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SERSP Department Head Larry
Aleamoni shares a laugh with
Erasmus Circle Fellow Shirin Antia |
Dean Marx hosted a reception for our Erasmus Circle Fellows and Scholars, one of the highest honors bestowed upon faculty and students in the college. In previous issues of Education E-News, we’ve announced our Erasmus Circle Fellows (Shirin Dara Antia, Professor of Special Education, Rehabilitation & School Psychology; Walter Doyle, Professor of Teaching & Teacher Education; and Jenny J. Lee, Assistant Professor of Higher Education), and now we’d like to introduce you to our Erasmus Circle Scholars. These are the University of Arizona’s most promising undergraduate and graduate education students — the scholars who extend their knowledge, leadership, and innovation to transform and inspire the community, the nation, and the world. Erasmus Circle Scholars
Graduate Students
Sanlyn R. Buxner is a doctoral student in our Department of Teaching and Teacher Education. Her research focus is astronomy education. She received her master’s decree from TTE in 2006 and her bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2000.
Brendan Cantwell is a doctoral student in the college’s Center for the Study of Higher Education. His concentrations are comparative education and organization and administration. He is a research associate with the Tucson Gear Up Project and is studying college access among low-income and underrepresented students.
A Department of Educational Psychology doctoral student, Ida Rose Florez is no stranger to the psychology field. She’s been a school psychologist in Hershey and West Lawn, Pennsylvania, and in Tucson. Her concentrations are in early childhood education and early childhood assessment.
Caroline Rose Hummel Wiley also is a doctoral student in educational psychology. She is a research assistant on a first-year teacher observation project, where she is responsible for data management and analysis plus classroom observations and research training.
Arturo Kiyama works with the Pima County Court System, assessing the behavioral health status and needs of juveniles booked in the Juvenile Detention Center. He also aids in the management of the detainees’ prescribed psychotropic medication and coordinates community resources following their release. As if that did not keep him busy enough, he also is a doctoral candidate in school psychology in our Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and School Psychology.
Roseanne M. Lopez is the coordinator of Project EXCELL!, a $29 million-dollar Teacher Incentive Fund grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to managing the grant, she was the principal at Lulu Walker Elementary School for eight years. Today, she is a doctoral candidate in the college’s Department of Educational Leadership.
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Arizona Board of Regents President
Fred Boice, Ann Boice, LRC Professor
Richard Ruiz, and Marie Ruiz (l to r) wait
to hear the announcement of the
Erasmus Circle Scholars |
As a Department of Language, Reading, and Culture doctoral student, Srilakshmi Ramakrishnan is fascinated in the ways in which advertising influences a city’s residents. Her research interests include critical discourse analysis, with emphasis on media discourse from India. She is deeply appreciative of this honor and says, “I am motivated to live up to the high standards expected of Erasmus Circle Scholars.” As an early childhood exceptional education teacher at Borton Primary Magnet School, Sara Ruopp knows the importance of providing developmentally appropriate learning experiences to maximize learning and discovery. She is furthering her education in this field, studying severe and multiple disabilities in the SERSP master’s program.
Andrew Jon Schneller has long been interested in environmental learning. His undergraduate degree at the UA concentrated on geography and environmental studies, and his work history includes positions as a wilderness educator, a waste reduction education specialist, and an environmental policy education and outreach coordinator. Today, he not only works for the UA’s Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas, he is finishing up his doctorate in environmental learning from TTE.
A doctoral student in LRC, Adam Schwartz has numerous research and teaching interests: foreign and second-language learning, racism and white privilege, new literacies and new media, and Spanish in the U.S. Through his dissertation, he hopes to illuminate the various ways in which students experience and imagine Spanish with both formal instruction and out-of-school learning.
Ellen Spitler is a doctoral student in LRC interested in sociocultural theory, reader response theory, cognitive theory, and psycholinguistics. She is fascinated by the construction of secondary classroom space and its social contexts. She says, “I view this design of teacher practice as an important blueprint for powerful outcomes in adolescent literacy development.”
