Teacher Features

Showcasing Events of the Union College Education Program

Dr. Joseph R. Allison, the Chair of the Division of Human Development at Union College, which includes the Education Program, just returned from an annual visit to Canadian University College where he met with the School of Education faculty to review and discuss the events leading to the end of this collaborative venture.

The original partnership began in 1979 and since 1997, Union College and our sister college Canadian University College in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada, have conducted a joint program for education majors whereby the graduates from the Canadian campus receive transcripts from Union College in order to obtain Nebraska State Teacher’s Certificates. This collaboration qualified those graduates after 1997, who applied, to request a Letter of Professional Standing in the Canadian Province where they desired to teach.

This 29 year agreement between Union College and Canadian University College comes to an end in April 2007 when the last students under the program graduate.

A new agreement between the Canadian government and Canadian University College now allows graduates from that college to obtain certificates directly from the province where they will teach.

On November 19, two elementary education seniors took their Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment exam. This two hour exam covers material that teachers across the nation are required to know in order to be considered Highly Qualified Teachers under the “No Child Left Behind” program.

The Professional Education courses at Union College prepare students in the areas covered by this exam in the methods courses, practicum experiences and evaluations, lesson plans, teacher work samples, portfolios and student teaching placements.

Good scores on the Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment exam and graduating from a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) approved program assures prospective employers that graduates from the Union College Education Program will be highly qualified. This gives our students the best chance for successful placement.

The secondary student teachers have been in their classrooms since the first of August, so are well engrained in the routine with their co-operating teachers and classes.

Those who are teaching in Music, Art and PE have moved from the high school level to middle and elementary classrooms since they are required to student teach in K-12 settings in whichever endorsement they are majoring in.

The elementary student teachers are on a schedule where they take methods courses in the first half of the semester and student teach in the second half. On October 22, thirteen of them began teaching in classrooms at George Stone Elementary School (4), Helen Hyatt Elementary School (5), Lincoln Public Schools (3) and one in North Dakota at the Hillside Elementary school in Jamestown, North Dakota. Each of them will have opportunity to get experience in Upper, Lower grades and in Multi-grade and single grade settings in both SDA church schools and public schools. The rich diversity of experience prepares them for any job they may obtain after graduating from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and North America Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD) approved education program.

Even though Thanksgiving break began on the previous Friday, four education majors stayed by to take their Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) this week. Passing the three tests in Reading, Math and Writing is required of all sophomore education majors at Union College before becoming a candidate for full acceptance into the education program and enrolling in upper division professional education courses.

The PPST will be given again in April at Union College for those who need to pass it before Fall 2008 registration. Another option for students who haven’t taken it or need to re-take a portion of it, is to contact the Sylvan Learning Center in any major city and arrange to take it at their facility. If scores do not meet the Nebraska State Department of Education requirements, students must re-take the test until scores meet the standards or drop education as their major.

Children’s literature students, under the tutelage of Kathy Bollinger, just completed written and illustrated books. Each student created a children’s book that was published and bound. The books, beautiful and imaginative, are part of the capstone experience of the class.

Other interesting activities from this class have included “Book Talks” in which the students dress as the book character from a favorite literature book. Several of the students presented their character book talks to ENRC, Eastern Nebraska Reading Council, as it met on Tuesday, November 6, in the evening at Union College.

Students in the class participated in the Plum Creek Literacy Festival in October at Seward, NE. The students helped hundreds of children in group sessions as accomplished authors and illustrators discussed writing and illustrating techniques. The UC students assisted children as they formed creations of their own.

The students in EDUC 357, besides reading and documenting a plethora of literature themselves, have told and read stories to children in elementary schools, and have also researched authors and designed illustrator posters.

For the fourth year, Union College education students with their sponsors Dr. Joe Allison and Mrs. Kathy Bollinger spent their midterm break at the La Vida Navajo Mission School located near Farmington, New Mexico. The Educational Diversity and Human Relations class made the two day trip to the mission school as part of their course requirements. Students spend four days teaching, eating and playing with the K-8 grade students who attend the mission school and doing projects that the mission staff never seems to have time to get to. Students are divided into two teams with one team working with the mission school teachers and their Navajo students and the other team assisting the administration, maintenance, and kitchen staff with projects on the mission’s grounds. The following day the teams switch places. Students had an additional experience over previous years due to parent-teacher conferences being held at the mission school. The second team of students worked with K-8 grade Native American students at the Lake Valley Indian School which is operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and located only five miles from La Vida.

The bus ride – a huge thanks to Jerome Lang – and the hours spent together really helped the class to bond. Many students expressed the fact that they left for the trip not knowing their classmates very well and returned bonded like a family. Also, for several students it confirmed that they had chosen the right profession. The students learned a lot about the Native American culture and challenges, the sacrifice and work of the mission staff and about themselves. One student exclaimed the sentiment of many of their classmates when they shared that they would do it again “in a heart beat.”

Around 60 education students attended a Pizza dinner sponsored by the Mid-America Union Conference (MAUC) on Monday, November 12. The Education Superintendents and Academy Principals presented the benefits of teaching in their area and answered questions about the elementary and secondary schools in their conference. The students were treated to pizza, salad and cookies, then listened to presentations by Dr. Allison, Chair of the Education Department at Union College and Ron Russell, MAUC Education Superintendent. The attendees then moved in groups, from one table to the next, to listen to presentations by the Nebraska/Kansas, Dakota, Rocky Mountain, Iowa/Missouri and Minnesota Conference representatives.

I had the privilege to visit Larissa Mesnard, Kayla Thom and Lilly Lopez who are all in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area.

Larissa ’07 teaches English at Smithburg High School a public high school nested in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains. She is a traveling teacher with no permanent classroom but goes from room to room with her cart of materials. Larissa had a challenging start in that she replaced a teacher who left a few weeks after school started and the classes were taught by several substitutes before Larissa reported for duty. She is looking forward to a fresh start second semester.

Lilly ’07 is the seventh grade home teacher and teaches middle school math at Spencerville Academy located a few miles from the General Conference offices in Silver Springs, Maryland. Lilly is a math teacher by training but is finding herself teaching Bible, art, and other things as assigned. She and Antonio are preparing for an addition to their little family.

Kayla ’07 is leading out in the four year old pre-school program at Atholton Adventist School located in Columbia, Maryland. I Yes, four year olds. Kayla feels that her calling is to work with God’s littlest ones. Kayla’s students are full of energy and she is up to the task. She looks forward to getting her own classroom module so that there can be more flexibility in the school day. Beth Reynolds ’06 is the 9th and 10th grade English teacher in the same school.