Elizabeth “Beth” Robinson was in the first Robinson Center Early Entrance Program class and is now the chief financial officer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Beth will visit the Seattle campus during HuskyFest to share her story with current students and alumni through her talk, “From College Student to Political Appointee.”
Award announcements and Week of Recognition to be celebrated later in the summer.
Kirsten Atik
Kay Balston
Cathy Beyer
Ray Carlsen
Jodene Davis
Janice DeCosmo
Ken Etzkorn
Jerry Gillmore
Miriam Goldstein
Jennifer Harris
Ran Hennes
Jason Johnson
Michaelann Jundt
Brook Kelly
Janet Kime
Beret Kischner
Joanna Loss
Nana Lowell
Sharon Minton
Ellen Mosolf
Dick Newcomb
Tracy Nyerges
Patrick Roberts
Dick Simkins
Christine Stickler
Julie Villegas
Pat Wrobel
Donald Zongker
Outstanding Achievement Award
David Aldrich/Brad Bell/Tim Batzel (IT Team)
Tim Batzel and Eric Barnum (team award)
Brad Bell
Jeanne Bayer
Alyson Boyd
Jason Boyd
Cynthia Caci
Robin Chang
Peg Cheng
Rod Davis
Thomas Dicken
Jennifer Dow
Wendy Durant
Meg Estep
Nichole Fazio
Michelle Hall
Laura Harrington
Nancy Hines
Roberta Hopkins
Carole Hsiao
Ryan Hursh
Michelle Hutchinson
Linda Kemnitzer
Beret Kischner
Francesca Lo
Ryan Luk
Mona Pitre-Collins
Terry Rustan
Jennifer Stock
Aley Willis
Team Award:
Mary Gates Endow. 10 Year Anniversary Team:
Kirsten Atik, Jodene Davis, Aly Vander Stoep
Outstanding Student Employee Award
Jen Ainslie
Rebecca Anderson
Venus Azimi
Siw Bay-Hensen
Devan Berkley
Katie Boyajian
Molly Boyajian
Michelle Burce
Amanda Burrows
Gavin Campbell
Jacob Caylor
Martha Chan
Jean Chau
Raquel Chavez
Brenda Coulson
Bayle Conrad
Tamara Cutler
Matt Dela Cruz
Claire Fraczek
Anne Grant
Rachel Hagen
Laura Harrington
Emily James
Alison Johnston
Maret Kane
Kelly May Kirkland
Mikki Kressbach
Laptop & Data Projector Loan Program Team
Jamie Lee
Joel Leshefka
Chelsea McPherson
Courtney Moran
Natelie Moretz
Marlee Mukai
Tuyen Nguyen
Elizabeth Perrigue
Matt Plotkin
POE Student Team
Sunaro Prom
Kristen Rudlang
Jill Salo & Dave Nutting
Jessica Salvador
Trey Schenold
Devon Smith
Mandy Strange
Dough Waugh
Janelle White
Byron Gray and Cameron Turtle, University of Washington seniors, are among 32 Rhodes Scholars named for 2012. The UW is the only public university in the nation with more than one new scholar. Gray and Turtle responded to a few questions we posed. Read the Q&A and a digest of media coverage of the scholarship announcements.
On Saturday, April 21, the University of Washington Dream Project will host its inaugural Dare to Dream fundraiser in the HuskyFest pavilion on Red Square. Through spoken word, music, dance and conversation, you’ll learn how the Dream Project teaches college students to help high school students get to and through college, and how you can transform the lives of students in our community.
Watch this two-minute video to learn more about this fun event–it’s an event you don’t want to miss!
UAA alumnus Peter Kithene gave the keynote address at the 2011 University of Washington donor gala, held in Suzzallo Library’s Graduate Reading Room. As an undergraduate, Peter started the Mama Maria health clinics to bring much-needed healthcare to his home village in rural Kenya as well as other rural places in Kenya.
The Robinson Center is a national leader for developing programs that serve highly capable young pre-college and college students. In 2011, the Robinson Center created an advisory board to support the mission of and promote the Center, suggest and discuss program development, and reach out to the campus, gifted, and broader communities. Meet the board members!
Each of us can point to a teacher who’s made a difference in our lives—someone who’s challenged us to live up to our potential, follow our dreams, discover our talents and how we can contribute to the world. This fall, we’re celebrating back-to-school with a focus on some UAA alumni who are now teachers. Maybe they’ll remind you of a teacher who’s inspired you.
Alumni e-News Table of ContentsTim says, “My students make me want to teach. Every day I walk into the classroom, and I know that I have some of the brightest minds in the country.”
