Contents - Woodring College of Education - Western Washington ...

Teaching at Korean
Winter English Camp
by James Doran
On December 31, 2006, I boarded an airplane
as a teacher of middle school students.
I was employed for four weeks
by EduDCGlobal at the Cheong Shim
Youth Center at their Winter English
Camp located
near Seoul. I occasionally
thought,
“What have I gotten
into?” But I
had made a commitment,
felt safe
and would honor
my word. My contacts
at Incheon
International Airport were almost on
time, and after four hours we arrived at
the English Camp.
Out of a group of 26 English-speaking
teachers, 20 were from Canada, two were
from the USA, one was from Australia,
and three were expatriates from Canada/
USA. We enjoyed three days together
before the children arrived. After each
student took placement examinations,
we interviewed them to help determine
their appropriate education level.
On the fourth day I entered my classroom
of 14 students who had placed at
the highest junior level. At this level,
the students could read and write well
but could neither speak nor comprehend
English. Using our four abbreviated
novels and an excellent grammar
book (Grammar Spectrum series: English
Rules and Practice by Norman Coe),
through a combination of information
sharing and experiential learning, we
worked on speaking, comprehension,
essay writing, oral presentations, current
issues and speech delivery. This
approach also increased their confidence
and self-esteem. This was very rewarding
for all of us.
Korea is a homogeneous socially structured
society, and we ‘foreigners’ were
given no status or respect throughout
the camp. The kids were great and I
still maintain relationships with many.
On two occasions we were allowed to
travel from our rural mountainside to
Seoul for sightseeing. We lived about
two miles from the nearest village and
it was an occasional trip to this village
and another village that helped us stay
positive.
We finished teaching on January 26.
The farewell ceremonies were very emotional
for all of us. We then went on, as
14 Woodring Educator • FALL 2007
our contract stated, a three-day sightseeing
trip of Korea. We saw the DMZ and
Gyeongju, then proceeded to depart to
different parts of the world to continue
our lives.
In all, this was a very rewarding and lifechanging
experience. I could not have
adjusted to the situation without the
skills and abilities I mastered at WWU
and Woodring College’s Department of
Educational Leadership. It was refreshing
to see that that educational philosophy
was adaptable to middle school
students as well as to the adult population.
Out of my four university degrees,
this is the most rewarding.
James Doran is a 2005 graduate of Woodring’s
Adult Education Program (now
Continuing and College Education). He
most recently worked as a representative
of Coastline Community College, near
Los Angeles, helping Naval personnel and
families obtain their AA degrees. He is
pictured at left with some of his students
in Korea.
Outstanding Teachers
Karen Strain (BAE ‘86), and Jennifer Sue
Zapatka (BAE ‘92) were both named as
2006 outstanding teachers of the year
in their respective Educational Service
Districts, and were among eight teachers
considered for the 2007 State Teacher
of the Year.
Strain was honored
by ESD 112, which
encompasses Southwest
Washington.
She has been teaching
17 years, the
past 12 at White
Salmon’s Henkle
Middle School. Her students outperform
many peers on the WASL despite higher
poverty rates and being English language
learners.
Zapatka teaches at
Ridgetop Junior High
School in Central Kitsap,
where she began
her career in 1995.
The nomination for
her award noted the
outstanding original
curriculum she helped develop for the
school’s Advanced Placement Humanities
in Depth program.
AnnMarie DeCollibus, Ferndale, (Cert
‘90), was selected as the Washington Art
Education Association’s Secondary Art
Teacher of the Year. Going beyond her
duties as a 15-year ceramics teacher at
Ferndale High School, DeCollibus has
become a widely-recognized advocate
for arts education. She opens her home
studio and classroom on her own time
to accommodate students and the community
and created the Empty Bowls
project. “I truly believe that art is one of
those things that keeps kids in school,”
she said “The Arts teach everything the
business world is looking for in a worker:
problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration,
creativity and innovation.”
