Shining Stars
 

Tabitha Orander, President of SPAGE

Congratulations to Tabitha Orander for being elected 2009-2010 President of SPAGE's (Student Professional Association of Georgia Educators), which is a 10,000 -member student organization of teacher candidates. Officers were elected by their peers as leaders of SPAGE during the SPAGE Summer Conference.


 

Virginia Strong, MAT-Early Childhood Education

It was an honor to be one of the 2009 recipients for the Grant-in-Aid Scholarship. This scholarship is given through Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional honorary society of women educators. Debbie Callan, an ASU faculty member, presented me with my scholarship. The scholarship money awarded to me will be used in either setting up my classroom or for my practicum experience. The Grant-in-Aid will allow me to enrich the lives of my students and create an active and engaging classroom. As a new teacher, I want to constantly learn something new, and then teach what I have learned to my students. Thank you to Delta Kappa Gamma for selecting me to be a scholarship recipient.

Spring 2009 Early Childhood Apprentices Present at ISL Conference!

It was an honor as apprentices to present at the ISL conference. We had the opportunity to share advice from our experiences, answer questions, and show and explain activities we created. Each activity follows at least one GPS and is geared toward student engagement. Among the activities were games, books, and hands-on center activities. A few of us have already used them with our students! For more information on the activities presented, click HERE.

Presenters:
Amber Gayman
Brittany Hirshorn
Megan Lechner
Heather Lillis
Briana MacDougall
Sheri Robertson
Libby Russell

Brookwood Elementary Family Literacy Night

With the help of a grant awarded by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, Brookwood Elementary School students and parents enjoyed Family Literacy Night at their January PTO meeting. The evening began with an overview of Family Literacy ideas presented by Ms. Donna Edwards. Guests were then dismissed to classrooms where Brookwood faculty hosted writing workshops, puppet creations, book making, and board games. Grant money was used to purchase puppet and book-making kits. Media Specialist, Jenny Pressley, hosted Columbia County Board Chairman, Regina Buccafusco, and Board Member, Mildred Blackburn, as they shared literary works by Ezra Jack Keats, Jan Brett, and Eric Carle. The evening closed as all reassembled in the cafeteria to enjoy hot chocolate, cookies, and door prizes provided by Learning Express of Evans, Book-A-Million, and Lifeway Book Store. A fun time was had by all! Congratulations to Pat Everette, Building Coordinator at Brookwood Elementary School for writing this successful grant!
 

Kristina King, ASU Undergraduate Early Childhood Major

This photo was taken of me when I received First Place in the Children’s Literature Category at the Sand Hill’s Writers Conference. My story titled “Excuses” was critiqued by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes a Children’s book Author and Illustrator. I think to myself how I got here to Sand Hills, never contemplating the idea of ever writing a children’s book, let alone winning an award for it. But here I am. Had it not been for that intimidating assignment given by Dr. Sutherland I may have never known what kind of writer I could be and can become. My next step in this surprising journey is to take the advice of Mrs. Tildes and make suggested changes to my story titled “Excuses” and send it on its way to get published and to give it life so that children can become inspired as I did by my character. A Special thanks to all my classmates for your encouraging words, and to my family most of all, if it wasn’t for you none of this would be happening now.