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. 

 

Creative Support Alternatives Celebrates 30 Years of Person-Centered Service

Mary Ellen Sousa (far left) and staff helped Chris (holding keys) become a homeowner in 2000.

By Michael Klitzing

It all started with one. Mary Ellen Sousa vividly remembers the first person Creative Support Alternatives ever served back in 1992 — a transition-age student with a developmental disability hoping to leave her group home and attend community college. Sousa and her colleagues successfully helped the young woman gain entry into the dorms at San Diego State University. 

 

This year, Creative Support Alternatives, which operates as part of SDSU’s Interwork Institute, is celebrating 30 years of providing supported living services and independent living services for people with developmental disabilities. Over the past three decades, the agency has supported about 150 individuals and expanded beyond San Diego County into Northern California’s Gold Country. 

Alumni Spotlight: Karina Wong is Driven to Serve Others at ‘Full Force’

By Michael Klitzing

To talk to Karina Wong (’15,’16, ’17) is to catch a glimpse of her boundless energy. Whether she’s discussing her career as a bilingual educator, her prodigious work in the community, or raising her two young children, the alumna of San Diego State University exudes seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm. 

 

One wonders how she finds enough hours in the day for it all. 

 

“I make time,” Wong explains. “This is my life's purpose. And if I'm living my life's purpose, I'm going full force.”