dr. John Romans, dean of the College of Education, Health and Aviation, stands in front of a few of the Piper PA-44 Seminole airplanes that are used for flight training.

The college’s name change was brought about to increase awareness to lesser-known areas including health-related programs.

GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

on campus. Flight training curriculum originated at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College from the World War II flight training program. “[The name change] means a lot to us as a program,” says Dr. Chad Depperschmidt, associate head of the School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation. “It isn’t natural for people to think of aviation as within the College of Education.

We’ve been very well supported within the college, and we are very happy to be in this college. I think this is a tremendous improvement and opportunity for our program to get a lot of exposure.

“The recognition of aviation, along with health, within the college is really more reflective of the work that we’re doing and what we are offering to students. It is a really good thing.”

The aviation programs are also experiencing a significant increase in student interest.

“We have seen tremendous growth in our programs,” Depperschmidt says.

“We were a program of about 200-250 total students within all of our degree options a couple years ago, and now we are at 400 total students.”

The majority of the interest from students has been in the professional pilot degree option, which Depperschmidt says is its most popular option.

Including health and aviation in the college name will also be beneficial when telling prospective students and their families about the many programs within the college.

“It is an exciting time for our program and for us to be able to share what our degree options offer students,” Depperschmidt says.

The restructure of the schools and the process of developing a new college name also allowed an opportunity to evaluate purposes.

“In hindsight, our programs had an opportunity to really identify what their purposes were, what they should be and see how they could better operate within the college and with other

disciplines,” Depperschmidt says. “And then they could maximize their efficiencies as an academic program, and I think all of those things were really beneficial to the process.”

While some might say the combination of education, health and aviation is an odd mix, Depperschmidt and Koch wouldn’t have it any other way.

“A lot of people think we should be in engineering or in business, and that isn’t that uncommon with other collegiate aviation programs in the nation,” Depperschmidt says. “Our faculty and our programs are well known within the college, and we work really well within the college. We receive great support within our college.” EHA

College of Education, Health and Aviation 19

Endowed Positions Rock!

In this era of tightening budgets, endowed professorships have become more valuable than ever. Thanks to generous donors, the College of Education, Health and Aviation has 18 faculty members holding endowed professorships. We asked them how the additional funding from the positions support their special projects. Their responses:

I

20 2018

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Profes sor s share how p ositions enhanc e their teaching, re search and spe cial proje c t s.

Dr. Julie Angle Bill and Billie Dean Buckles Innovation in Teaching Endowed Professor Associate Professor, Secondary Science Education

Research interests: My broad research goal is to strengthen science teachers’ science literacy skills.

More specifically, my research focus is threefold: First, my research provides in-service and preservice science teachers with mentored STEM research experiences to aid in their understanding of the methods/practices of science.

This prepares teachers to teach science through an inquiry approach that sets up a learning environment for their students to conduct experiments, collect and analyze data and defend their scientific claims.

Special projects supported through endowed faculty position: My goal is to bring science alive in the middle school classroom. I plan to write a curriculum book for middle school science teachers that will contain 20-plus standardsbased inquiry science lessons that focus on Yellowstone National Park.

Two OSU graduates, who are now middle school science teachers (one from a rural school and one from an urban/suburban school district), accompanied me to Yellowstone. For five days, we toured the park and gathered ideas, still pictures and videos for the lessons.

As lessons are developed, these teachers will implement them and provide feedback. To disseminate individual lessons to a national audience, prior to the book submission, we will submit proposals to present at the National Science Teachers Association conference. The two teachers I selected have the potential to be leaders in the science education community. Working with me in developing a book will propel their leadership status.

Additionally, I encourage my preservice science teachers to attend state and national conferences. The endowment will provide financial assistance for such conferences.

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Dr. Kathy Curry

Dr. Bridget Miller

Dr. Chad Depperschmidt

John A. and Donnie Brock Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy

Joan Donelson Jacques Health Promotion Professorship

Clarence E. Page Foundation Endowed Chair in Aviation Sciences

Associate Professor, Educational Leadership

Associate Professor, Health Education and Promotion

Associate Professor, Aviation and Space

Research areas: Family engagement/partnerships in education, school climate/culture and social networks in educational systems.

