Lauren Macey (2nd from the right), a 2013 graduate from the MIT Program, was selected as the Teacher of the Year at Syringa Middle School in the Caldwell school district in Caldwell, Idaho.
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Chuck Salina, associate professor in Education, and collaborators worked with Sunnyside High School to turn around graduation rates from under 50 percent to nearly 90 percent in just a few years.
From powerless
to powerful
Chuck Salina still gets a little choked up when he thinks about the power of positive relationships and their potential to raise our society to new heights.
In a partnership between Gonzaga, the federal government and the state of Washington, Salina was loaned to the Sunnyside School District as a researcher and then as principal of Sunnyside High School from 2010-12. When he began, the graduation rate was 49 percent in this low-income community. Now, little more than three years later, the Sunnyside graduation rate has reached nearly 90 percent, which leads the Yakima Valley, and continues to grow.
Salina says what he brought to the district was a belief system founded upon his Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic foundation. Three things helped turn this program around: 1. the power of positive relationships and the trust they build, 2. the use of data to support positive change rather than as punishment, and 3. the creation of systems that support teachers in their work.
“Too often the blame for lack of success falls upon the teachers,” Salina says. “That’s backwards. We need to look at responsibilities differently, and focus on improving systems that better support teachers in their work. Thus, their work becomes more intentional.”
When Salina left Sunnyside High after two years, he noticed a new swagger and a sense of hope. “The students, teachers and administrators had a ‘Together We Will!’ attitude. The support they received made them feel powerful to make a difference,” Salina says.
“Students say, ‘The teachers care about us now.’ Of course, the teachers always cared about the students, but it’s more apparent now due to intentional supports given at all levels of the team approach,” says Suzann Girtz, GU associate professor. Her research allowed Gonzaga to share lessons learned with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office to scale this work on the state and national levels. Salina, Girtz and then-Assistant Professor Joanie Eppinga wrote one book on the turn around, “Powerless to Powerful,” and a second book is in the works.
Meanwhile, the same Sunnyside leadership team is in place. Salina’s assistant principal Ryan Maxwell is now the principal, who, by the way, was just named Washington state’s Principal of the Year. “The staff wouldn’t let the district hire from outside and mess up what we had begun,” Salina says.
Salina also passed on kudos to AVP Patricia Killen, former Education Dean Jon Sunderland and Dean Vincent Alfonso for their support of the program.
On Tuesday May 10th a group of Gonzaga University sport management students will travel to Vancouver, WA to present a sport marketing plan to the Mountain View High School (MVHS) athletic department. Dr. Jimmy Smith, Assistant Professor of Sport Management in the School of Education, selected six students from his sport marketing course to present their strategic plan to several MVHS athletic administrators, the principal, students, sponsors and local media. “This is a tremendous opportunity for these students to apply the knowledge gained from their sport marketing course to a real-world scenario” said Dr. Smith. MVHS athletic officials contacted Dr. Smith this past December for assistance in marketing and re-branding their athletic department. Presenting their sport marketing plan are seniors Terry Milner, Jen Porras and Ben Reece as well as juniors Amanda Hardt, Emilie Laakso and Patrick O’Rourke. For more information about this project or information about the Sport and Physical Education program at Gonzaga University, please contact Dr. Jimmy Smith at 509-313-3483 or smithj1@gonzaga.edu.
ZAMBIA
Charles Lwanga College of Education (CLCE) is a Jesuit institution and one of few teacher education programs in Zambia. Gonzaga University collaborated with CLCE, as it began transitioning from a two-year to a four-year bachelor’s-granting institution, which would require instructors to have a master’s degree. The School of Education developed a M.Ed. in Leadership and Administration program that began in January 2013, and in December 2014, the 25 instructors received their master’s degrees from Gonzaga University in a ceremony in Monze, Zambia. Dr. Vincent C. Alfonso, Dean; Dr. Joseph Kinsella, Asst. Academic Vice-President for Global Engagement; Dr. Raymond Reyes, Chief Diversity Officer; and Dr. Jon Sunderland, former SOE Dean, represented the University and have been involved with various stages of this program.
Take a look at this video that Joseph Kinsella put together of their trip to Zambia!
Brandy Rippon, an English major from Marcus, Washington, with minors in political science and women’s and gender studies, will receive the William A. Garrigan, S.J., Award as the undergraduate who has achieved the highest cumulative grade-point average.
Gonzaga’s undergraduate commencement ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m., Sunday, May 8 in the Spokane Arena. The ceremony is among Gonzaga’s three 123rd commencement exercises May 6-8.
Next year, she plans to pursue a master’s in teaching degree. Since coming to Gonzaga, Rippon has realized her passion for helping others. In addition to working at the Writing Center, Rippon has contributed her time at Second Harvest food bank, and has been involved in a number of mentoring programs through the Center for Community Action and Service-Learning.
Also, she served as an editor for The Fringe, Gonzaga’s gender and sexuality focused literary and art magazine.
“Gonzaga has helped me be more aware of social justice issues,” Rippon said. “I’ve met a lot of people here who are super passionate about so many things that it’s made me want to be more passionate about things in my life.”
She hopes to become a teacher who has a positive influence on her students.
