Education Department Newsletter - February 2023

My name is Paige Rogers, and I am the Coordinator of Clinical Placements and Partnerships here in Trinity’s Education Department. I oversee all clinical experiences within our department, starting with students first observations in a classroom, through student teaching. I also work with local school districts, partnering to find creative ways to get our education students quality experience while benefitting our community.

Starting in the fall of 2021, we revised our education program regarding field experience. We now have several courses that have syllabi which are designed to blend theory and practice as our students prepare for the education field – in practice, fieldwork that is designed around coursework. This is an important change to our program and our student outcomes. It gets students a wider variety of experience – different grade levels, subjects, and focuses – as well as support from their peers and professors to walk through their observations and learnings.

This year alone, we have:

• Made around 250 field experience placements
• Placed around 70 student teachers at over 50 different schools
• Partnered with over 30 private and public schools for field experience placements, including districts in Palos Heights, Tinley Park, Bolingbrook, Worth, Harvey, Oak Lawn, Cicero, Midlothian, Oak Forest, Chicago, and more!

Christine Scholma, Associate Professor of Special Education, was invited to develop a pre-conference workshop based on her recent dissertation research for the 24th International Conference on Autism, Intellectual Disability, and Developmental Disabilities on January 18, 2023. Alongside Dr. Deborah Schadler from Gwynedd Mercy University, Scholma’s presentation, “You Belong Here! Sense of Belonging for Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Postsecondary Education,” engaged participants in thinking about what it means to belong through interactive and discussion based activities. Then, Scholma and Schadler presented an emergent model for belonging that focuses on a campus culture of inclusion and a broad range of supports to help students with ID experience belonging through friendships, involvement, and pursuit of life goals.

Additionally, on January 20, in her role as the Presentation Chair for the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award, Scholma joined the Dolly Gray Chair, Tina Taylor from Brigham Young University, to present on using discernment when choosing texts depicting ability based diversity. Their presentation, “Beyond Banning Books: What to Respect and What to Reject” shared research from the 2020-2022 Dolly Gray Award period and outlined a process for reviewing literature containing characters with disabilities. Participants had the opportunity to use the rating scale to evaluate picture books including characters with disabilities to determine if the book would be a good choice to use with students.

Well done, Dr. Scholma!

Advising Day and our Spring 2023 Connections Event are both held on Wednesday, March 15th.

Education students will be expected to attend the following:

• Your Specific Group Advising Session
• Your advisor meeting with your Advisor

Registration:  https://www.trnty.edu/event/advising-day-connections-2023/

Laura Martin grew up on the border of Indiana and Illinois and attended Highland Christian School for both elementary and middle school. She won the Young Authors competition in the third grade and attended the Young Authors Festival at Trinity Christian College. The event was the first time she ever realized that she could make writing a career. She is the first Young Authors attendee to return as a published author.

Laura believes in chasing her dreams and she brought that philosophy to her classroom for six years as a seventh grade English teacher. Edge of Extinction – The Ark Plan is Laura’s first novel – and a dream come true. She has written and published four children’s novels since then. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in the Indianapolis area with her dashing husband, Josh, her four adorable kids and an opinionated bulldog.

FTA is partnering up with STAC and the Serve Team to bring students to Feed My Starving Children on Wednesday, February 15th from 11:30am – 1:15pm. Transportation is provided, but limited. This is another opportunity for EDUC 215 students to get service hours. Be sure to sign-up with the link below or in the bio of futureteacherassociation on Instagram.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e1gwJ1-K5TyAb-e5UUlN6j5Z2EGjRT96OuWl5ODSANc/edit?usp=sharing

This is an amazing opportunity so take advantage of it!

For future events follow  https://www.instagram.com/futureteacherassociation/ on Instagram.

Are you looking for a Full-time, Part-time, Internship, Volunteer, or Summer Job?  Take a look at our systems linked below for access to job opportunities!

Spring 2023

Mar 15: Advising Day/Spring 2023 Connections Education Event

Apr 25: Young Authors Reception

Apr 26: Young Authors Festival

May 1: Student Teacher Commissioning Reception