Special projects: My endowed faculty position helped support the Women in Leadership Conference hosted by the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administrators in spring 2017 and an Aspiring Leadership Academy co-hosted by CCOSA and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association in fall 2017-spring 2018. Additionally, the professorship has supported conference presentations for two doctoral students at the American Educational Research Association annual conference in April 2017 and will support three student conference presentations at the University Council for Educational Administration’s annual conference in November 2017 and the American Educational Research Association’s conference in Spring 2018.

Research areas: Impact of exercise and physical activity participation on the psychological aspects of health, including mood, body image, self-esteem and confidence. I am also interested in understanding how psychological and environmental determinants impact overall health behavior.

Special projects: The financial support provided by the endowed faculty position has been instrumental in supporting a number of different undergraduate and graduate student research projects in addition to my own research projects. It has been especially important to provide support for students as funding mechanisms for student research are very limited. The professorship has also allowed me to present my research and support students presenting their research at professional conferences regionally, nationally and internationally.

Research areas: Gender and minority issues in collegiate aviation, implementation of technology in the aviation classroom, effects of stimulants on student pilot skill, collegiate flight training and aviation legislation.

Special projects: The Page Chair has supported efforts to connect with the aviation/aerospace industry to pave the way for employment and internship opportunities and to promote our academic programs for future enrollment growth. It has also enabled me to design, develop and produce a multitude of branding and promotional items for the Aviation and Space Program that are targeted toward prospective and current students, faculty and professional academic and employment partners. The chair also assisted multiple outreach activities to promote our Aviation and Space Programs and the aviation career field to adolescent youth and at STEM continuing education to fifth- through eighth-grade teachers.

Dr. Ed Harris Williams Chair in Higher Education Professor, Educational Leadership

Research areas: Innovative leadership and the cultural changes occurring in educational contexts.

Special projects: My endowed faculty position allows me to partner with Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration to offer continuous professional development for Oklahoma school leaders. Funds from the chair help support special projects and executive workshops needed in our state.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 21

CHRISTIE MELLOR PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Dr. Kerri Kearney

Dr. John Foubert

Dr. Christine Ormsbee

Christine Cashel Professorship in Educational Leadership

Anderson, Farris and Halligan College Student Development Professor

A.J. and Susan Jacques Endowed Professorship in Special Education

Associate Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs

Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs

Professor, Special Education

Research areas: Prevention of sexual violence on college campuses and in the U.S. military, connection between use of explicit media and violence, the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity on pro-social behaviors.

Research areas: Identifying teacher behaviors and strategies that make learning more accessible for university students. I am involved in a large survey of OSU undergraduate students, asking them to name their university teachers who have made learning accessible, list what the teacher did to help students learn and what students think teachers do that makes their learning more efficient and effective. My goal is to develop a list of high-impact teaching behaviors for university teachers.

Research areas: Organizational, systemic and student issues in higher education through the lens of college students who were in foster care or foster care conditions during adolescence; the role of emotions in human transition (both inside and outside the organizational environment); issues related to organizational behavior and visual or arts-based methodologies in qualitative research.

Special projects: Funds are used to conduct and disseminate research (equipment, supplies, travel) on a broad range of higher education issues using the lens/experiences of college students who were in foster care or foster care conditions. Current research is being conducted in three states focused on the motivations and experiences of higher education professionals who volunteer to support and guide former foster youth through their college journeys.

Special projects: The Anderson, Farris and Halligan Professorship supports doctoral students attending, presenting and networking at professional conferences. Foubert recently wrote a new curriculum for the U.S. Naval Academy on preventing male-on-male sexual assault and harassment and helped the U.S. Marine Corps design a study to measure the impact of its rape prevention programs.

Foubert is also undergoing conflict of interest checks for a consulting position with the U.S. Army, where he would lead the international efforts in rape prevention, with regular visits to the Pentagon.

Special projects: My endowed chair provides additional funding to attend research conferences where I am able to network with other researchers interested in similar projects. I have also hired a graduate assistant to assist developing and managing a research project.

Dr. Pamela Brown Stella V. Andersen Endowed Professor Professor, Curriculum Studies

Research interests: Critical media literacy, teacher researchers and social justice and diversity issues in teacher preparation.

Special projects: The Andersen Professorship supports secondary education, and Brown has used funds to expand the professional development literature in the Education and Teaching Library in Willard Hall and to support secondary social studies education through an accreditation advisory committee and teaching materials for preservice education teachers.

