WATSON COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
In May, 274 students earned degrees from the Watson College of Education, including 164 enrolled in graduate-level programs and 14 who earned doctoral degrees. UNCW celebrated the Class of 2021 with a luminary-lined stroll down Chancellor’s Walk and four in-person ceremonies. more...
Each year, during the first week of May people across the country honor teachers and celebrate the impact they have on thousands of students’ lives. This year, Watson College Dean Van Dempsey shared a personal message with WCE’s PDS partnership teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, “Appreciating Teachers for a Lifetime.” more...
Eighty higher education leaders from across the state gathered for the second annual UNCW/3C Challenging the Paradigm conference held May 13-14. Thomas Stith III, president of the NC Community College System and Kandi Deitemeyer, president of the Community College Presidents’ Association were featured presenters at the virtual event, which also included panel discussions on the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Denise Henning and Marilyn Sheerer coordinated the conference. more...
In April, D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy was recognized as a 2021 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School for their innovative efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and provide effective sustainability education. UNCW and Wrightsville Beach Elementary, a community partner, also are among 40 U.S. schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions recognized this year. more...
The Watson College was pleased to welcome school leadership expert Principal Baruti Kafele for a virtual speaker event titled “Critical Questions for becoming an effective Equity Mindset Teacher” on April 27. Principal Kafele was also an invited presenter at meetings with WCE partnership teachers and interns, aspiring assistant principals and principals, and the staff at D.C. Virgo. WCE’s Office of Teacher Education and Outreach coordinated the speaker events. more...
The Watson College is pleased to share a new Seahawk Stories video showcasing the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership. WCE Professor Michele Parker and SEA-Tech Principal Edie Skipper ’16 Ed.D. are featured in the video, first shown on WWAY on May 20. more...
A partnership between UNCW and Cape Fear, Craven and Lenoir Community Colleges provided unique research opportunities this spring for undergraduate students planning to transfer to a 4-year institution. Twenty-two students participated in the Community College Undergraduate Research Experience (CCURE) pilot. James DeVita, Denise Henning and Kristi Wiley coordinated the program, which culminated in a virtual student research showcase and celebration on May 5. more...
Keryn Vickers ’21Ed.D joined the Watson College of Education Office of Student Advising and Integrated Leadership in May as the Inaugural Director of Student Advising. He comes to Watson from UNCW’s University College where he has served as an academic advisor since 2012 and Interim Director since 2019. more...
Emilee Curtis Higdon ’18, a high school English teacher at Union Academy in Macon County Schools, has been named the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) 2021 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year. The award was presented in a special ceremony on the campus of Western Carolina University on April 15. more...
Abbey Nobles '14 was named New Hanover County Schools’ 2021-22 Overall Educator of the Year on May 21. Nobles is an English teacher at New Hanover High School. Other 2021-22 honorees are Edith Skipper ’93, ’00M, ’07M, ’13 Ed.D., Principal of the Year, Courtney Malahias ’88, Elementary Educator of the Year and Shannon Mitchell, Middle School Educator of the Year. more...
Susan Miller-Hendrix, an educator with the Public Schools of Robeson County, has been named a 2021–22 Kenan Fellow. She will intern this summer with STEM SENC director Heddy Clark on the Diversity and Equity Asset Mapping Project, designed to help align educational and occupational objectives through regional workforce and community partnerships. more...
The Watson College is pleased to share a new Friends of UNCW video featuring M.J. Giammaria, administrative associate in WCE’s Education Lab. Since 2018, she has received Friends of UNCW grants to support a kitchen classroom kit to enhance students’ Ed Lab tutoring experience. The video was first shown at the Friends Grant Award Ceremony on May 19. more...
Daisyane Barreto is the 2021 WCE recipient of the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award. Carol McNulty is interim Provost for Undergraduate Education and Faculty Affairs, Donyell Roseboro was featured in WILMA, and Patrick Kistler has joined the MarineQuest team. Watson College is pleased to share these stories and other news. more...
UNCW Esports and Isaac Bear High School students will host an Esports virtual summer program for high school students in June. The two-week virtual “Gaming in Real Life” program is designed to help students build leadership, communication and critical thinking skills through team-based gaming. Registration is open. more...
CESTEM, the STEM LC and STEM SENC will sponsor a three-day Problem-Based Learning workshop for K-12 teachers this summer. The event, provided by the North Carolina Science Leadership Association (NCSLA) and the Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning (CERTL) at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, will be held at UNCW’s Watson College of Education June 21-23. Registration is open. more...
UNCW’s Watson College offers a master’s degree and add-on licensure in curriculum studies. In 2018 the programs were re-designed to help educators meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students through new approaches to pedagogy, learning and community engagement that foster a culture of equity and inclusion. more...
Denise Henning will assume the role of coordinator for WCE’s Coaching and Mentoring Certificate program on July 1. The program, introduced in 2019, is designed for professionals in any discipline seeking to be effective mentors, mentees and coaches. more...
