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Alumni Association Hosts Education Professional Development Symposium

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Posted on Monday, April 27, 2015

Westminster College’s Pittsburgh regional alumni committee will host Sharing Experiences and Expertise: An Education Networking and Professional Development Symposium, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Saturday, May 30 in the Witherspoon Rooms of McKelvey Campus Center.

The event is open to alumni, graduating education majors and current employees. Alumni are welcomed to invite one guest. The registration cost of $20 per person includes breakfast, lunch, Act 48 credit hours, and parking. Interested participants should register by May 18 by visiting www.westminster.edu/alumni/events/index.cfm.

“This will be a great opportunity for alumni to visit with former professors and meet some of the new education faculty, all while contributing to their own professional development,” shares Kara Montgomery, director of Westminster’s alumni association. “Additionally, it offers our current faculty the chance to reconnect with former students and bring together our current student teachers with returning alumni.”

The half-day workshop will showcase “hot topics,” offer the opportunity for peer-to-peer networking, break-out sessions, and keynote address given by Dr. Linda Hippert, executive director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

Hippert was a high school mathematics teacher for 14 years, high school principal for five years and the superintendent of schools in South Fayette School District for 13 years before accepting her position with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in 2009.

During the two break-out sessions, four Westminster College education faculty will provide their research and expertise in relevant educational topics.

Participants can choose to join in one of the following break-out session at 8:30 a.m., participants will have the option to hear from the following:

  • Dr. Darwin Huey, professor of education, on “It Happened First in the One Room School,” exploring a century of trends, movements, progress, and regress in American Schools.
  • Dr. Sararose Lynch, assistant professor of education, on “Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice - What Do They Look Like at My Grade Level?”

During the second break-out session at 9:45 a.m., participants can choose from the following:

  • Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, professor of education, and Dr. Karen Matis, English teacher at Shenango Middle School, on “Exploring Our World through Global Children’s and Young Adult Literature
  • Dr. Alison DuBois, assistant professor, on “What Do You Do With the Hurt That You Feel?: Identifying Signs of Burnout and Resiliency.”

Contact Linda Wilson at lwilson@westminster.edu or 724-946-7364 with questions.