22 I 2018

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Dr. Gayla Foster

Dr. Sue Parsons

Dr. Hugh Crethar

Audrey E. Oaks Professorship

Elizabeth Jacques Munroe Professorship in Reading and Literacy Education

Jennifer Jacques Flanery Community Counseling Professorship

Clinical Associate Professor, Secondary Art Education

Research interests: My research interests are based around developing creativity with visual art in children and university students. Specifically, how we encourage students to draw/paint what they see as well as looking at what they are drawing/painting, using an open mind and the “Visual thinking Strategies” developed by the NAEA/OAEA organizations.

Special projects: My endowed faculty position has contributed to: • Paying faculty/staff for the summer art camp for third- to fifth-graders at the Stillwater Arts Center in 2017, in collaboration with the OSU Art Department.

• Paying for the university art education students to attend the Oklahoma Art Education Association conferences in past years.

GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

• Paying for me to attend the national art conference and art workshops at Crystal Bridges Art Museum.

Associate Professor, Literacy Education

Research areas: The role of high quality literature in developing learner literacies (including learning to read, write and think critically and creatively as well as learning about the world around us), looking critically at how literature positions readers, including representations and possibilities, and helping teachers develop knowledge and proficiency to fully and effectively engage all learners.

Special projects: Professorship funds help me bring resources and inspiration to teachers and learners, including author visits and teacher workshops for the campus and the surrounding community. Professorship support also enhances my ability to conduct and share research and effective practice well beyond this region and to continue my own professional development.

Associate Professor, Counseling Psychology

Research interests: Multicultural competence, excellence in counselor training, integration of contextual factors in wellness, community and client empowerment advocacy in field of counseling and LGBTQQI issues in counseling, body image and eating disorders.

Special projects: Crethar works with a number of graduate students. The professorship has resulted in recent research leading to professional presentations in sexual orientation and gender nonconformity, variations in relational orientation, the effects of informed parental consent for research on substance abuse, alcohol use among sexual minority patrons and refining definitions of social justice in helping professions.

Dr. Bert Jacobson M.B. Seretean Endowed Professor in Wellness Regents Professor, Health and Human Performance Associate Dean for Research, Engagement and Administration

Research areas: Athletic performance, ergogenic supplements and fall prevention.

Special projects: Energy drinks: enhancement or detriment to physical performance.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 23

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Dr. Sheri Vasinda

Dr. Shelbie Witte

Dr. Sue Jacobs

Alice Phillips Endowed Professor in Elementary Education

Kim and Chuck Watson Endowed Chair in Education

Associate Professor, Literacy Education

Associate Professor, Secondary Literacy Education

Myron C. Ledbetter and Bob Lemon Counseling Psychology Diversity Professor

Research areas: Supporting struggling readers and writers through purposeful pairings of new technology tools with strong traditional literacy strategies to amplify the effects of both. I am interested in the intersection of literacy in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) learning and developing new lines of research exploring higher-education faculty technology integration to support teacher preparation that reflects what is possible for our current and future mobile technology culture.

Special projects: As a research team member of the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research, I am planning a professional development symposium to coincide with the 21st Century Literacies Research Divergent Award Lecture sponsored by Dr. Shelbie Witte and her endowment. The Alice Phillips Endowment will also support a graduate student keynote luncheon following the Divergent Lecture.

During 2017, the endowment supported two undergraduate teacher candidates to present their innovative work at the Oklahoma Reading Association Annual Conference and at the European Literacy Conference in Madrid, Spain.

The endowment paid for a consultation with an innovation expert, Sara Kajder, for the literacy faculty as we design our dynamic online master’s program.

24 I 2018

Research areas: 21st-century literacies and multimodal approaches to adolescent literacy learning, particularly the intersection of these literacies and literacy pedagogy.

Special projects: • 21st Century Literacies Lecture Series (annual event).

• Divergent Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies Research, sponsored by the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies.

• Support for the Curriculum Studies Lecture and contributor for the Janet Wong visit to OSU. • English Education CAEP Accreditation Realignment Team.

• Teen Songwriting Camp.

• Classroom Library Support for Stillwater Middle School and Stillwater Junior High.

• Makerspace tools for high school students in high-needs Oklahoma City schools.

• Travel and registration costs for eight faculty members, graduate students and area teachers to attend various national conferences and meetings.

Professor, Counseling and Counseling Psychology

Research interests: • Diversity and social justice issues: difficult dialogue training, multicultural competencies, advocacy, prevention, health disparities and under-represented and stigmatized communities, groups and individuals, including older adults, LGBTIQ2S, women, rural, Native American Indians and international psychology.