Tim Harris (’10), an Honors alumnus and former student employee of First Year Programs, is currently a volunteer with Teach For America in Detroit at the Marvin L. Winans Academy of Performing Arts. After receiving encouragement from friends and family to participate in Teach For America, and not having a solid post-graduation plan, he enrolled in the program. However, he didn’t feel the inspiration to teach until he was actually in his teaching job, and connecting with students. “My students make me want to teach. Every day I walk into the classroom, and I know that I have some of the brightest minds in the country, but because of the lack of resources my students have had in the past, they haven’t been able to demonstrate their genius.”
Curiosity and commitment inspire Tim. “In my students, I call it the ’So what you’re saying’ moment. Whenever my students are able to respond to discussions, labs, or lessons with a ’So, what you’re saying is…’ and build a valid point, [it] gives me chills. Or, when students ask ‘why” or ’how’ and are relentless in getting an answer, I feel the urge to support them in answering these questions.” And what about when students get frustrated? “I am always re-inspired whenever a student says ‘I’m going to get this.’ Pushing through adversity is a challenge that is important to the success of students, and to see that in my classroom makes me proud.”
Tim’s number one influence is his dad. “I learned how to network from him, how to stay organized, and how to keep my car running. He never had a college education, yet he has incredible social intelligence. Despite the countless hours he puts in at work—he sacrifices a lot for his family—he always made sure that my siblings and I [were] supported, so that we could attend college.”
Pushing him to ask questions even when he thought he had the answer, Tim’s high school English teacher, Mrs. Martin, taught him the most in school. “So I guess all the Google searches and general quandaries I’ve had about the world are a result of her. I appreciated that she got me so energized that I had to take ownership of my own learning.”
Tim is teaching advanced placement chemistry to seniors this year, and was initially concerned that his students would be too intimidated to handle the high level of work. He was proven wrong. These students are “on a mission. [They] come to class and work immediately. Students’ frustrations turn into motivation to get the right answers. Students support one another; when one student dropped out of [advanced placement], the rest rallied to get her back to the class.”
In the classroom, Tim doesn’t have a motto—his students came up their own. “[They] came up with their own chant that they yell at the top of their lungs at the end of every day. It goes, ‘We’re smart, and we know it, and we ain’t afraid to show it, AP chemistry!’ For students to be so proud of their intelligence is remarkable.”
Since this is Tim’s second year as a Teach For America corps member, his commitment to the program will finish in spring 2012. “The current game plan is to be in medical school by the age of 30; so I have a six-year plan. That gives me six years to travel the world, pick up a new hobby, learn how to make the perfect guacamole, and make a positive impact on 10,000 lives. I’d like to see my juniors get into the college of their dreams; I’ll need one more year in the classroom to do that. But there are a few other opportunities I’m looking into right now, in education and elsewhere, but we’ll just have to wait to see.”
Angel Corral (‘10) is currently a first year teacher at a high school in Watts, South Los Angeles, California. She teaches biology and anatomy and physiology to 10th and 11th graders. She’s also in her last quarter of graduate school at UCLA, and will receive a master’s degree in urban education in December 2011.
Angel was always involved with youth, but didn’t consider it for a profession until she started working with preschoolers through Jumpstart. “It was there that I really was made aware about the inequities occurring in education today and became reflective of my own experiences in school.” It was at that point that she began taking classes in the UW College of Education and receiving a minor in education. She seriously pursued teaching under the mentorship of Ruby Linsao, a site manager of Jumpstart at the time, and Daniel Carrillo, associate site manager, and education minor adviser Jenee Myers-Twitchell. Their advice helped Angel develop a clear vision of how she wanted to make an impact on the world.
Angel finds inspiration from her colleagues; other first year teachers with whom she has created a support system to deal with challenges and victories in teaching. She’s also inspired by her high school students striving to graduate and go on to college in spite of institutional and historical roadblocks in their education as a result of their backgrounds. “I am inspired by theorists like Paolo Freire, bell hooks, and Gloria Anzaldua, all revolutionary thinkers who believe truly in empowering the people in dictating their own lives. I am inspired by my professors, both at UW and UCLA, who provided me the necessary knowledge to become a great teacher and instilled in me the goal ‘to know, care, and act’ about my students’ lives and education.”
Angel’s biggest influence has been Daren Chamberlin, the lead teacher she worked with at Denise Louie Education Center all through her Jumpstart tenure. By working with Teacher Daren, she learned the importance of having a positive, trusting, teacher-student relationship. “Teacher Daren, who himself is highly influenced by Paolo Freire, displays in his interactions with his students a value in their self-worth and presence in the classroom. In observing his teaching, even at 3, 4, and 5 years old, I see how much respect, care, and love he has for his students and their education. In return, I see the students’ love back for their teacher. I only hope to be as great as Teacher Daren and create the rapport with my students that he has with his.”