Doctoral candidate Kevin M. Stoltzfus in EDL is the director of staff development in the Flowing Wells School District. He is responsible for planning and implementing all district-level professional development trainings. His research interests include leadership characteristics and behaviors that influence teachers’ transfer of trainings and the evaluation of professional development.
Natalie Rose Youngbull, a master’s student in HED, also is a Gates Millennium Scholar. She is the vice president of the Higher Education Student Organization and has been active with the American Indian Student Association and Retaining American Indians Now. She has made numerous presentations, including “A Psycho-Educational Group Therapy Model for American Indian Women with Identity Issues” at the McNair Scholars National Conference.
Erasmus Circle Scholars
Undergraduate Students
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Dorothy Finley (left) and
Danielle Thu |
Senior Kimberlin Black is an elementary education major with an emphasis in math education. A student in the Honors College, her goal is to “be a great math teacher and make math fun for everyone!” Eric Ferguson is adept at multitasking. Not only does he work as a Realtor, he also is finishing his bachelor’s degree in physical education plus a master’s degree in history.
Although she has not yet received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Kelsey Haggerty already has years of experience. She received emergency substitute teaching certification and has worked as a teacher’s assistant, tutoring assistant, guest teacher, and an after-school program leader.
Sarah Hewlett is working toward a bachelor’s degree in deaf studies with an emphasis in educational sign language interpreting. Her background is varied: She’s the studio manager and volunteer coordinator with the Ben’s Bells Project and previously was a violin teacher.
Not only is Seth A. Hollings a full-time secondary education student in English, he’s also a married father of three children. He says, “I have chosen to become a teacher, not for the financial rewards, but to enrich my life and the life of my students.”
Junior Candiece Dozier King wants to teach third grade and would especially enjoy teaching in the underprivileged communities in Phoenix. She says, “My parents both taught in the Roosevelt School District, and I saw the impact they made on the lives of their students.” As a physical education major, Jason Andrew Linn is committed to teaching students the importance of a healthy lifestyle. He says, “I once had a physical education teacher who helped me through a rough time and made me what I am today. If I can have an impact in one child’s life, I will view myself as successful.”
Governor Janet Napolitano appointed secondary education senior David Martinez III to the Arizona Board of Regents as the Student Regent. Born and raised in Marana, he always knew he would attend the UA and never missed a chance to look for the exit sign during family trips down Interstate 10 to Tucson. He is the first in his family to go to college.
A member of the Honors College, Brianna Marie Maxwell is a senior in elementary education and a “frequent flier” on the Dean’s List. She wants to teach in a school where the students who are a free and reduced lunch make up at least 70 percent of the school population. She would like to pursue a master’s in school counseling to become a guidance counselor. Paul Moreno is a secondary education major in Spanish and a College of Education Student Ambassador. As an ambassador, he helps recruit students interested in becoming education majors. He already has quite a bit of experience under his belt and tutors undergraduate students in general education and Spanish at the UA SALT Center.
Senior Purvi Vijay Shah is both an elementary education major and a cross-categorical who wants to become a special education teacher for grades K-6. She’s been quite active throughout her time at the university and was president of the Future Teachers Club. As president, she raised the most money for the club since its inception, and the club was in the Homecoming parade for the first time.
Zayoni Nidia Torres is an elementary education junior who is no stranger to accolades. She’s the recipient of the Office of the Governor Gold Award, the Gold Award from Senator John McCain, the Girl Scout Gold Award, and the TRIO Outstanding Student Award. She wants to attend graduate school and says, “I am very motivated with many goals, and I plan on accomplishing each and every one.”
Elementary education senior Jaclyn M. Wickham is an Honors College student and the recipient of the UA President’s Award for Excellence and the William’s Institute for Ethics and Management Essay Award. As a volunteer with Child and Family Resources, she helped children with problem-solving skills and is now eager to make her imprint on the world of education.
