Whitworth University School of Education

Dean's Message

Our mission is to “prepare educators of mind and heart who are scholars, community members, effective practitioners, visionary leaders, and guardians.” That mission is carried out through programs to prepare teachers, counselors and administrators to work in schools and agencies locally and around the world. All of our programs for the preparation of school personnel are approved by the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

There are a lot of exciting things going on in the School of Education this year. We welcomed several new faculty members, including Professor Kaye Kamp, Instructor of Education and Director of Student Teaching; Dr. Corey McKenna, Associate Professor of Education and Chair of the Evening Teacher Certification Program; Dr. Flint Simonson, Associate Professor of Education and coordinator of our special education program. We also have some new staff members in the school: Sarah Kelly, Program Assistant in Graduate Studies; and Sharon Page, Program Coordinator in the Center for Gifted Education and Professional Development. Dr. Keith Lambert and Ms. Megan Cozza are new lecturers in the School of Education.

Last year we received a wonderful gift of $3 million from James and Wanda Cowles to fund the Margo Long Chair in Gifted Education, honoring a longtime faculty member and founder of the Center For Gifted Education. We will be conducting a search for that position this year to start fall 2013.
We are also providing more online options in our programs, including an endorsement in English Language Learners (ELL) and a specialty endorsement in Gifted Education. You can also complete a full master’s degree in these areas on-line.

There is a new link from our page to the Verbrugge Environmental Center, located in the Scotia Valley about 35 miles north of campus. The School of Education is involved in the planning and use of that property, and we have already used it for teaching Elementary Science Methods. A new minor in environmental studies will be submitted for approval this year, and, connected to that minor, will be our request for approval of a specialty endorsement in Environmental/Sustainability Education. We hope to see many outdoor education activities on the VEC in coming years.

The Whitworth University School of Education is characterized by several distinctive qualities that are guided by our conceptual framework, and we will continue to emphasize those qualities this year. Our graduates are well prepared and take seriously Whitworth's mission to provide "an education of mind and heart."

For more information about the Whitworth School of Education, please browse through our web pages at www.whitworth.edu/soe or contact us by e-mail at soe@whitworth.edu.

Dennis W. Sterner, EdD.
Dean of the Whitworth School of Education