December 2023

College of Education & Professional Studies Newsletter

CEPS PENning CEREMONY

The PENning ceremony is always a huge event for our internship students and their cooperating teachers! Congratulations to all!

STUDENTS SHOWCASE IMPACT STUDIES

Teacher Education students presented their research for the fall semester! Great job by all!

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STUDENTS SHARE THEIR KNOWLEDGE AT STEAM DAY!

The Early Childhood Block hosted an amazing Zoo Safari STEAM day!

We had a blast welcoming over 80 preschool children, along with their parents and teachers. It was wonderful to have 48 J-STEAM ED104 dual enrollment students, who are exploring education as a career path, participate in the excitement too. What a fantastic day of experiential learning for everyone!

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CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. RUSSELL HAMMACK

Dr. Russell Hammack has been selected to serve as an educator representative on the 2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies committee and task force. This is truly an honor and once again highlights the excellent faculty we have in the CEPS. Congratulations, Dr. Hammack!!

CEPS GRADUATE IS NAMED TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to Baylor Osbourn - CEPS graduate! Teacher of the Year, Springville Middle School!

DR. KIMBERLY WARFIELD PRESENTS AT CONFERENCE

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Dr. Warfield and former principal colleagues presented at the Mississippi Department of Education's Office of School Improvement Conference on November 15, 2023. Their session title: Leadership Alert! Session Description: Leadership is a H.O.T. topic! This interactive session explored practices that foster Turnround Leadership. Participants learned 3 specific ways in which educators at every level in the school and district can lead. It's the intentionality of prioritizing WHAT we do and HOW we do it that impacts improving student learning outcome

FACULTY MEMBER HAS MANUSCRIPT PUBLISHED

Dr. Ahmad Alhammouri has a manuscript published in the Ohio Journal of School Mathematics about a STEAM activity enacted at our 2022 STEAM summer camp.
Here is a link to the article: https://ohiomathjournal.org/index.php/OJSM/article/view/9518

FACULTY MEMBER PRESENTS AT TWO CONFERENCES

Dr. Russell Hammack presented at the Alabama Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama in October:

Music as a Tool for Social Change: The Impact of Muscle Shoals, Alabama

ChatGPT: The artificial expert in the social studies classroom. What is it and how can it be used?

Dr. Russell Hammack presented at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee in December:

Discovering and Preserving an Indigenous Community: Storytelling Assisted by Technology

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The Artificial Expert in the Social Studies Classroom: ChatGPT

CEPS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CAROLERS

Our Child Development Center students presented a special carol for us prior to our END OF THE YEAR meeting. They were perfect!

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized as OUTSTANDING undergraduate students for the month of November:

Deidre Maxwell and Maddison Martin

Congratulations to the following who were recognized as OUTSTANDING graduate students for the month of November:

Kristyn Cuthrell and Jasmine Shorter

Congratulations to the following CEPS employees who were recognized as OUTSTANDING faculty for November:

Christie Calhoun

Ahmad Alhammouri

Stacey Gill

Kimberly Warfield

Kyoko Johns

Torsten Dryden

Diane Best

Wendy Stephens

Christi Trucks

Candice Byers

Cindy Pair

Tancie West

Congratulations to the following CEPS employees who were recognized as OUTSTANDING staff members for the month of November:

Lori Reynolds

Martha Dingler

Courtney Christopher

Linda Williams

Heather Smith

Deanna Bohannon

Amber Trantham

PRESIDENT'S STAFF AWARDS LUNCHEON PIN RECIPIENTS

Congratulations to our CEPS employes who received service pins at the President's Staff Awards luncheon. Dr. Christie Calhoun received her ten year JSU service pin. Mrs. Lynn Steward received her 20 year JSU service pin. Mrs. Penny Lane is not pictured, but received her 20 year JSU service pin. #CEPS

DECEMBER CEPS BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to our CEPS employees who are celebrating December birthdays!

Kimberly White

Shaina Gross

Patti Shields

Aimee Weathers

Christi Trucks

Robin Boyles

Maisie Diamond

Larry Beard

Lori Reynolds

Vicki Trammell

ANNUAL CEPS COOKIE SWAP

We have been having a Christmas cookie swap for SEVERAL years. We bring three dozen cookies with two cookies each to a decorative bag. We walk around the table and take a bag from each offering until all the cookies are gone! BOOM...Christmas cookies to take home and share for the holidays! Thanks to Martha Dingler for organizing this each year.

THE MYSTERY OF THE CEPS DUCKS

Cute rubber ducks have mysteriously started popping up around the CEPS complex with a note proclaiming them CEPS ducks. Several have been found in plain sight! Students, faculty, and staff have enjoyed finding these little surprises! It's a mystery who is placing the ducks, but that adds to the fun!