As we move ahead to 2023, we are grateful for and proud of the accomplishments and milestones from the year 2022. Here are four highlights from the CU Boulder School of Education鈥檚 past year, as听we look forward to the new year.
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Continuing to build听community and make听a name for ourselves in our new building听听
From the annual welcome picnic to an inclusive pedagogy co-design workshop听with educators, the CU Boulder School of Education鈥檚 new campus home continues to be the site of camaraderie, creativity, and support for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors.
As the next phase of building renovations and听fundraising efforts听continue, several new spaces are now named rooms thanks to generous support from donors. Rooms like the听Ruth Cline Literacy Suite, still under renovation, and the听Barbara Jean Grimm Classroom, a popular space for undergraduate and graduate classes, offer inspiration for the next generation of students to learn from the legacy of faculty and alumni who came before them.听
Additionally, our school has听an historic opportunity to rename the building听currently known as the Fleming Building. Nominations for the honorary naming were accepted this fall and a committee of alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and students have reviewed the nominations for making a recommendation to the chancellor and then the Board of Regents. Stay tuned for more news on the potential new name for the School of Education鈥檚 building.
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Welcoming and celebrating faculty, staff, student, and alumni contributions
We welcomed wonderful new cohorts of students and two new faculty members,听Oded Gurantz and Adam Crawley. We also honored the retirements for long-time teacher educators and faculty members,听John Hoover and Kent Willmann, and we planted and dedicated a flashfire maple tree to master gardener and renowned dean emerita, Lorrie Shepard.听
Among the many faculty accomplishments and awards we celebrated, Melissa Braaten and Bethy Leonardi received tenure, and Mimi Engel earned the Faculty Achievement Award.
Susan Jurow and Joe Polman were elected fellows of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, and Elizabeth Dutro was appointed the president-elect for the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy.
Ann Scott was awarded the Alumni Recognition Award at the听annual alumni awards ceremony,听one of CU Boulder's听longest-standing traditions, during Homecoming week in October.听
Many faculty published fascinating听new books in 2022,听including titles such as 鈥淩ecovering Black Storytelling in Qualitative Research: Endarkened Storywork鈥� and 鈥淭he Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education,鈥� and there are several more titles to be published soon.
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Coming together for more in-person celebrations again
Our most cherished events have taken on new forms and enhanced the meaning of togetherness as many of the school鈥檚 most popular gatherings moved back to an in-person format 鈥� a welcome change after mostly virtual celebrations that followed COVID-19 health guidelines for the previous听two years.
Events like the听School of Education Graduation Ceremony, the听Scholarship Celebration,听the Children鈥檚 Book Festival,听the Teachers of Color and Allies Summit,听Ed Talks, a BUENO Center-cosponsored听regional conference called Latinos in Action,听and even the Halloween tradition of welcoming local children to the school for trick-or-treating and spooky STEM activities led by CU Teach students all returned to in-person events in 2022. Graduation was a particularly special time, as our bachelor's degree candidates were honored for the first time at main campus ceremony at Folsom Stadium in addition to our intimate School of Education ceremony at Macky Auditorium.听It was great to see everyone in person听again.
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Taking a public stance on issues that matter
As a community, we continue to center democracy, diversity, equity, and justice in all that we do, and we stand up for principles that matter in our research, teaching, storytelling, and more.
For example, several faculty shared powerful and personal stories of political courage such as taking on gendered discrimination in K-12 schools and institutional violence in higher education in听CU Boulder鈥檚 spring 2022 Ed Talks.听听In the fall, CU Boulder faculty, students, and community partners from the Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization (YEBO) delved in the world of gaming and video games as a space of play, experimentation, and transformative learning in the most recent Ed Talks. They taught us 听
Over the summer,听22 doctoral students answered the call to design and lead听grant projects听that address growing movements to ban race-conscious curricula, limit teaching about LGBTQ lives, impel teachers to teach white-centric versions of history, and more. A school committee intended to fund three to five projects only to be overwhelmed by the depth of quality proposals 鈥� ranging from 鈥淓xamining Student-led Resistance to Oppressive Education Policies鈥� to 鈥淪urviving and Thriving: A Collective Inquiry into How Higher Ed Critical Race Scholars Are Handling In-person and Digital Attacks on CRT Nationwide鈥� 鈥� and all 11 projects were selected and supported.
On the policy front,听a CU Boulder team led by Ashley Cartun and doctoral candidates, Lizz Bohl and Mary Beth Snow Balderas, presented research and students鈥� stories to state representatives, who created听first-of-its-kind legislation that created a student educator stipend program and attempts to address financial barriers to teacher education in Colorado.
A Queer Endeavor invited educators and residents to submit public opinion on a house bill advancing the inclusion of historically marginalized people听in the teaching civil government, and Ruben Donato听and community partners听spoke at the State Capitol to commemorate the Colorado鈥檚 historic Maestas case. As a result, the听Colorado state legislature formally recognized the case as 鈥渙ne of the earliest court victories involving Latinos against educational segregation鈥� and a commemorative statue was permanently placed in the Alamosa County Courthouse this fall.
Each year brings its own challenges, but we look back on 2022 with gratitude for all we were able to accomplish together and ongoing efforts. We are looking forward to a new year of new possibilities.