Fall 2008 - Wheelock College

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ON CAMPUS Summer Conferences & Institutes Is it possible that summer’s less pressured tempo influences creative thinking and synapse connectivity? Both were very much in evidence among those who attended conferences and institutes held on campus last summer. Wheelock’s summer programs offered another strong selection of educational opportunities for educators, child life professionals, and students alike. Conferences, graduate courses, and professional development classes blending theory and practice generated an abundant sharing of ideas that no doubt are being applied this fall in elementary school classrooms and on campuses in the U.S. and internationally. For Credit, PDPs, Continuing Education Points, or Audit Last summer, Wheelock faculty offered a great selection of institutes that could be taken for graduate credits, professional development points (PDPs), and continuing education points, or simply audited: Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence, & Commercial Culture on Adults, Children, & Society; Supporting Children’s Emotional Development in Schools and Communities; Children’s Racial and Cultural Identities; Multicultural Children’s Literature; Boys: More at Risk Than We Think?; Fathers: Their Impact on the Lives of Children; and Language and Literacy: Teaching Literacy to English Language Learners. Keep Wheelock’s Summer Institutes and conferences in mind for next summer when planning on adding PDPs. In addition to the May 22 conference, Annual Community Dialogue on Early Education and Care: New Initiatives, New Realities, a noncredit summer conference on June 5 and 6, Environmental Education for Children: Going Beyond the Hype, also offered PDPs. Building Leadership and Management in the Social Sector Wheelock Hosts Invitational Seminar As the nonprofit sector continues to grow and develop, there is a continual need for senior leadership and management who have the skills needed to provide innovative direction for organizations so that they can better fulfill their missions. In June, Wheelock hosted an Invitational Focus Seminar designed for rising senior leadership and tailored to meet both their professional development needs and the needs of their organizations. The seminar goal was to help prepare the rising leaders to be entrepreneurs and founders of future nonprofits. The participants concentrated on gaining leadership insight and skills through case studies, interactive problem solving, and discussion, and they worked with current nonprofit presidents, CEOs, and COOs who had turned their ideas into major regional and national programs. These were Jeffrey L. Bradach, co-founder and managing partner of The Bridgespan Group; James Weinberg, founder and CEO of Commongood Careers; Alan Khazei, co-founder and former CEO of City Year Inc. and founder and CEO of Be the Change Inc.; David S. Ford, executive director of the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation; Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO of Year Up; Kim Syman, managing partner and director of the Action Tank unit of New Profit Inc.; Rob Waldron, vice president of Berkshire Partners and president and COO of Waterworks; and President Jackie Jenkins-Scott. Environmental Education for Children Last June, a Wheelock conference on environmental science for children in early childhood and elementary classrooms emphasized how critical a foundation of science literacy is to the future generations who will care for our planet. Conference speakers and workshop leaders supported immediate conservation efforts such as recycling and protecting endangered species, but the real focus was on basic science concepts children can explore and experiences educators can provide to begin to build a foundation of understanding in children that they will need for future decision-making when they are adults. Former astronaut Jeff Hoffman, a five-flight veteran, who is now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a highlight of the conference, explaining how the U.S. and other nations study our home planet from great distances and showing some of the amazing discoveries made by viewing Earth from outer space. At the opposite end of the spectrum, an interactive panel of educators and environmentalists discussed down-to-earth learning opportunities (and challenges) available to students right in their own school neighborhoods. The panel consisted of Meg Watson, elementary professional development specialist and science program manager for the Boston Public Schools; Gloria Villegas-Cardoza, director of education at the Massachusetts Audubon Society; Ross Wilson, principal of the Dennis C. Haley Elementary School in Boston; and Kirk Meyer, founding executive director of the Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative. Thanks to the Applera Corporation for sponsoring the event, with additional support from the Wheelock College Math/Science Education Initiative, the Colleges of the Fenway Environmental Science Program, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. And extra thanks to Cathy Clemens, Wheelock’s Math/Science Education Center manager, for organizing such an informative conference. 4 Fall 2008
