Frank Harris III Reflects on Faculty Honor, Sets Sights on Interim DEI Post

By Michael Klitzing

As the new school year approaches, Frank Harris III is about to take center stage in the College of Education. 

 

First, he’s set to be honored on a literal stage during All-University Convocation as the College of Education’s recipient of the Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions. It’s a prospect that Harris admits is somewhat anxiety-inducing. 

SDSU Ready to Assist as California Takes Transitional Kindergarten Plunge

CFD master's student Flor Burciaga at the SDSU Children's Center. (August 2019 photo)

By Michael Klitzing

As the new school year approaches, a major change is coming to elementary education in California: public schools are about to get younger.
 

This fall, schools will open transitional kindergarten (TK) programs serving children who just missed the kindergarten cutoff, turning 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 5. It’s California’s first baby step toward a goal of universal TK for all 4-year-olds — an ambitious vision that foresees enrolling more than 300,000 children and hiring tens of thousands of newly qualified teachers by 2025-26. 

 
San Diego State University’s College of Education is eager to help the state meet massive, looming workforce needs — and do so in a way that puts teachers in TK classrooms who understand the unique developmental needs of their youngest pupils. 

Katherine Sciurba Brings Academic Magic to Comic-Con Harry Potter Fandom Panel

Katherine Sciurba and Naim Martin

By Michael Klitzing

Katherine Sciurba remembers feeling butterflies as devoted denizens of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin filed in by the hundreds. Seats disappeared quickly and soon the standing-room spaces began to vanish, too. 

 

An academic conference this most certainly was not. 

 

It was during last fall’s scaled-down special edition of Comic-Con International that Sciurba — an associate professor of literacy education at San Diego State University and director of the SDSU Literacy Center — first nervously graced the long-running Harry Potter Fandom panel.
 

Doc Students, Alumni Receive Fellowship to Prepare Future Cal State Faculty

Clockwise from top left: Horg-Aaron, Nealon, Paredes and Garcia. 

By Michael Klitzing

Two current students and two recent alumni from the San Diego State University College of Education are recipients of a prestigious California State University (CSU) fellowship that will further their dreams of pursuing careers in academia. 

Denise Villarrial Nealon and Griselda Paredes, students in the Joint Ph.D. Program in Education with Claremont Graduate University, and Fernando Garcia (’17) and Cassandra Horg-Aaron (’20), alumni of the Postsecondary Educational Leadership: Specialization in Student Affairs (PELSA) master’s program, were accepted into the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) for 2022-23. They were among seven SDSU-affiliated fellows among the cohort’s 67 members. 

Student Spotlight: Lily Hopkins, Builder of Safe Spaces

By Aaron Burgin

“Safe space” is not merely a buzzword for San Diego State University graduate student Lily Hopkins, who’s spent the better part of the past seven years creating them.
 
Hopkins, a student in the College of Education's online-hybrid counseling master's program, worked last year in The Pride Center’s Pride House peer mentorship program and will return in the fall as the graduate assistant supervising and training all of the Pride House mentors. 

 

Alumna Julianna Barnes Chosen to Lead South OC Community College District

By Michael Klitzing

Julianna Barnes (’91, ’10), an alumna of San Diego State University’s Community-Based Block and Ed.D. in Community College Leadership (CCLEAD) programs, has been selected as chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District.   

The president of Cuyamaca College in El Cajon since 2015, Barnes will begin her new role in August. The South Orange County Community College District, which encompasses Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College, serves nearly 50,000 students per year. 

 

COE's Statement on the Tragic School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas

A message to the SDSU College of Education community from Dean Y. Barry Chung:

As people who devote our lives to education, the horror we witnessed yesterday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is hard to process. We mourn for the 19 children and two teachers killed in this act of senseless violence. Our hearts go out to the surviving students, school professionals, and families forever changed by this tragedy. 

