Leading Edge
Winthrop University Richard W. Riley College of Education
Shanghai Internship 2016
Students Lauren Caponigro (M.A.T. English) and Kathryn McCann (special education), accompanied by Dr. Mark Dewalt, completed their teacher internship this spring at Shanghai Far East School in China.
What made you apply for the China internship?
I applied for the China internship because I wanted an international teaching experience. I’ve had lots of opportunities while at Winthrop, but felt I could grow in working with students from diverse cultures. (McCann)
What do you hope to gain from the experience?
This trip is special because we went beyond observing the Chinese culture as tourists. We got to experience the give-and-take of working toward a goal with the students and staff of the Far East School. The opportunity to collaborate in educational efforts in a global context and is an experience that will be invaluable in my career as a teacher. (Caponigro)
Next year, Dewalt and his wife, Carolyn, a former elementary school principal and adjunct faculty at Winthrop, will be teaching as faculty at the Shanghai Far East School.
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Investing in the Future
Jade Nobles is a recipient of the prestigious Haggai Foundation scholarship. The scholarship helps non-traditonal students return to college to earn their degrees. Her inspirational remarks from the College of Education Scholarship Award Luncheon follow below.
As the first generation in my family to attend college, I considered attending college after high school as more of an option, than a requirement. My grandfather owned a successful car dealership, wrecker service and mechanic shop for more than 50 years on an eighth grade education. So growing up, the feeling was that you didn’t need a college education; you just need to be a hard worker. I knew I wanted to be a teacher but I didn’t have confidence I would be successful in college. Nobody in my family had been, so I didn’t know what the experience would be like. I was afraid of the challenge of college because it was so foreign to me. Instead, I worked at a hospice organization until 2009 when my husband and I moved to Charlotte, N.C., where I worked for the American Red Cross. I still knew I wanted to be a teacher, I just wasn’t sure I could handle going back to school.
One day a friend sent me a text message that read, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” After reading that message I realized it was time for me to learn what I was put on this earth to be: a teacher. I started Winthrop in fall 2012 and I was a nervous wreck, but the faculty and staff made me feel welcome and put my nerves at ease. They believed in me which, in turn, built my self-confidence to believe in myself. Pursuing my dream career with Winthrop by my side created a positive change in myself and my future.
To my fellow teacher candidates, I ask you to not look at a future challenge with fear but with the determination to create a more confident you because reaching that goal or overcoming that challenge will build self-confidence. And to the amazing scholarship donors, thank you. Thank you for providing me the chance to follow my dream of becoming a teacher. Because of your generosity, less fortunate people, like me, have the opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others, just like the difference you have made on mine.
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Partnership Network School Receives Award
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Sport Management Alumni Work at Super Bowl 50
Super Bowl 50 was especially super for five Winthrop graduates of Winthrop's Sport Management program. Ryan Petrus (B.S., 2006), Tyree White (B.S., 2008), Bonnie Almond (B.S., 2010), Tim DeVos (B.S., 2015) and Brian Pille (M.A., 2015) all joined the Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara, C.A. for Super Bowl 50. They prepared for more than 600 Panther employees and their family members to travel to Santa Clara for the game. Whether during the regular season or for the Super Bowl, students relied on skills gained in Winthrop’s sport management program. DeVos stated, “By providing a wide array of experiences and a vast amount of information about the sport industry, Winthrop’s sport management program fully prepared me for my role with the Panther’s organization.”
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Richard W. Riley College of Education
Website: http://www.winthrop.edu/coe/default.aspx
Location: 106 Withers/W.T.S. Building, Rock Hill, SC 29733
Phone: 803.323.2151
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinthropCOE/