Theater project leads to special education degree

Meagan Williams and PHAME students

“When is your ride coming?” asks Meagan Williams, GSE master’s student. He doesn’t know. Meagan hands the student, Robert, her phone to call the TriMet Lift Service. The room begins to fill with the chatter of students arriving, greeting friends and getting organized for an afternoon of classes. Meagan is working part-time at PHAME Academy in NE Portland. She teaches theater class on Monday afternoons, and also serves as teaching lead/closer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturday afternoons her students rehearse for the big spring musical production, Bye Bye Birdie.

PSU student achievement awards announced

[left to right] Candyce Reynolds, Susan Sugarman, Pat Burk and Esperanza De La Vega

Portland State University will recognize its 2013 outstanding students at the annual spring awards event in June. The GSE is proud of the remarkable group of GSE honorees listed below, who are also eligible for top university-wide honors. Those honors will be presented prior to commencement at a special awards event on June 13. The following are this year’s Graduate School of Education awardees. 

Two GSE students from Visually Impaired Learner program receive fellowships

Two GSE students were among 15 selected nationally for a fellowship at the American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Institute. Phyllis Foster and Rian Hansen will travel to Chicago on April 18th to attend the event. Both are students in the Graduate School of Education’s Visually Impaired Learner (VIL) program, working toward licensure in Special Education with a specialization in Visual Impairment.

The Portland State VIL program is one of only four programs in the nation to offer interstate online programming to provide maximum access for students in this critical need area. PSU students attend from many different states across the continental United States, as well as Alaska and Hawaii, where there is a huge shortage of teachers in this field.

GSE student receives national Polish American scholarship

Renata Dajnowska hosts the annual Polish Carnival, a fundraiser for her Polish Cultural Enrichment Program at PLBA “Polish School”.

The American Council for Polish Culture has announced five winners of the $5,000 Pulaski Scholarship* across the US. One of the awardees is GSE student Renata Dajnowska, who is currently in the Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction program. The scholarship is awarded to American students of Polish descent who have completed one year of graduate level study in an accredited American university.

Graduate School of Education 2011-12 Annual Report

What’s happening in the GSE? Find out in this year’s edition of the GSE Annual Report.

Our GSE alumni have earned many accolades this year. GSE alumni were well represented in a variety of professional association, state, and national teacher recognition programs, including by the Department of Defense and the Department of Special Education. For example, a GSE alum received the elementary, middle, and high school administrator of the year awarded by COSA.

GSE programs are also being recognized for their excellence. One of the newer programs, the American Indian Urban Teacher Program (AIUTP), has graduated its fourth graduates. Although a small number of graduates, the program is creating a significant increase in the representation of Native Americans teaching in Oregon’s schools.

In 2012, PSU awarded diplomas to 6,165 students at commencement ceremonies at the Rose Garden and on the Park Blocks. Only three students university-wide were selected as commencement speakers this year, and all three were from GSE programs. Read more about these amazing students in this year’s annual report.

Don’t miss the 2012 issue, which includes outstanding alumni, programs, faculty, staff, donors, and students.

PSU American Indian Urban Teacher Program holds first Honoring Ceremony

This year’s graduates (left to right), Jonathan Belgarde (Chippewa), Carrie Green (Klamath Tribes), and Erica Spainhower (Cherokee Nation) joined alumnae Terri Reed (Chickasaw Nation) at the first AIUTP Honoring Ceremony.

An Honoring Ceremony was held Friday evening at the Native American Student and Community Center to recognize three graduates of the American Indian Urban Teacher Program (AIUTP).

The AIUTP is a new GSE program designed to increase the numbers of indigenous licensed teachers in Oregon’s schools. Currently the state has a very low percentage of Native American teachers, making them among the lowest represented racial groups in Oregon’s teacher population.