Alumna Ashanti Hands Named President of San Diego Mesa College

By Michael Klitzing

A two-time graduate of San Diego State University will now lead San Diego’s largest community college. Ashanti Hands (’94, ’14), an alumna of the Community-Based Block (CBB) master’s program and Ed.D. in Community College Leadership (CCLEAD) has been appointed president of San Diego Mesa College. 

 

Part of the San Diego Community College District, Mesa has an enrollment of more than 30,000 students per year. Hands has been at the college since 2008, serving as vice president of student services since 2016. In announcing the hire, the school praised her adoption of data-informed decision making to ensure equitable outcomes. 

Ed Leadership Doctoral Alumni Honored With SDCOE’s Lighthouse Awards

From left, Amy Illingworth ('15) and Cynthia Larkin (’13)

By COE News Team 

 

San Diego State University alumni Amy Illingworth ('15) and Cynthia Larkin (’13) were honored as “beacons in the education community” at the San Diego County Office of Education's (SDCOE) annual Lighthouse Awards. 

 

Illingworth, assistant superintendent of educational services at Encinitas Union School District, earned the Equity Champion award. Larkin, principal at San Diego’s Morse High School, earned the Turnaround School Site Leader award. Both are graduates of SDSU’s Educational Leadership (PK-12) Ed.D. program. 

Meet COE's Outstanding Graduates from the Class of 2022

By COE News Team

Get to know the nine San Diego State University College of Education students who earned the title of Outstanding Graduate from the Class of 2022, as selected by their department, school or program.

Pair of Alumni Named Teachers of the Year by San Diego Unified

Andrea Loyko and Josh Rosenberg

By Michael Klitzing

Two San Diego State University School of Teacher Education alumni received San Diego Unified School District’s 2022 Teacher of the Year honor. Andrea Loyko (’04, ’19) and Josh Rosenberg (’06) were among the three recipients of the award, which was fittingly presented to them in a ceremony on May 3 — National Teacher Appreciation Day. 

 

COE DIFFERENCE MAKERS: A Proud ‘Science Nerd’ Molds STEM Teachers

By Michael Klitzing

When Donna Ross left her job as a classroom teacher in her native Oregon to enter the biology master’s program at San Diego State University, her intent was to transition from teacher to scientist. But being out in the field studying epibenthic algal mats — think the layer of slime on top of the mud in an estuary — gives one time to ponder one’s path. 

 

“I’d be out in thigh-high mud collecting data and I’d find myself thinking about how I would teach the information I was finding through the data I was collecting,” Ross recalls. “So I decided that while I loved biology, my heart was in teaching.” 

 

Schenkel Seeks to Build Meaningful Connections Between Kids and Science

By Michael Klitzing

Kathleen Schenkel has a busy summer in store. She’ll soon be devising coastal climate learning kits that will be distributed to children across North America. Likely contents include craft supplies and polaroid cameras. 

 

If that doesn’t fit with a traditional understanding of how kids learn science, that’s by design. 

 

Schenkel, an assistant professor in San Diego State University’s School of Teacher Education, is co-leading a bi-national research project to explore innovative ways kids can build meaningful connections with their environments. 

Three COE Faculty Research Projects Awarded Post-Doctoral Support

By COE News Team

Three San Diego State University College of Education faculty research projects have been awarded funding for post-doctoral fellowships through the Division of Research and Innovation’s Support for Postdoctoral Fellowships Program. The program supports efforts that will have significant long-term impacts on the research, scholarship and creative activities at SDSU. 

 
Post-doctoral scholars will be hired to support two projects focused on autism research and another aiming to increase representation among Latinx students in STEM education. Here is a rundown of the awardees: 

ARPE’s Lisa Gates Receives Flurry of Campus Awards

Lisa Gates with her husband, John Gates.

By Michael Klitzing

For Lisa Gates, it was a whirlwind week and a half. 

 

Over the span of 10 days, the director and advisor of San Diego State University’s leadership minor received not one, not two, but three campus awards. Gates was honored by Associated Students (A.S.), the Transfer Student Success Office, and the School of Communication.