Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/655903
March 2016 isea.org • ISEA Communiqué 4 FIRST-CLASS MEMBERS First Class Members showcases the good works of Iowa State Education Association members from across Iowa. Secure a grant? Chosen to advise the governor? Organize a backpack drive? There are countless ways our members make their students, their schools and their profession stronger. Share their story at communications@isea.org Tailor your degree to build the career you want. Collaborate with skilled peers from all professional fields in an active learning environment guided by outstanding faculty. Work toward a master's, specialist, or doctoral degree on your own schedule with evening, weekend, and online courses, plus off-campus cohort programs across the state. Explore the possibilities. Elementary Certification | Secondary Certification Teacher Effectiveness | Literacy Education Educational Leadership | Education Administration Special Education | Counseling | Rehabilitation Placement Rehabilitation Administration | Leadership Development www.drake.edu/isea School of Education Buckman to board Thomas Buckman, an industrial arts teacher and member of the Burlington Education Association, was appointed to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, Gov. Terry Branstad announced March 2. The BOEE sets standards for Iowa educational practitioners including overseeing and enforcing licensing requirements. Buckman's term begins May 1, and is subject to Senate confirmation. Current members of the BOEE board include Richard Wortmann, member of the Ottumwa Education Association, who serves as board chair and Sara Yedlik Arnold, member of the Cedar Rapids Education Association. Fletcher is Coach of the Year The Iowa Association of Track Coaches named Carlisle Education Association member Jared Fletcher as IATC Regional Coach of the Year for his work as the district's boys' track and field coach. In addition to his head coaching duties for track and field, Fletcher is a sixth grade social studies teacher and defensive coordinator for the Carlisle Community School District varsity football team. Hiett Prize goes to Samuelson Kirkwood Community College's Scott Samuelson was named the 2015 Hiett Prize winner by the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Samuelson, a member of the Kirkwood Faculty Association, is the first person from a two-year college to get the award which seeks to encourage future leaders in the humanities by recognizing their early work and supporting that work with a $50,000 award. In the essay, "Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers," he wrote for The Atlantic in 2014, Samuelson argued for a vigorous study of philosophy for all students: "Why, in short, should plumbers study Plato? My answer is that we should strive to be a society of free people, not simply one of well-compensated managers and employees." Sperfslage grabs HuffPo attention Oelwein elementary school teacher Tera Sperfslage was featured in the Huffington Post's series #BestSchoolDay for her work in contributing and raising money for school supplies for her students at Parkside Elementary. The article notes Oelwein may be best known as the subject of the book, Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town, but the efforts of Sperfslage and her fellow educators show there is much more to Oelwein. "Yes we want people to be aware that there's this [drug problem] out here, but we have people who are fighting to get these kids the education and the hope and the dreams they need," Sperfslage is quoted as saying in the article. "We are the tool that's going to get them to bigger and better places." Journalism award for Shipp The Journalism Educators Association honored Johnston Education Association member Leslie Shipp with one of three "Special Recognition Advisors" national awards in the Yearbook Advisor of the Year competition. Shipp, an English teacher as well as advisor to the newspaper and yearbook, has helped build the Johnston program into one of the best-known in the state. Parks knows art Maggie Parks, an elementary art teacher and ISEA member in the Marshalltown Community School District, was selected to receive the 2016 "Excellence in PK-12 Art Education Award from the United States Society for Education through Art. Parks has worked in Marshalltown for 18 years and splits her time between Fisher and Woodbury elementary schools. Parks is a previous recipient of the Art Teacher of the Year from Art Educators in Iowa and a number of other awards. Thomas Buckman Scott Samuelson Tera Sperfslage