Robert Smith and Kylee Maarschalk recently authored an article titled “Collaboration and innovation in a pandemic offer promise for a new direction.” The article was published by EducationNC on May 11 as part of a Special Report: Your look ahead to 2021-22. more...
Sydney Ross ’21 has been nominated for the NCACTE 2021 Student Teacher of the Year Award. Ross completed an internship in an NC Demonstration Kindergarten classroom at Malpass Corner Elementary School in spring 2021 and earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the Watson College in May. more...
Carly Carmack ’20, ’21M was recently featured in a special collection of We Are the Class of 2021 profiles on the UNCW home page. She completed her undergraduate studies in marine biology and graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education in May. more...
Five recent Watson College graduates began their careers in the military and will soon become high school teachers. Congratulations to Robert Blount ’20, ’21M, Micah Chandler ’20, ’21M, Bryan Ford ’21, Brooke Peery ’20, ’21M and Jon Sandusky ’20, ’21M. more...
Isaac Bear’s varsity team placed eighth in the state Science Olympiad competition in April. Ella King finished 2nd in the for-profit track of the Chancellor’s High School Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and Alisha Fariz and Justin Guo placed 3rd in the social enterprise track. Fifty-seven students graduated in May and 13 will return in the fall to continue their education at UNCW. Congratulations! more...
During the spring semester, 200 Watson College students successfully completed internships in area schools. On April 29, Principal Baruti Kafele, WCE Dean Van Dempsey and Associate Dean Bill Sterrett joined WCE’s PDS and Professional Experiences teams, partnership teachers, student interns and faculty for a virtual celebration of the college’s collaborative work with PDS partnership schools. more...
WCE’s Betty Stike Education Laboratory and Professional Development System teams have been responsive to the needs of students and partnership schools throughout the pandemic. The Watson College is pleased to share a recent UNCW story about the Ed Lab and PDS: A Lifeline for Local Teachers. more...
UNCW held a two-day professional development event in partnership with Craven Community College in April. The Aspiring Leaders’ Summit, offered through the UNCW Community College Collaborative, covered topics including budgeting, conflict resolution and the staff to administration transition. Twenty aspiring community college leaders participated in the event. more...
A group of STEM leaders from organizations across the state, including STEM SENC, was selected to join the Leap Into Science Cohort 3 in 2019. Leap into Science is a program developed by The Franklin Institute to build young children’s interest and skills in science and literacy. The NC Leap Into Science State Leadership Team recently received funding to continue the program through 2021. more...
Melissa Raymer has received a grant from the American Association of School Librarians and a Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Award to support literacy initiatives at D.C. Virgo. Raymer and Wilson Okello have received TEO mini-grants to purchase books for D.C. Virgo students. more...
WCE’s STEM Learning Cooperative and Center for Assistive Technology distributed 2,195 STEM kits to K-8 schools in 12 counties this spring as part of the North Carolina Science Festival. Students in Amy Moody’s Special Education classes adapted the kits to provide STEM opportunities for students with disabilities, and WCE’s Watson Student Leaders helped to assemble and package the kits for distribution to schools. more...
Harris Muhlstein and MarineQuest summer programs were featured on WECT in May! There is still time to register for summer 2021 half-day, junior and commuter camps which begin June 14. Junior Seahawk Academy is also accepting applications for 2021 Virtual Sessions to be held July 12-16. more...
Over the past 18 months, Christine Liao and Janna Robertson partnered with Virgo art teacher Dakota Lehman and Sango-Kita Elementary School in Nara, Japan, on a project to engage second and third graders in intercultural dialogue through art. A 2020 Cahill Grant funded the project. more...
In 2018, MarineQuest introduced Turtle Trash Collectors (2TC), an environmental education initiative that focused on sea turtles as a key species to engage elementary students in marine debris prevention. With funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, MarineQuest brought the program to 29,556 people worldwide over the past two and a half years. Laura Sirak-Schaeffer and Kiran Sinha held MQ’s final 2TC program on May 13. more...
Virgo students celebrated the North Carolina Science Festival with activities ranging from making parachutes to planting gardens in a glove to exploring fingerprints, genetic traits, artificial intelligence, and physics. Materials and activities for all grade levels were provided by the North Carolina Science Festival through support from the Duke Energy Foundation. more...
WCE’s Department of Educational Leadership hosted a virtual celebration on May 5 to honor 14 students who earned doctoral degrees from the Watson College in May. UNCW Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli, Provost Jamie Winebrake and UNCW Graduate School Dean Chris Finelli joined Dean Dempsey, Andrew Ryder, WCE faculty and graduates at the event. more...
This spring, 200 Watson College students successfully completed internships in area schools. WCE’s Office of Professional Experiences held a virtual celebration seminar with Spring 2021 Teacher Intern graduates on May 6. At the event, a YouTube video with a compilation of student photos was shared. more...
Please join WCE faculty and staff in congratulating Wilson Okello and his wife Morgan on the birth of their son August on April 17. more...
