College of Arts & Sciences and Division of Education & Leadership News: Spring 2021

Lee-Dorah Wokpara, Ed.D. candidate and Berkeley County Public Schools assistant principal, is the first recipient of the Dr. Amy Lee Parker Endowed Scholarship. The Dr. Amy Lee Parker Endowed Scholarship was established in memory of Dr. Amy Lee Parker by the Winchester Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Dr. Parker, a Shenandoah alumna and school leader, had a lifelong passion for children and education. She encouraged women to pursue leadership, education, and opportunities. According to the award criteria, the recipient should demonstrate educational leadership potential, good academic standing and financial need. The scholarship is applied to the recipient’s spring 2021 tuition.

Stefanie LaPolla, Ed.D. candidate and Loudoun County Public Schools supervisor, won the national 2021 Ted Carr Practitioner Award from the international Association for Positive Behavior Support. The awards site states: “Stefanie LaPolla brings a range of experiences within the fields of psychology and education to her current position as the supervisor of multi-tiered system of supports for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in northern Virginia. In this role, she oversees the implementation of response to intervention, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and social emotional learning across all schools within the division. She is also responsible for the leadership of collaborative teams, professional learning to school-based leaders and staff, and ongoing data collection, analysis and reporting as it relates to strategic actions and programmatic goals related to implementation and integration of data, systems, and practices. Prior to this position, she served as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and PBIS coordinator for LCPS. Stefanie holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with studies in education from Juniata College, master’s degree in school psychology from Towson University, an endorsement in administration and supervision PreK-12, and is finishing her Doctor of Education degree with Shenandoah University. She has presented at the local, state, and national levels and is a published researcher.”

Several math majors recently presented at a Mathematical Association of America conference, including senior math major, Andrew Kappel, who won Best Student Paper for his presentation on “Using Baseball Sabermetrics to Predict Goal Scoring in Hockey.” Several math majors also recently participated in the association’s math Jeopardy competition.

C-SPAN’s American History TV recently aired a presentation by McCormick Civil War Institute Executive Director Jonathan Noyalas ’01, M.A., on Winchester Unionist Rebecca Wright. The presentation was originally delivered in January as part of the McCormick CWI’s online winter seminar. Watch it at https://www.c-span.org/video/?509442-2/rebecca-wright-union-spy-shenandoah

Junior media & communication and political science major Rebecca Sims placed second in the nation at the National Educational Debate Association National Debate Tournament in March. Seventy debaters from 10 different schools qualified for the national tournament and competed via Zoom. Sims competes in a version of collegiate debate called Rapid-fire and is coached by Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Matt Corr, Ph.D.