Bianca Pagdanganan Leads Regional after Round One
BRYAN, Texas–After a tremendous showing during Thursday’s opening round, freshman Bianca Pagdanganan of the Gonzaga women’s golf team leads the NCAA Regional in Bryan, Texas by a stroke.
Pagdanganan fired a 5-under-par 67 during the first round, tied for the third-lowest round in program history. She caught fire early in her loop of Traditions Golf Club, carding five birdies in the first eight holes, including three in a row on Nos. 6, 7, and 8. After parring holes Nos. 9 and 10, she added another birdie on the par-3 11th to reach six-under for the round. A bogey on the par-4 13th was her only blemish on the day as she parred her final five holes to for her lowest round as a Bulldog.
“Just a fantastic round in every aspect,” said Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel. “She hit her spots in the fairway and played smart off the tee as well. She had great distance control into the greens and just kept giving herself good looks at birdie, in addition to a couple of great sand saves as well. Bianca had some good speed on the greens and made some good mid-range putts.”
Ranked No. 83 in the nation by GolfStat, Pagdanganan holes a one-stroke lead on Miami’s Daniela Darquea, who’s in second at 4-under-par 68. Four players are two strokes shy of the freshman in a tie for third at 3-under 69.
A Quezon City, Philippines native, Pagdanganan is now the fourth Zag all-time to shoot 67 or better. While the 5-under 67 is tied for the third-lowest score in program history, it’s just one off the program record of score in relation to par, which junior Ciera Min set at six under to win the WCC Championships in April.
At the end of the three-round tournament, the top six teams and top three individuals not on an advancing team will receive berths to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., later this month. Georgia and Arizona currently lead the team standings while the top three individuals would come from the top three spots on the player leaderboard.
“We’re really happy for this kind of start. We will just need to stay focused tomorrow and continue to play smart and have fun,” said Rickel.
Pagdanganan will continue her quest for an NCAA Championships berth on Friday, May 6, during the Regional’s second round. That will begin at 6:50 a.m. Pacific (8:50 Central), again off the Traditions Golf Club’s first tee.
The 2nd Annual School of Education Assessment Conference took place on April 14-15 in Cataldo Hall. The keynote speaker and Alan S. Kaufman Excellence in Assessment Award winner was Dr. Patti Harrison who spoke about best practices in adaptive behavior assessment. Other speakers at the conference included Drs. Randy Floyd, George DuPaul, and Ilene Schwartz. More than 100 people attended each day of the conference and feedback has been highly positive. Plans are being made for the 3rd Annual Assessment Conference!
Here are some photos from the Conference:
Posted on April 4, 2016 in: Academics, Feature Stories, Leadership, School of Education, Spotlight, Students
Colorado Native Has Faced Her Own Learning Challenges
SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga University sophomore Madison Rose, a special education major from Centennial, Colorado, has been selected as a Campus Compact 2016 Newman Civic Fellow. Rose is among 218 student leaders from colleges and universities in 36 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico honored this year by Campus Compact.
Rose is a student coordinator for the Eye to Eye mentoring program, a national initiative that creates awareness about learning differences and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD. She worked with fellow Gonzaga students to host a Share Your Story event on campus March 15. Rose facilitated the event in which four Gonzaga students shared their personal stories of dealing with a learning disability. Gonzaga special education Professor Mark Derby and Thomas Beck, co-founder of the Winston Center in Spokane for the treatment of ADHD and dyslexia, also spoke.
I hosted, weaving my own story through the transitions,” said Rose, who shared her struggle with learning disabilities. “It was an honor to facilitate and help others share. It went so well we are going to make it an annual event. I hope to leave it as my legacy at GU, and to continue to raise awareness and make change in the education field.”
As a student at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado, Rose presented a TedxYouth talk describing her challenges with learning disabilities.
Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellows Award award honors the late Frank Newman, a Campus Compact founder and a tireless advocate for the civic engagement of higher education. The award recognizes undergraduate and graduate students who have taken action in pursuit of long-term social change and who engage and inspire others in their communities.
“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to celebrate such an extraordinary group of students,” said Campus Compact President Andrew Seligsohn. “We are seeing a resurgence in student interest in acting to create lasting social change, and this year’s Newman Civic Fellows exemplify that commitment.”
Rose and the other students selected as fellows will receive an award certificate and an invitation to join the Newman Civic Fellows online network. They will also be featured prominently on the Campus Compact national website and invited to participate in state-specific activities.
Campus Compact is a Boston-based nonprofit coalition of nearly 1,100 college and university presidents – representing some 6 million students – who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education.
For more information, visit www.compact.org.
Posted: Mar 11, 2016 6:17 PM PST / Updated: Mar 11, 2016 6:21 PM PST…. by Patrick Erickson, KHQ Reporter
Spokane, Washington – Friday night at the Ice Palace in Riverfront Park can only mean one thing for one special group of kids: Hockey.
One of the kids you’ll find on the ice proudly wearing her Bulldogs jersey is 9-year-old Johanna. She’s a part of the Gonzaga Exceptional Hockey Program that pairs special needs kids with volunteers sharing lessons they can use both on and off the ice…..
Read the full story and watch the video here: Gonzaga Hockey Program teaches kids lessons on and off the ice