• Issues in professional counseling and psychology education; counseling psychology’s role in disaster response, domestically and internationally; issues of diversity, gender and age; sexuality, health disparities and under-represented populations in wellness and health, prevention, sustainability; and resilience, coping with chronic illness, trauma and loss of function.

• American Indians and STEM Careers.

Special projects: Among her many projects, “An Exploratory Study Pinpointing the Factors that Influence Native Americans Interests and Aspirations for Engineering Faculty Positions” will address factors that influence Native Americans’ preparation for and participation in the engineering professorate.

Dr. Juliana Utley

Dr. Jennifer Sanders

Frank and Carol Morsani Endowed Chair in Mathematics and Science Education

Laurence L. and Georgia Ina Dresser Professor in Rural Teacher Education

Professor, Mathematics Education

Head, School of Teaching, Learning and Educational Sciences

Research areas: Mathematics preservice and in-service teacher education, beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics, beginning teacher support and STEM education.

Special projects: The Morsani Chair supports research efforts, professional development for faculty and teachers and resources and opportunities for students, including a visit from a national speaker who shared best practices in online teaching. Utley has collaborated on a book proposal, manuscripts and articles for national journals, as well as on an engineering camp for fourththrough sixth-graders. Funds for the endowed chair have also supported graduate assistantships and national conference participation for graduate students. She has also used the professorship to support the undergraduate program as a whole, purchasing materials and signage for undergraduate student recruitment events.

Associate Professor, Literacy Education

Research areas: Developing teachers’ knowledge of effective writing instruction and supporting the literacy learning of underserved students in high-needs communities. My interest in high-needs educational settings stems from experience teaching in rural, high poverty schools in Florida and working with urban schools in Oklahoma and Belize.

My research focuses on K-12 writing instruction, writing center pedagogy, teachers’ professional development and representations of diversity in children’s literature. In January 2017, I published a book on writing center pedagogy titled “They’re All Writers!” teaching peer tutoring in the elementary writing center with Teachers College Press.

with rural districts. I began a series of professional development workshops for teachers in rural schools on “Writing in Rural Spaces” to develop their pedagogy in rural literacies. Rural literacies include “skills needed to achieve the goals of sustaining life in rural areas” and the critical literacy skills needed to foster social and environmental justice in rural places and spaces. I used the funds to provide the literacy and language arts teachers from four rural schools with professional books on rural literacies and writing instruction and children’s literature set in rural places or on related rural topics. We used these books as core texts for our professional development.

I also provided a graduate student with a stipend to help me plan and teach the workshops. This graduate student has also taught and grown up in rural schools and communities, and she has a deep interest in rural literacy education.

EHA

Special projects: The Dresser Endowed Professorship in Rural Teacher Education has provided me with valuable support for rural teacher education and university-community partnerships

If you’re interested in setting up an endowed professorship in the College of Education. Health and Aviation, contact Denise Melot at the OSU Foundation: 405-385-5663 or dmelot@osugiving.com.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 25

COLLEGE

news & notes

Many members of the 2016 OSU Flying Aggies Flight Team returned for 2017. The team from fall 2016, from left: David Koch, Alex Dunbar, Dillon Lain, Rusty Ridenour, Harrison Stegmann (on right wing), Benny Miller (on left wing), Nate Anders, Zach Alstatt, Clifton Durante and Andrew Edgeller.

Flying Aggies place 10th in national contest The OSU Flying Aggies flight team placed 10th overall at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association SAFECON. The spot at nationals — its third in a row — was secured with the team’s win at the regional competition in Norman, Okla. Ohio State University welcomed 26 other universities to its Columbus campus for the weeklong nationals event in May 2017. Six flight contests, five ground contests and 12 individual and team contests were part of SAFECON. Twelve students contribute to the Oklahoma State team: co-captains Harrison Stegmann and Benny Miller, and members Zachary Alstatt, Nate Anders, Alex Dunbar, Clifton Durante, Andrew Edgeller, David Koch, Dillon Lain, Maxwell Maroney, Mackenzie Odom and Miles Turner. Aviation assistant professor Dr. Matt Vance is the Flying Aggies coach, and Jared Dunlap is assistant coach.

