College of Education
Previous issues of Monday Report are at http://www.emich.edu/coe/monday. Send items and comments to jerry.robbins@emich.edu.
IN MEMORIAL
Kathleen Kootsillas,58, secretary in the COE Clinical Suite, died last Monday night at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital from complications following her recent surgery. A memorial service will be held at a later date. She is survived by her husband, Robert Kootsillas, and a niece.
FACULTY AND STAFF NOTES
"Classroom Strategies and Adaptations to Include Students with Visual Impairment in General Education," by Alicia Li (written in Chinese) was published recently in New Waves-Educational Research and Development, a quarterly journal of the Chinese American Educational Research and Development Association.
Alicia Li's "Classroom Strategies in Improving and Enhancing Visual Skills in Students with Disabilities" has been accepted for publication in Teaching Exceptional Children.
Sue Grossman and Judy Williston have received notice that "Reflective Practices with Early Childhood Education Students" has been selected for presentation at the Institute for Reflective Practice next June in Gloucester, England.
Kathleen Conley presented "Health Education Leadership Dialogue: Strategies and Steps to Moving the Profession of Health Education Towards its 'Vision for the Twenty-First Century'" at the Society for Public Health Education convention in San Francisco.
Kathleen Conley presented "Advocacy in Health Education" at the American Public Health Association convention in San Francisco.
Jerry Robbins was in Washington, D.C. this past Thursday to Sunday, attending the meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
John Palladino presented "Heart Sensitive and Head Smart: Collaborating with Foster Care Providers" at the Council for Exceptional Children-Teacher Education Division meeting in Biloxi, MS.
John Palladino presented "Identifying Special Education Teachers' Dispositions Towards Youth in Foster Care: Implications for Higher Education Teaching and Research" at the Second Annual Symposium on Educator Dispositions in Richmond, KY.
Michael Paciorek presented at the Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance on ways in which physical education for students with disabilities can be infused throughout the teacher preparation curriculum.
Jerry Robbins spoke last Monday in Southfield to the Michigan Public Task Force on "No Child Left Behind."
Michael Paciorek presented at the monthly meeting of the Washtenaw County Early Childhood Directors' Association. He spoke on safe play environments for young children to enhance healthy, active living.
Sherry Jerome's choreography was presented in last Friday's performances of "Coppelia," executed by students affiliated with the Dance Program and by the University Symphony.
John Palladino was one of six EMU faculty members to receive a Provost's Research Award for New Faculty.
Suzanne Zelnik-Geldys was featured recently in the "why I teach at EMU" section of Focus EMU.
Judy Williston recently read children's stories to the residents of Phelps and Sellers residence halls as a pre-exam stress reliever.
Professor Emeritus Norman J. Niesen has moved recently from Tallahassee, FL to Batavia, OH. Niesen served the Department of Special Education from 1977 to 1987.
STUDENT NOTES
Doctoral student Marcia Mardis published "Uncovering the Hidden Web" in the November issue of Principal Leadership.
Patrick J. Nedry will defend his dissertation, "The Impact of Tech Prep on Community College Readiness in Michigan," on December 17 at 1:00 p.m. in Porter 202. Martha Tack is the chair. The public is invited.
Sara Bressler, prospective elementary teacher and recipient of the Margaret R. Esche Lee scholarship, was featured in the EMU Foundation's 2003 annual report. Others from the COE that appear in the same document include Shaftone Dunklin, recipient of the Larry and Janice Warren scholarship and graduate student in educational leadership, and Joni Harhold, prospective elementary teacher and recipient of both the Bergoine/Annesser scholarship and the Otis Williams and Friends scholarship.
Shannon McHale, LeMichael Curry and Matt Laffey danced lead roles in last Friday's performance of "Coppelia."
Pi Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi initiated 187 new members last month, an all time high. The chapter is currently conducting a food and toy drive and will sell cameras and flowers at Commencement.
ALUMNI NOTES
Gordon Kennedy is the new principal of Kennedy Middle School in the Lake Shore District.
Brad Bush '93, '01, until recently head football coach at Chelsea High School, has been hired as EMU's football recruiting coordinator.
- - - - - - - - - - Joyce Elaine Service Ensign '64, '77, age 61, died recently, the victim of cancer. She taught preschool and kindergarten in Willow Run for 14 years.
SHORT NOTES
SKILLMAN FOUNDATION AWARDThe SINO-American Education Consortium, of which the EMU COE is a member, has announced the Summer Education Trip, May 31-June 15, to the People's Republic of China in connection with the 15th SINO-American Education Consortium International Conference in Wuhan, China. For additional information, contract Binyao Zheng at bzheng@kennesaw.edu or Ann Smith at asmith@kennesaw.edu.
The COE holiday event will be held on Tuesday, December 9, in Porter 301 B/C, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. All COE faculty, staff, and friends are cordially invited!
The Department of Educational Administration Chili Cook-Off will be held on Thursday, December 11 in Porter 304, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Cost to participate is $5. All are invited to be part of this fun and fund-raising event.
