FOR RELEASE: Thursday, August 07, 2008
College Helps Fayetteville Teachers Prepare for New School Year
From re-invention of the science lab to exploration of sustainability concepts to appreciation for the lessons learned from Fayetteville High School's peaceful integration in 1954, teachers in the Fayetteville School District have a veritable smorgasbord of professional development opportunities to choose from next week.
In 2007, the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas established its Professional Development Academy to support in-service teachers, school administrators, health care professionals and workforce trainers throughout the state. Since then, Judith Tavano, the academy's director, has been busy facilitating opportunities for people in these professions as well as building a network among human resource professionals in the state. She has organized a workshop for high school agriculture teachers, a presentation for employees of long-term-care facilities about environmental modifications for dementia patients and a statewide conference focusing on health care needs of minority populations.
A human resource professional with more than 30 years of experience, Tavano also has made several presentations of her own, speaking to employees of local industries about the issues facing today's work force. Two areas in which she specializes are the challenges created when people from as many as four generations work together, now a common occurrence in the workplace, and the effect the retirement of millions of baby boomers will have on the labor market.
Tavano worked with Marianne Hauser, professional development coordinator for Fayetteville Public Schools, to offer 10 workshops as part of a two-day Professional Development Institute for teachers Aug. 11 and 12. Hauser put together dozens of workshop options for the district's teachers, who, like all other teachers in the state, are required by law to take 60 hours of professional development, or continuing education, each year for renewal of the standard teaching license. The district annually hosts 10 days of professional development activities for Fayetteville teachers.
"Judith Tavano has strengthened ties between the university and the school district," Hauser said. "Now, we have direct contact with someone who is dedicated to helping us find professional development opportunities. She has made it easy to find folks at the university who can provide information for teachers. For example, our 12th grade teachers have the important responsibility of writing college recommendations for their students. Just like that, Judith found someone at the university whose job it is to evaluate those recommendations to deliver a workshop for them."
Hauser said she also appreciated Tavano's efforts in establishing a working group of people in northwest Arkansas school districts who are charged with providing professional development.
"People with similar positions from all the districts around are invited to quarterly meetings so, when someone is doing something others can benefit from, we hear about it," Hauser said.
Fayetteville Lineup
For the workshop on the history of Fayetteville integration, Tavano has lined up Peggy Taylor Lewis and Roberta Lackey Morgan, two of the black students, and Nancy Cole Mays and Glenn Sowder, two of the white students enrolled at Fayetteville High School in 1954, the year that seven black students integrated the school. That's three years before the turmoil over Central High in Little Rock that brought international attention to the state as National Guard troops were called to the capital city to keep order.
Fayetteville High's integration proceeded quietly, in part, Tavano said, because the teachers and administrators made sure that school was not disrupted.
"They were empowered to take control in the classroom, telling their students that education would continue as it always had," she said.
Harry Vandergriff, football coach at the time, will complete the panel that will be moderated by Andrew Brill, a Fayetteville native who researched the period for an undergraduate thesis at Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
Teachers will also take away the knowledge to teach their students today about that time in the history of Fayetteville education.
Tavano recruited William F. McComas, the college's Parks Family Professor of Science Education, to deliver a workshop on enhancing hands-on science teaching. McComas came to the University of Arkansas in 2006 from the University of Southern California and is working with other faculty members to develop a doctoral-level science education curriculum. He serves on the board of directors of the Association for Science Teacher Education and is president of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Association.
Also from the university, Elizabeth McKee, education librarian in the reference department at Mullins Library, will conduct a tour of the library and provide information about resources, databases and a new, online K-12 education portal. Karen Hodges, interim director of admissions at the university, will instruct teachers on how to write effective college recommendations for their students.
Matthew Petty, executive director of socialsustenance.org, will present workshops on teaching sustainability concepts; using technology to teach research, information literacy skills and high-level critical thinking; and understanding and reducing carbon emissions.
Cindi Cope and Gail Pianalto, education directors of the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, will present a workshop on biodiversity with an emphasis on metamorphosis and another one called "Lessons from the Hard Rot Café and Got Dirt?"
Representatives of Heritage Trail Partners will present a workshop by local historians about the Trail of Tears, Butterfield Coach Trail and the trails that Civil War troops followed through northwest Arkansas.
"In the College of Education and Health Professions, we prepare teachers for the classroom on all levels," Tavano said. "Through the work of the Professional Development Academy, we are pleased to help teachers remain excited and engaged with their students as a new school year begins. We're also happy to introduce teachers to many resources on the University of Arkansas campus."###
Contact:
Judith Tavano, director, Professional Development Academy
College of Education and Health Professions
(479) 575-4282, jtavano@uark.edu