Odom, a senior and a first-year team member, won the Women’s Achievement Award sponsored by the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of women pilots. (See feature on Odom, Page 6) Durante and Dunbar scored fourth and fifth, respectively, against 113 pilots in Power-Off Landings. Miller’s safety presentation earned a third-place mention in the American Airlines Safety award. Edgeller earned fourth place among 13 opponents in the Certified Flight Instructor competition. Alstatt was nominated for Outstanding Team Member for his hard work and dedication.

Coaches Vance and Dunlap stress that students learn valuable leadership and teamwork skills beyond their talents as individuals.

“It is a pleasure to see students respond and rise to this challenge, helping each other, leading each other and sharing their OSU enthusiasm with other schools,” Vance says. “The flight team’s offsite competition travel was again this year generously supported by donors and the OSU Flight Center — the team is privileged to represent OSU and is very thankful for all the financial support.”

26 I 2018

COLLEGE

new & Notes

Eight College of Education, Health and Aviation students have been chosen as OSU Freshman Research Scholars, which allows them to engage in cutting-edge research and be paired with a researcher who will help guide them in their field of interest. The students chosen for the program include aerospace administration and operations majors Alex Dunbar and Blaine Hughes, elementary education majors Skylar Horn and Ellie Fate, recreation management and recreational therapy majors Abigail Peterson and Taryn Blackstock and secondary education majors Kristen Ball and Jackson Thompson. The 2017 class of freshmen students represent seven states and 28 majors from all undergraduate colleges. There are a total of 60 incoming Oklahoma State University freshmen in the program.

Appointments and reappointments At the June OSU/A&M Board of Regents meeting, several College of Education, Health and Aviation faculty members were among those approved for title changes.

Katherine Curry (educational foundations, leadership and aviation), Tonya Hammer (community health sciences, counseling and counseling psychology), Sheri Vasinda (teaching, learning and educational sciences) and Melissa Zahl (kinesiology, applied health and recreation) were promoted from assistant professor to associate professor (action grants tenure).

Juliana Utley (teaching, learning and educational sciences) and Qiuying Wang (teaching, learning and educational sciences) were promoted from associate professor to professor.

Benjamin Bindewald (community health sciences, counseling and counseling psychology), Stephanie Hathcock (teaching, learning and educational sciences), HangShim Lee (community health sciences, counseling and counseling psychology) and Ki Cole (educational foundations, leadership and aviation) were reappointed as assistant professors. Shelbie Witte (teaching, learning and educational sciences) was reappointed as associate professor.

PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

8 selected for freshman research program

Elementary education major named an Outstanding Senior The OSU Alumni Association named College of Education, Health and Aviation student ADDISON FREINER a 2017 Outstanding Senior. One of 16 recipients, Freiner is an elementary education senior from Tulsa. The award recognizes seniors who excel through academic achievement, campus involvement, academic, athletic or extra-curricular honors or awards and work ethic while at OSU.

College celebrates play therapy lab for teaching, research OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation celebrated the reinvigoration of the Play Therapy Research and Training Lab, spearheaded by assistant professor in counseling and counseling psychology, DR. DIANE STUTEY. The Play Therapy Research and Training Lab conducts research to examine the effectiveness of play therapy with children and how it benefits marginalized children and/or children experiencing adverse life conditions. Play therapy allows children to work through stressful life events in a developmentally appropriate way.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 27

COLLEGE

news & notes

Program earns top paper recognition

5 graduate students honored Five OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation graduate students were recognized for their achievements during the Graduate College and the Graduate and Professional Student Government Association Gala in April 2017. MICHELLE MILLER and DARCI KLEIN received the Summer Dissertation Fellowship, supporting summer research for OSU doctoral students. CAITLIN BARNES received a Graduate Research Excellence Award, recognizing accomplishments reflected in her doctoral dissertation. ROMAN PETERSON and THERESA RILES were honored as the 2017 Ambassadors for the College of Education, Health and Aviation, reflecting their passion for OSU and their graduate education experience.

28 I 2018

Hammack wins Distinguished Educator Fellowship PHIL SHOCKLEY/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

The Workforce and Adult Education program was recognized with the top paper at the Association for Career and Technical Education Research (ACTER) poster session in Las Vegas. The winning paper, and one of only three recognized, is entitled, “Retention and Job Satisfaction Factors Affecting CTE (Career and Technical Education) Teachers,” and was authored by Ph.D. graduate MUHD KHAIZER OMAR, associate professor MARY JO SELF and assistant professor KI LYNN COLE. The study focused on factors that affect whether career and technical educators stay in the teaching profession. ACTER is the premier conference specifically for career and technical education research.

