Education Faculty Lead Professionally

Director of Teacher Licensure and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Mary Bowser, Ed.D., was elected secretary of the Virginia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (VACTE). The purpose of this association is to improve and support education of professional school personnel in Virginia. Dr. Bowser will serve a two-year term as secretary. She has also served six years on the VACTE scholarships and awards committee. Shenandoah University has been a VACTE member institution since 1992.

Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Karrin Lukacs, Ph.D., attended the inaugural Teachers of Color Summit in Richmond in February. The event, which focused on the recruitment and retention of teachers of color, was co-sponsored by the Virginia Education Association and the National Education Association. Jahana Hayes, national teacher of the year for 2016, served as the keynote speaker. Dr. Lukacs also has been named to the Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) Class of 2017.

Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Diane Painter, Ph.D., led a 2017 Global Citizenship Project (GCP) to Poland. Her group traveled to Wroclaw, Poland, and while there, dined with Prof. Malgorzata Sekulowicz, a member of the Polish National Council for Higher Education. Sekulowicz also heads the Department of Education and Rehabilitation of Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism at the University of Lower Silesia (ULS) in Wroclaw. The group also took an historical tour of Wroclaw, and visited churches, St. John’s Cathedral, a school and a rehab center, to learn about the culture, businesses and people of Poland. This year’s GCP theme is “Heritage.” The group also visited Krakow, where they toured historical sites such as the Jewish Quarter, the Wawel Royal Cathedral, the salt mine in Wieliczka that is a registered UNESCO historical site, and the Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory that inspired Steven Spielberg to tell the story of its Jewish workers during WWII in his 1993 film “Schindler’s List.” The trip concluded with a visit to Warsaw, where the group took in Warsaw’s Old Town, The Palace of Culture and Science, The Saxon Garden, the Grand Theatre-National Opera, Chopin’s Museum and enjoyed a piano recital (Time for Chopin). The group also visited the Copernicus Science Center, and saw a musical, “PIOTRUŚ PAN” (Peter Pan). Additionally, Dr. Painter will retire at the end of this academic year.