Deans COuncil Scholars

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October 23, 2007
For immediate release

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Eleven outstanding graduate students at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education have been named Dean’s Council Scholars for 2007-08. The School’s Dean’s Council, whose members provide leadership, counsel, and financial support, recognizes that many potential students, confronted with the rising cost of graduate education, are finding it impossible to follow their dreams of becoming teachers, psychologists, special educators, or educational researchers. To help these students, the Dean’s Council members pledge money to provide fellowships that enable students to dedicate themselves to full-time study and help the Gevirtz School continue to attract the best graduate students.

This year the fellowships are augmented by matching funds from the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) that will match every dollar (up to $40,000 total) given to the program.

“Attracting and retaining the best and brightest graduate students to be the next generation of teachers, researchers, school leaders, and psychologists becomes more difficult every year. Without the special support from the Dean’s Council we would not be competitive in offering the very special Gevirtz School experience to deserving students,” says Dean Jane Close Conoley. “These young people represent our best hope for the future of public education and community service throughout California and the nation.”

The 2007-08 GGSE Dean’s Council Scholars, each receiving a $2,500 fellowship, are Bethany Bodenhamer, Lauren Burns, Francisco Carranza, Amber Fredrickson, Lauren Leyva, Carola Matera, Lisa Nowinski, Melinda Reynolds, Paul Rogers, Sara Walker, and Kristen Smith Wheatley.

Bethany Bodenhamer is a Single Subject Teacher (SST) candidate in history/social science in the Teacher Education Program. Bethany’s undergraduate degree is from UCSB, where she was a member of Campus Crusade for Christ, which led her to take mission trips to Australia and Thailand. She says, “It is my passion for my students, for my job, for my community and for my life that will inevitably spread to those around me. Some may call me an idealist, but maybe if all teachers were, schools would be a brighter place.”

Lauren Burns is a Single Subject Teacher (SST) candidate in art in the Teacher Education Program. While earning an MA in art studio from UCSB, Laura interned in a program called ARTE through the Chicano Studies Department. In this internship she designed and implemented art lessons at El Puente continuation high school. She says, “I am dedicated to my teaching and my students and I believe that there is great potential in my students, myself and in public education as a whole.”

Francisco Carranza is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education’s Emphasis in Child and Adolescent Development. Francisco works with Dr. Laura Romo as part of her Adolescent Research in Communication, Health, and Education team. He has both a Master’s and Bachelor’s from Cal State University San Bernardino. His Master’s is in Psychology: General Experimental Psychology Concentrations and his Bachelor’s is in Psychology and Sociology: Social Work Program with a minor in Spanish.

Amber Fredrickson is a Multiple Subject Teacher (SMST) candidate in the Teacher Education Program. Amber’s undergraduate degree is from Cal Poly, where she majored in psychology and minored in Spanish. Having worked as a substitute teacher in the Santa Barbara School District, she aspires to be part of “a new wave of educators [that will] find ways to combine academic development and psychological development to provide students with the best possible environment for learning and growing.”

Lauren Leyva is a Multiple Subject Teacher (MST) candidate in the Teacher Education Program. Lauren double-majored at UCSB in History and Italian, and was a board member in her Residence Hall Councils for three years. Lauren believes that as “a future educator, I will be in a unique position to maximize and create even more opportunities for students of all backgrounds in America.”

Carola Matera is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education’s Special Education, Disabilities, and Risk Studies Emphasis. Born in Argentina, Carola has conducted a two-year research study investigating the effects of a writing intervention for preschool English Language Learners attending Head Start and has also managed Professor Michael Gerber’s Center for Advanced Studies of Individual Differences which focuses on research of English reading acquisition by Spanish-speaking children. She hopes to graduate next year and continue focusing her research on literacy development pertaining to preschool English Language Learners and teacher education.

Lisa Nowinski is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology in the Department of CCSP. Lisa earned a B.A. in Psychology and Modern Language & Literature from the University of the Pacific and a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of California. Her clinical and research interests include neuropsychological assessment and feedback practices, personality assessment including cognitive reactions to the Rorschach & neuropsychological correlates, and child/family psychotherapy. She has worked in the Hosford Clinic and Psychology Assessment Center. Lisa is the student representative for APA’s Division 12, Section IX.

Melinda Reynolds is a Single Subject Teacher (SST) candidate in science and foreign language in the Teacher Education Program. Melinda earned a B.A. from the University of Oregon, majoring in Spanish, minoring in chemistry, and writing her undergraduate thesis on the underrepresentation of Latinos in the sciences. She taught English in Chile for a year. She says, “I am especially passionate about ensuring that doors to science are open to all students so that each can experience the inquiry and discovery in science that I find so fascinating.”

Paul Rogers is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education specializing in the teaching and learning of language, literacy, and composition. Paul is one of the directors of the historic Curriculum Study Commission, a teacher consultant and composition fellow of the South Coast Writing Project, the conference chair for next year’s 58th Annual Asilomar English Education Conference, and is on the organizing committee of next year’s International Writing Research Conference “Writing Research Across Borders” hosted by the Gevirtz School.

Sara Walker is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology in the Department of CCSP. She received her B.S. in Psychology at the University of Oregon. Sara currently works with Dr. Merith Cosden in the evaluation of drug diversion courts in Santa Barbara County, and of UCSB campus drug and alcohol services. She has been a clinician in the Hosford Clinic and the Psychology Assessment Center, while also working as an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University in Santa Barbara. Sara’s research and clinical interests include substance abuse treatment, as well as neuropsychological and personality assessment.

Kristin Smith Wheatley is an Education Specialist Moderate/Severe Credential (ESC) candidate and working toward a Masters Degree in Education. A graduate of UCSB, Kristin has worked at the Devereux residential treatment facility as a teaching assistant, and in several moderate/severe special education classrooms at the elementary level in the Santa Barbara School District. Additionally, for the last three years she has worked as a research clinician for the Koegel Autism Clinic where she acquired invaluable experience providing Pivotal Response Treatment in homes and at schools to children with autism.

[The Dean's Council scholars are available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]
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Photo caption: Dean Conoley poses with 7 of the Dean's Council Scholars: (from left to right) Lauren Leyva, Bethany Bodenhamer, Kristin Wheatley, Sara Walker, Dean Jane Close Conoley, Amber Fredrickson, Melinda Reynolds, and Lisa Nowinski.

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