Dr. Becky Hammack, a middle school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teacher and OSU alumna, has been selected to join the 2017-18 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program.

She is one of 12 outstanding STEM educators who will serve an 11-month fellowship in Washington, D.C., at the National Science Foundation.

This program will allow Hammack to apply her knowledge and experience to national education programs and education policy efforts, making significant contributions to schools across the United States.

Hammack received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from The Ohio State University. Her master’s degree in animal science and doctorate in science education came from Oklahoma State. She began her Einstein appointment in September 2017.

She told the College of Education, Health and Aviation’s magazine in 2016 that it was her own high school teachers who advanced her love of science.

“I had amazing high school science teachers who were so charismatic and enthusiastic,” she says. “I always knew I wanted to go into a science field.”

An epiphany that took her into the world of teaching came while she was participating in a work-study tutoring program at Stillwater Junior High.

“I found my passion — sharing science with children,” she recalls.

“I love the light-bulb moments when you can see a concept click for a child, and you know that you helped make that happen.”

COLLEGE

new & Notes College adds 4 faculty members The College of Education, Health and Aviation has welcomed four new faculty members. They are:

English education student wins state award LAUREN NELSON was one of 12 recipients from Oklahoma universities to receive the Geraldine Burns Award from the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English. Nelson, an OSU senior in English education, was given the award for being an excellent teacher intern and was nominated as the best English teacher in the program.

Alma mater honors Witte

Alana Cluck, a clinical instructor in community health sciences, counseling and counseling pschology.

Candace Gann, an assistant professor in teaching, learning and educational sciences.

DR. SHELBIE WITTE, associate professor in secondary literacy education and the Chuck and Kim Watson Endowed Chair in the OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation, was honored as a 2017 Alumni Fellow by Kansas State University, where she received her master’s and doctoral degrees. Witte was one of 12 alumni chosen based on her professional accomplishments and distinguished service in her career.

OSU teachers contribute to recent publication

Mary Malaska, an assistant professor in community health sciences, counseling and counseling psychology and director of the nursing RN to BSN program.

Jackie Mania-Singer, an assistant professor in educational foundations, leadership and aviation.

OSU College of Education, Health and Aviation professor TUTALENI ASINO and graduate students ALESHA BAKER, YING XIU and JOSE FULGENCIO contributed to a recent IGI Global publication, “Empowering Learners with Mobile Open-Access Learning Initiatives.” This reference publication provides educators a new, innovative way to enhance learning experiences for students. It is a resource for those interested in studying mobile education advancements and features topics such as digital portfolios and place conscious education.

College of Education, Health and Aviation 29

COLLEGE

news & notes

2018 state Teacher of the Year and Rising Star finalists Three Oklahoma State University alumnae, DIONNE LEIBL, SHALA MARSHALL and LAURA SMITH were chosen as finalists for the 2018 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year award, which recognizes those who have devoted their lives to teaching and making an impact on education.OSU alumnus COLBY MCGEE was also a finalist for the Rising Star Award, which is given to teachers who show amazing promise and passion in their profession.

2017’s Top 10 Seniors

Leibl graduated from OSU in 2000 with a degree in secondary education and now teaches English at Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Okla.

Marshall graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1999, a second bachelor’s in Spanish in 2001 and a master’s degree in teaching and curriculum leadership in 2002. She teaches Spanish at Jenks (Okla.) High School.

KATELYN BUSHMAN

ADDISON FREINER

Enid, Okla.

Therapeutic Recreation

Tulsa Elementary Education

WAMBUI MBURU

LUCY MCCOLLOM

Nairobi, Kenya Aerospace Administration and Operations with aviation management option

Crescent, Okla.

Aerospace Administration and Operations with option in professional pilot and minor in aviation security

Smith graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s in music education in 2002 and has been a band director for Byng (Okla.)

Public Schools for nine years.

Rising Star finalist McGee graduated with a degree in agriculture education from OSU in 2015. He has taught agriculture at Allen Public Schools for two years.

The winner of the 2018 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year was Donna Gradel, an environmental science teacher at Broken Arrow Public Schools and a graduate of West Virginia University.

30 I 2018

COLLEGE

new & Notes Oklahoma State University’s College of Education, Health and Aviation’s Top 10 Seniors for 2017 represent elementary and secondary education, health education and promotion, recreational therapy, aerospace administration and operations and career and technical education. They are:

AMBER LAFERRIERE

HALIE LINDBERG

EZEQUIEL MADRIGAL

Yukon, Okla.