ON CAMPUS International Froebel Society Chooses Wheelock for Its First Conference in the U.S. Friedrich Froebel changed the way we think about early childhood education by demonstrating the central role that play has in learning. In 1840, Froebel created the word kindergarten for the Play and Activity Institute he had founded three years earlier at Bad Blankenburg, Germany. There, he designed educational materials (now known around the world as Froebel Gifts or Gaben), which included wooden geometric building blocks, balls, tiles, sticks, and rings, and demonstrated that children learn by playing. “After many disappointments in spreading the idea of kindergartens in Germany, Froebel looked to the U.S., where there was both a growing demand for early childhood care and increasing numbers of social workers and teachers,” says Dr. Suzanne Pasch, director of Wheelock’s Center for Scholarship and Research. “When introduced to the public education system in Boston, the idea of kindergartens began to spread, and the U.S. became the base for the kindergarten movement worldwide.” Suzanne Pasch, director of Wheelock’s Center for Scholarship and Research, and Kevin J. Brehony, chair of the International Froebel Society Conference Organizing and Review Committees and professor at Froebel College, Roehampton University, London Lucy Wheelock was asked to train Boston’s first kindergarten teachers, and her classes were the early building blocks of what evolved into Wheelock College. The strong connections of Miss Wheelock to Froebel, the intersections of their work with young children and those who educate them, and the existence of a wealth of source materials (including a journal of Miss Wheelock’s “pilgrimage” to Germany in 1908 and many Froebel Gifts) in the Wheelock Library archives are among the reasons why the College was chosen by the International Froebel Society for its first conference in the U.S. A mix of scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students from four continents, each of whom is engaged in work emanating from Froebel’s contributions to early childhood education, gathered at Wheelock to discuss contemporary international perspectives on play and learning. Dr. Pasch was an organizer of the conference and a presenter; Wheelock faculty members Dr. Emily Cahan and Dr. Eleonora Villegas-Reimers participated as presenters; and Dr. Diane Levin ’69MS was a keynote speaker. Honoring Dr. Ed Klugman, Faculty Emeritus On the final day of the conference, attendees honored Dr. Ed Klugman, faculty emeritus, for his contributions as a “gifted educator and timeless advocate for all children’s right to a world rich in play.” He was presented with a stone sculpture by the Shona in Zimbabwe which was inscribed, “You never stand so tall as when you bend down to help a child.” The next week, Ed sent a letter expressing his appreciation, which read in part: “With my thanks and deepest respect to all of you for continuing to carry on the Lucy Wheelock tradition with sensitivity, caring, and sharing that which is most important, the human and humane connection. I admire all of you for your courage and persistence in continuing to create a future unlike the past. Wishing all of you continued success in improving the quality of lives of children, families, and the future.” “You never stand so tall as when you bend down to help a child.” Third Annual Dialogue on Early Education and Care Coalition Building to Improve Services for Our Youngest and Most Vulnerable Children Wheelock’s annual dialogues on early education and care began in 2006 when the College hosted field professionals, community leaders, policymakers, and advocates to review the impact of the Early Education for All legislation passed in 2005. Building on the success of the first conference, Wheelock hosted the Second Annual Dialogue on Early Education and Care, which focused on the important issue of investing in a diverse workforce, in 2007. “The enactment of the Early Education for All legislation was an important first step toward improving the lives of children and families throughout the Commonwealth, and in three years much progress has “. . . shifting realities of leadership change, resource limitations, and policy implementation are posing new challenges.” — President Jenkins-Scott been made,” President Jenkins-Scott said in welcoming those attending the Third Annual Dialogue, held at Wheelock last May. “At the same time, shifting realities of leadership change, resource limitations, and policy implementation are posing new challenges.” This year’s Dialogue presentations, panel discussions, and facilitated sessions helped to frame current initiatives and realities in early education and to develop strategies for coalition building and moving forward as a unified field. Leaders at the event included Wheelock Professor of Education David Fernie; Dean of Education and Child Life Eleonora Villegas-Reimers, and Senior Director of Government Affairs and Civic Engagement Marta Rosa. Wheelock Magazine 5
Page 1 and 2: Fall 2008 magazine 2007-2008 ANNUAL
Page 3 and 4: Fall 2008 Editor Christine Dall Pro
Page 5: Teacher Bound A Summer Success Last
Page 9 and 10: ON CAMPUS a plan for improving the
Page 11 and 12: National Hispanic Heritage Month (S
Page 13 and 14: STUDENTS & FACULTY The Weight of Li
Page 15 and 16: ALUMNI Congratulations to Julia Mac
Page 17 and 18: ALUMNI Reunion 2009 Would you belie
Page 19 and 20: 2007-2008 A NNUAL R EPORT OF G IVIN
Page 21 and 22: W H E E L O C K C O L L E G E A N N
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Page 41 and 42: MARIANNE O’GRADY ’94MS “I jus
Page 43 and 44: This Wheelock Magazine includes Cla
Page 45 and 46: CLASS NOTES Front row (seated) L-R
Page 47 and 48: CLASS NOTES Wheelock Loses a Dedica
Page 49 and 50: CLASS NOTES Noel Stoodley Gray ’6
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Page 53 and 54: CLASS NOTES fall asleep when others
Page 55 and 56: CLASS NOTES Sarah Rice Patt ’91 c
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CLASS NOTES 2000 Sara McGarry Stacy
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Giving Back to the Sally Clark Sloo
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Fall 2008 - Wheelock College

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