Revival - College of Education - University of Florida

philanthropyKRISTEN BARTLETT GRACE/UF PhotographyKathy Shewey embraces her father-in-law Fred Shewey, who, with his wife Christine (now deceased),made a $600,000 donation to the UF’s College of Education as a tribute to Kathy’s long career as amiddle school education teacher and leader.College welcomes newdevelopment officerIf Nekita Robinson hada million dollars to giveaway, she says, she’d give itto the College of Education.She doesn’t have thatmillion, but her job is thenext best thing.“I guess I’m a goodSamaritan at heart,” saidRobinsonRobinson, the college’s newassociate director of development. “It makes mehappy to give people a chance to do somethinggood with their money.”Robinson assumed her new title in November2007, but she is no stranger to Norman Hall.When COE launched its $20 million FloridaTomorrow Capital Campaign, Robinson—thenan up-and-coming trainee at the University ofFlorida Foundation—was asked to come to helplaunch the campaign.A North Carolina native, Robinson earnedher bachelor’s degree in English from East CarolinaUniversity. She came to Gainesville in 2003to work at UF’s Levin College of Law.Couple makes donationas tribute to daughter-in-lawMiddle-school reformefforts at UF receive$600,000 boostInthe 1960s, UF education researchershelped pioneer the middle school movement,recommending that educators handle achild’s critical formative years in a transitionalsetting, rather than in the regimented, departmentalizedjunior-senior high school system.Now, thanks to a $600,000 donation by Fredand Christine Shewey of Gainesville, the Collegeof Education is creating an endowment to supportnew research and programs aimed at middleschool reform and enhancement. The gift iseligible to receive matching state funds that couldraise its total value to $1 million.Fred Shewey said their donation was made as a tribute to their daughterin-law,Kathy Shewey, a longtime Alachua County educator who is married totheir son, Robert. Christine Shewey, the family matriarch, died in October atage 88, while the couple’s gift was being finalized, but the endowment creatingthe Shewey Excellence in Middle School Education Fund has been establishedin both of their names.“Christine and I wanted to do something special for middle school teachersand students,” said Fred Shewey, 91, who owned several construction and coalcompanies in his West Virginia home state before retiring to Gainesville. “Wewatched Kathy work hard for so many years with middle school teachers andthis age group. We wanted to do something to support her efforts.”“Middle school teachers must work with young adolescents at a very precarioustime in the students’ lives,” said Nancy Dana, director of the college’sCenter for School Improvement, who will steer the activities supported by theShewey fund. “Research and professional development programs generated bythis endowment will support middle-grades teachers in their quest to continuallyimprove their instruction and understand the unique issues facing youngadolescents.” Dana heads an advisory group that will plan and oversee theShewey Fund programs. The group also includes: Kathy Shewey, who is supervisorof staff development for Alachua County public schools; and Paul George,a UF distinguished professor emeritus in education who has been identified byMiddle School Journal as the nation’s “No. 1 ranking scholar” in middle gradeseducation.George recently headed a panel of Florida educators that produced an assessmentof critical issues for middle school reform in Florida. “Many middleschools are no longer serving their original function,” said George. “Manyschools are too large and too focused on standardized testing to meet the specialdevelopmental needs of adolescents. We will look at ways to improve instructionthat is appropriate for students in their early teens.”— Larry Lansford44 EducationTimes Fall / Winter • 2008