Elementary Education

Canton, Mich.

Health Education and Promotion

Edmond, Okla.

Secondary Education with foreign language option

COLLIN NAIL

MACKENZIE ODOM

EMILY TUDER

Coweta, Okla.

Career and Technical Education with option in business and information technology education

Happy, Texas Aerospace Administration and Operations, with option in professional pilot and minor in aviation management

Jay, Okla.

Health Education and Promotion with an option in exercise and health, with minors in Spanish and nutrition

College of Education, Health and Aviation 31

College of Education, Health and Aviation Dean John Romans (center) inducts Dr. Deborah Hopkins Bosch and Piyush Patel into the college’s Hall of Fame.

College honors 3 alumni

“We are proud to welcome Dr. Deborah Hopkins Bosch and Piyush Patel to our Hall of Fame,” college Dean John Romans says. “These two accomplished individuals have made a difference in the lives of many and represented the university and our college in a significant way.”

Bosch, Class of 1991, earned her education doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Oklahoma State University. Bosch received her bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, where she eventually became the first female dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She held numerous positions in teaching and administration at OBU. Her achievements include serving as OBU’s senior vice president. She has received multiple awards such as the Distinguished Service Award from the Oklahoma Association of Career and Technology Education and has been inducted into the Shawnee (Okla.) Edu32 I 2018

cation Foundation Hall of Fame. Gov. Mary Fallin appointed her to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Oklahoma State Board of Career and Technology.

Patel, Class of 1998, earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from OSU and served as president of the Education Student Council and created the I Wonder Fair. Patel began an online graphic design and softwaretraining program called Digital-Tutors in 2014. The program grew to help millions of students and artists worldwide.

Before selling the company, he received the Journal Record’s Innovator of the Year award three times and won the 40 under 40 Business Leadership Award.

Patel also has a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix and a Sloan Executive Certificate in Management Moriah Widener received the 2017 Rising Star Award.

and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Lisa, own Conclusion Wines in Napa Valley, where every bottle sold supports Oklahoma charities.

In addition to the Hall of Fame awards, Moriah Widener received the 2017 Rising Star Award. This honor is given to individuals who have earned a bachelor’s degree within the last 10 years and demonstrate the promise of future leadership and bring distinction to the college. Widener is currently a fifthgrade teacher at Jenks West Intermediate Elementary School. She was presented with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in the Fall of 2016. She was also recognized as Jenks Public Schools site teacher of the year for 2016. EHA PHOTOS: GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor OSU’s College of Education, Health and Aviation can bestow on an individual. Recognized for their outstanding professional achievements and service to society, inductees have also brought honor and distinction to the college throughout their career.

Give and You Shal l Receive You may be interested in giving more to the College of Education, Health and Aviation, but financial needs prevent you from donating income-producing assets. With our gift annuity program, you can make a significant gift and still retain lifetime payments. In some cases, you can even increase your annual cash flow.

How charitable gift annuities work:

Stock or Cash Gift A gift of cash or a marketable security, such as shares of stock, can establish a charitable gift annuity, and there are tax advantages.

Steady Income In return, the OSU Foundation guarantees the donor fixed income for life. The payment amount is based on the donor’s age and the value of the gift.

Tax Benefits t o You An income-tax deduction for itemizers, partial bypass of capital-gains tax, and possible reduction of estate taxes can make a gift annuity a prudent option for many of our older friends. In fact, some of our donors create additional annuities as payment rates increase with age.

Remainder to OSU Perhaps the greatest benefit of a gift annuity is the personal fulfillment you receive by helping Oklahoma State University.

Your gift annuity can be designated to support our students, faculty or programs in areas of particular interest to you, or can be directed to meet the greatest priority needs of the university.

Pleasecheckwith our officefor specificratesandstate availability.

Consider such an option for your own plans. To learn more about charitable gift annuities or obtain a personalized illustration, please contact Denise Melot , Senior Director of Development & Team Lead College of Education, Health and Aviation, at dmelot@OSUgiving.com or 405.385.5663.

Oklahoma State University COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, HEALTH & AVIATION 339 Willard Stillwater, OK 74078-4033

PHOTO CREDIT: GARY LAWSON/UNIVERSITY MARKETING

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