“I learned the most from teachers that showed the most interest in my future: my 7th grade teacher who pushed me and my family to apply for a scholarship that eventually helped me receive an amazing education at a prestigious private high school; my UW Exploration Seminar professors Ursula Valdez and Tim Billo, whom allowed me the opportunity to explore the natural world and find the importance of it in my life. Currently my students every day teach and push me to be a better teacher, far more than any class, seminar, or professor could do.”
Angel’s best moments at work are her Friday afternoons. “Working in Watts is definitely overwhelming and every day on the job is life changing, so I need to take the time on Fridays to critically reflect [on] the day-to-day experiences I am having. I have become proud of myself for putting in the time and effort that I do, despite the exhaustion and frustration that comes with the job.”
Angel’s classroom is a place she wants students to be comfortable, believing that while asking her students to be truthful with her, she wants to do the same by sharing herself and experiences with the students to relate and build positive relationships. “Above my desk in my classroom, I have a sign that says: “SPEAK YOUR TRUTH,” a phrase I constantly emphasize with my students. It is important for me for my students to be real with me and peers about their experiences and their opinions of life and science. Especially because in greater society, urban youth often do not have a voice or a space to say their opinions, it is important for me to provide them just that.”
Supanika “Sue” Ordonez (’08), an international studies major, thought she would enter the professional world of international relations, having grown up around the world with her father, a United States diplomat. That changed for Sue after she began volunteering through Jumpstart. “Once I started in the pre-school classroom, I knew that this was where I wanted to be. It amazed me how much progress these kids made within that year and it was a powerful feeling knowing that you helped that occur.”
Inspired by the preschool students she teaches at the Lummi Indian Headstart in Bellingham, Sue is conscious of the fact that many have difficult lives from the beginning, whether it’s because they were born to parents with substance abuse problems or are part of the foster care system, school is often the safe haven for these children. “My favorite students are always the ones that other teachers label as ‘difficult.’ Event when I’m not feeling well, I will make it to the classroom because you never know if you’re the one consistent adult in these children’s lives.”
Sue credits her close family friend, Kelly Hower, with really encouraging Sue to follow her dream of teaching, inspiring her to integrate personal life experiences into the classroom, and helping her realize that being a teacher doesn’t stop once the kids leave the classroom. “She keeps in touch with their families, has lunch with her former students, and checks in with them in their new classes. There really should be more cooperation between teachers and she provides such a great model for it.”
College of Education faculty member Gail Joseph influenced Sue’s teaching, emphasizing the development of social-emotional competence in children. “It’s hard to teach reading, writing, or math skills if a child cannot regulate their emotions,” said Sue. “I think many adults grow up without developing these skills and it makes it hard for them later in life. If children are able to get these skills this early, it will set them up to succeed as they will be able to work past failure, maintain positive relationships, and be able to solve problems.”
This past year was Sue’s first year having her own preschool classroom, and several children had very challenging behavior, including a little girl who screamed for everything. Sue’s best day at work came after spending the week working on emotions, showing the kids the different reactions for different occurrences. The little girl went into the bathroom and came out trembling. “I went into the bathroom and found a spider. I was able to remove it and she was able to go to the bathroom. Had it been a week earlier, she would have just stood there screaming and I wouldn’t have been able to help her. But through that lesson, I was able to help her classify her emotions and let me know what she was trying to say.”
Sue’s classroom motto is “What happened?” and over the years she’s found her teaching assistants and children following her lead. “Conflict is usually never as simple as ‘He hit me;’ there is usually a second side to the story and it’s important to let the children have time to be heard. Once you have heard both sides, you can summarize what happened and talk about things that they can do differently the next time. Having children in the classroom over 3 years is powerful because you can really see them take these lessons to heart when you see them start the process on their own.”
Curiosity and commitment inspire Tim. “In my students, I call it the ’So what you’re saying’ moment. Whenever my students are able to respond to discussions, labs, or lessons with a ’So, what you’re saying is…’ and build a valid point, [it] gives me chills. Or, when students ask ‘why” or ’how’ and are relentless in getting an answer, I feel the urge to support them in answering these questions.” And what about when students get frustrated? “I am always re-inspired whenever a student says ‘I’m going to get this.’ Pushing through adversity is a challenge that is important to the success of students, and to see that in my classroom makes me proud.”
Inspired by the preschool students she teaches at the Lummi Indian Headstart in Bellingham, Sue is conscious of the fact that many have difficult lives from the beginning, whether it’s because they were born to parents with substance abuse problems or are part of the foster care system, school is often the safe haven for these children. “My favorite students are always the ones that other teachers label as ‘difficult.’ Event when I’m not feeling well, I will make it to the classroom because you never know if you’re the one consistent adult in these children’s lives.”