2008-2009 - Grand Valley State University

Graduate Teacher
Certification (GTC)
Grads Make Their Mark
Sally Triant
Sally Triant Honored as Outstanding Adult Learner
Above: Sally proudly displays a handful of
carrots, an end-of-season harvest from the
community garden she and her husband
started in downtown Grand Rapids.
Every year, one adult student from each of the 12 institutions
that belong to the Grand Rapids Area Higher Education
Network, (GRAHEN), is honored as an Outstanding Adult
Learner. These students exemplify the ability to successfully
juggle career, school, family and community responsibilities.
Faculties nominate students, who then submit an
application, an essay and two letters of recommendation.
Three judges select the winners based on their community
service, leadership, academic accomplishments, workplace
achievements and grade point average. The Outstanding
Adult Learners each receive a GRAHEN cash stipend and
are honored in April at a memorable awards ceremony
and reception.
Sally Triant was the GVSU College of Education winner.
“Throughout the years I have had numerous
opportunities to share my passion with my community
and I cherish the times I have spent planting gardens
with both children and adults. It was my activism
that propelled my desire to attain my own dream of
becoming a certified teacher.”
Student Awards
A Journey to the Classroom
Sally Triant’s journey to the science
classroom came from the ground up. A
1998 Michigan State University graduate
in the fine arts, she found work in the world
of food banks, where she encountered
children who had no idea where their
food came from. “The roots of my current
pursuit are literally grounded in the
gardens where I first learned to grow my
own food,” she says. “Subsequently, my
work with food banks and the public schools
brought to my attention the fact that
many children are unaware of the most
basic components of plant biology. It
became my passion to reunite children
and adults with the environment through
the element that impacts them the most,
the source of their daily nourishment.”
In 2006, Triant enrolled at GVSU to earn
a teachable major in integrated science.
“I chose this subject,” she says, “because
much of what I love about teaching children
about the outdoors comes from the
passion I feel to preserve and protect the
diminishing wild places in the world. I see
science as the link that makes the wonders
of our planet accessible to students.”
After completing a major in integrated
science, she enrolled in the COE Graduate
Teacher Education (GTC) program, an
intensive, one-year, full-time teacher
training program for adults who hold a
bachelor’s degree in a teachable major.
Triant received her teaching certificate
in April 2009 through the GTC program,
and is only five classes away from earning
her master’s degree in education.
Her community service resumé includes:
• Blandford Environmental Education
School (student teaching)
• Goodwillie Environmental School
(Forest Hills Public Schools)
• GVSU Community Garden Committee
• MSU Extension Master Gardener Program
• Sweetwater Local Foods Market
• Mixed Greens: Growing Kids Who
Grow Gardens
• The Food Depot: Northern New Mexico’s
Food Bank
Triant notes that she has enjoyed these
last years of schooling very much and that
this award “...is the icing on the cake.
I know I am doing the right thing.
I am very passionate about it.”
COE
Achievements
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