Students and Alumni

Amy Bateman, a newly admitted student in our K-12 Teacher Leadership Program, has been awarded the 2012 Canyons School District teacher of the year award. Amy currently teaches at Eastmont Middle School.

See the Canyons School District article and video.

Matt Nelson was named the 2011-2012 Murray City School District Teacher of the Year. Matt received his Bachelor of Science Degree and teaching license in severe disabilities from the Department of Special Education in 2005, and is currently in the final year of his Masters Degree program with Administrative Licensure in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. Last fall, the Utah State Office of Education released a request for grant proposals of up to $50,000 for schools that could demonstrate the use of technology in innovative ways. Matt was team leader on a grant proposal from the Murray District that would create a video podcast library of effective teacher instruction and make it available on-line for parents to access and on iPods for students to preview/review at school. The district proposal was funded. Matt and his team are in the process of making teacher-specific videos available to the Parkside community in order to create trust and transparency regarding classroom instruction.

Keith W. Martin, Consul Honoraire of the Kingdom of Morocco in Utah, and College of Education alumnus (M.Ed. & Ph.D. Educational Administration) and Advancement Board member, hosted the Utah visit of H. E. Rachad Bouhlal, Ambassador to USA for the Kingdom of Morocco. While here, the Ambassador met with a wide variety of government, business, community and religious leaders, including Governor Gary Herbert.

Lori Kopasz, who completed her master's degree and teaching licensure program in Severe Disabilities in the Department of Special Education, and subsequently received the department's Alumnus of the Year Award, is the recipient of the Salt Lake City School District Special Education Teacher of the Year Award. Lori has continued to be closely involved with the U as an adjunct instructor and a cooperating teacher at Highland High.
Read the Salt Lake Tribune article on Lori’s award.

Senator Karen Morgan (B.S. Secondary Education) announced that she will not seek re-election to Utah Senate District 8 in November 2012, saying “It has been a great honor and privilege to serve the citizens of my community in the Utah Legislature for the past 14 years. I will deeply miss working with them, my colleagues, staff, advocates and many friends on Capitol Hill.” Senator Morgan has served on the College’s Advancement Board since 2011.

Congratulations to Nedra Hotchkins, a second year student in the master’s degree with an emphasis in student affairs! Nedra has been selected to serve as a NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) Graduate Associate. The Graduate Associates provide leadership and outreach to the campus regarding events, publications, and announcements. Primarily, the associate increases awareness and involvement within NASPA by providing updated information to their fellow graduate students and other parties interested in learning more about NASPA. Working collaboratively with other GAPs and the NASPA Office, GAPs become another communication conduit for NASPA offerings with a campus community. Nedra will also have the opportunity to serve on an unofficial graduate student council, providing another perspective for NASPA student membership. Finally, Associates have the opportunity to apply to be a NASPA Annual Conference Intern.