The Skillman Foundation has awarded to the EMU Foundation, on behalf of the College of Education, $1,235,500 for a five-year project. This project is to provide academic, social, and cultural support to low-income, gifted and talented Detroit minority youth participating in the YES for PREP program.
The Skillman Foundation is a resource for improving the lives of children in metropolitan Detroit. The Foundation applies its resources to foster positive relationships between children and adults, support high quality learning opportunities and strengthen healthy, safe and supportive homes and communities. The Foundation was founded in December 1960 by Rose P. Skillman, widow of Robert H. Skillman, vice president and director of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, and has an annual grant making budget of $18 million.
REFLECTIONS. . . .
By Jerry Robbins
December 2003 brings at least three special anniversaries.
Perhaps the most serious obstacle the Wright brothers confronted in their quest for manned flight was not insufficient scientific theory, or lack of technological know-how. But rather, it was the pervasive belief throughout society that "it can't be done."
While it is not well known, it was the Wright Brothers' own father, Bishop Wright, who during a sermon in 1890, eloquently expounded on the fact that the Second Coming of Christ was near at-hand, because nearly everything God had sent man to earth to do was done.
In response, a member of his congregation jumped up and said that wasn't true because someday man would fly. Bishop Wright responded with his now famous argument: "If God had meant man to fly, he would have given him wings."
Well, it was just 13 years later, on December 17, 1903, that Bishop Wright's very own sons -- Orville and Wilbur -- concluded four years of research and design, making the first powered flight by man in a heavier-than-air machine.
Look how far we've come in a century in matters related to aviation! Who among us can forget his/her first airplane ride? (In my own case, it was from Fayetteville, AR to Oxford, MS, with four stops and a plane change, to go to an interview for my first college teaching position.) Who among us can forget where we were as we watched the moon landing in 1969? (I was a counselor at a summer camp as we watched this on TV. The adolescents were not overly impressed.)
The message to those of us who work with the challenging problems of the K-12 schools, just as it was to Orville and Wilbur Wright, is "it can be done."
December 7, 1941 is, as President Roosevelt declared, "a day that will live in infamy." I remember little about the War-a few things such as ration books and the two gold stars on my grandparents' window. I remember all the church bells ringing in a small Arkansas town to celebrate the end of the War.
Yet, for all the terrible things that happened around the world before and during World War II, a lot of good emerged as well-the work of "the greatest generation," the G.I. Bill and the opportunities for post-secondary education, positive changes in the roles of women and minorities, scientific and technological advances, and many, many others.
In December 1952 and again in December 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Brown v Board of Education. At the time, I was a student in an all-white high school in a Southern town. I don't recall any awareness that the case was being argued. When the Supreme Court decision was announced on May 17, 1954, what little attention this received from my contemporaries was along the lines of "this won't make any difference in our lifetimes."
And, indeed, it was not until some 10 years later that, as a graduate student, I attended class with persons not of my own ethnicity, even as I had watched, from only 30 miles away, the desegregation of Little Rock (Central) High School. Yet by the end of the 1960's, I had to go into hiding at one point, in fear of my life, for positions I had taken as an expert witness in Federal District Court advocating the desegregation of schools in Mississippi.
It's taken a half century, but Brown has changed (and continues to change) our schools-and our society-in positive ways that few, if any, other court cases have ever done.
OPPORTUNITIES AND EVENTS
(For a complete list, see http://www.emich.edu/coe/newhome/opportunities.html)
December 9-ORD's "The Essential Elements," 9:30-10:15 a.m.; "The Review Process," 2:00-2:45 p.m. Call 7-3090 to enroll. COE Holiday Event, Porter 301 B/C, 2:00-4:00 p.m. All COE faculty/staff cordially invited!
December 10-ORD's "Writing Tips,"10:00-10:45 a.m. Call 7-3090 to enroll. COE Council meeting, 2:00 p.m., Porter 301B.
December 11-ORD's "Introduction to the World of Grants,"2:00-2:45 p.m. Call 7-3090 to enroll.
December 12-ORD's "Developing the Budget,"10:00-10:45 a.m. Call 7-3090 to enroll. PDK holiday dinner, Haab's restaurant.
December 13-EMU Presidential Scholarship Competition, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
CALLS FOR PAPERS/PROPOSALS
(For a complete list, see http://www.emich.edu/coe/newhome/proposals.html)
December 8-proposals due for Athens Institute for Education and Research 6th International Conference on Education. For information, atiner@otenet.gr. Proposals due for AAHE Assessment Conference. For information, http://www.aahe.org/assessment/2004.
December 10-applications due to participate in the Beyond the Millennium: Teaching with Technology conference. For information, www.amfcse.org/beyond.asp
THEME STATEMENTS
Caring professional educators for a diverse and democratic society. (CPED2S) (Initial program)
Inquiry, advocacy, and leadership in education for diverse and democratic society. (Advanced programs)
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