Mary Schoenfeldt Recipient of International
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mary Schoenfeldt (B.A. Human Services
’79), was awarded the 2007 Lifetime
Achievement Award at the 9th World
Congress of the International Critical
Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF).
ICISF is recognized by the United
Nations as the premier Disaster Mental
Health organization in the world.
Her award recognizes her for cutting
edge work in the field of School Crisis
Response, Disaster Mental Health and
Emergency Management.
Schoenfeldt is a longtime Everett resident,
who began her devotion to helping
people prevent and recover from
traumatic life events while working
as a Community Service officer with
the Everett Police Department in the
1980s.
Besides being a tireless volunteer,
for the past 20 years she has headed
Schoenfeldt and Associates, a Crisis
Prevention and Incident Response
Management organization. The company
is involved in the areas of crisis
response management, crisis response
education, and violence prevention
for schools, communities and private
businesses. Working with a network
of professionals, Schoenfeldt has provided
assistance in communities such
as Littleton, Colorado; San Diego;
New York City; New Orleans and others
who have experienced devastating
events that impacted their communities
and schools.
She authored the Crisis Response
model for all schools in California,
helped at local, state and federal
levels to adapt the now mandated
Incident Command System for school
systems, and has been an advisor to
the US Department of Education and
other agencies. Among the books
she has written are: School Crisis
Response: Lessening The Aftermath;
From Chaos to Control, Picking Up The
Pieces: Responding to School Crisis; and,
Conducting Effective Drills In School
Systems.
For more information, see her website
at: www.safer-schools.com
$25,000 Milken Prize Goes to Cassandra
Baddeley of Thurgood Marshall Elementary
Cassandra Baddeley (BAE ‘99) of
Seattle, has reason to be proud. Not
only was she one of only 100 teachers
nationwide to receive the prestigious
Milken Educator Award for the
2006/07 academic year, but every
single student in her fifth-grade
classroom at Thurgood Marshall
Elementary School met the standards
on the state assessment in reading in
2003 and 2004. The district’s valueadded
data analysis shows that they
also achieve an average of two years’
growth in her class.
The award, worth $25,000, is given
Alumni Notes
Patricia Wood Weber, Olympia, (B.A.
‘73); retired after nearly 31 years in
the Olympia School District, 18 of
which were as a teacher of 8th grade
humanities, middle school math and
an elective class for which she helped
design the curriculum—an exploration
of foreign languages. The last 13
years, she worked as a middle school
teacher-librarian. She was actively
involved with the Olympia Education
Association for most of her career.
During her final four years she served
as district coordinator of teacherlibrarians
in addition to her regular
contract.
Katherine Playford, Bellingham, (M.I.T.
‘04); was selected as the Wal-Mart
Teacher of the Year. She teaches Spanish
and English as a Second Language at
Sedro-Woolley High School.
annually by the Milken Family
Foundation as a way to recognize
excellence in education, and in doing
so strive to develop, retain, and motivate
talented people to the challenge
and adventure of teaching. The
awards are announced each year in
surprise assemblies attended by policy
makers, media and constituencies.
Baddeley, who has been at Marshall for
seven years, also serves on the school’s
leadership team and is their technology
specialist. She was nominated
for the award by the Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Tim Yeomans, Bellingham, (Principal’s
Certification ‘98); was named
Superintendent of the Meridian School
District. He was previously Assistant
Superintendent at the Mount Baker
School District.
Greg Colfax, Friday Harbor (B.A.E. ‘74),
was featured in a recent Island Guardian
article. Colfax, a Makah artist and wood
carver, presented a lecture on the origins
of Northwest Coast Native art and
its evolution into today’s contemporary
forms. His artwork has been featured
across the country.
In Memoriam:
Curtis E. Mayberry, Lynden, (B.A.E.
1968); passed away April 23, 2007 at
age 60.
Additional Alumni Notes are available
at: www.wce.wwu.edu/Alumni/
AlumniNotes.shtml