Best Should Teach keynote to address supporting educators teaching after tragedies and traumas
The University of Colorado Boulder 2023 Best Should Teach Lecture and Awards Ceremony will celebrate excellence in education by recognizing outstanding CU Boulder faculty members, K-12 teachers and graduate student instructors with Best Should Teach Awards on May 1 at 6 p.m. in the University Memorial Center Glenn Miller Ballroom.听
Free and open to the public, the ceremony will feature award-winning author and University of Connecticut Associate Professor Alyssa Hadley Dunn, who will deliver the keynote talk, 鈥淭eaching on Days After: Educating for Equity in the Wake of Injustice.鈥澨�
Dunn is a highly听regarded educational researcher, whose research focuses is on how to teach for justice and equity amidst school policies and reforms that negatively impact teachers鈥� working conditions and students鈥� learning conditions. Recently, her work has focused on听what educators do in their classrooms the day after a tragic or traumatic event and how they attend to their students鈥� needs while teaching for equity and justice.
Her research examines examples of days after that teachers remember, including 9/11, elections, natural disasters, gun violence, police brutality, social uprisings, Supreme Court decisions, immigration policies, and more. She also shares examples of days after that K鈥�12 and college-aged students remember, including what their teachers did and didn鈥檛 do and how they experienced these moments.
Dunn鈥檚 talk will provide useful and thought-provoking guidance for educators and staff in across at all levels of education who navigate these very difficult and 鈥渁ll-too-frequent days after.鈥�
The event,听co-hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, School of Education, and College of Arts and Sciences, will honor six CU Boulder faculty members, three K-12 teachers from the School of Education鈥檚 partner school districts and lead graduate teachers in the Graduate Teacher Program with Best Should Teach Gold and Silver Awards.
The 2023 Best Should Teach faculty award recipients include:
Teacher honorees from partner school districts include:
The Best Should Teach awardees were selected for their embodiment of the beliefs, behaviors, and skills of exemplary teachers. The call for nominations for CU Boulder faculty also include nominations from students from all colleges and schools across campus.
The late, lifelong educator Lindley Stiles and his wife Marguerite Stiles established the Best Should Teach Initiative in 1996 to celebrate excellence in teaching, and Stiles鈥� inspiring motto is inscribed on the Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Building:
鈥淭o those who come, I leave the flame! Hold it as high as you can reach. If a better world is your aim, all must agree: The Best Should Teach.鈥�
Melissa Braaten is associate professor of STEM education听and co-chair of the Elementary Teacher听Education program in the School of Education.听Melissa Braaten鈥檚 research aims to understand听more about how teachers learn to teach science听across multiple contexts for professional听learning including the pre-service preparation of听teachers in coursework and field experiences,听professional learning in designed settings听such as professional development for teachers, and professional learning that听takes place 鈥榦n the job鈥� in the day-to-day work of teachers in schools.听
Laurie Gries听is associate professor of communication听with a joint appointment听in the Department of Communication and the听Program of Writing and Rhetoric. Her research is听invested in visual rhetoric, circulation studies,听research methodologies, and the digital听humanities. She is particularly interested in how听images circulate, transform, and contribute听to collective life and is currently developing digital research methods and data听visualization techniques to support such research.
Nii Armah Sowah is associate teaching professor in the听Department of Theatre & Dance.听Sowah is a Ghanaian-born arts听educator, and he studied at听the University of听Ghana鈥檚 School of Performing听Arts where he was also the principal dance听instructor and choreographer.听His research and teaching interests include听African-centered听pedagogy, cross-cultural education, arts for human development,听African cultural philosophy, and arts for social听change. He is the Director of the 1000 Voices Project,听whose aim听is to build community and cross-cultural understanding through the introduction听of African songs, rhythm games, dance, and storytelling.听
Ross Taylor is assistant professor of听journalism.听His professional recognitions听include National Photographer of the Year,听Northern Photographer of the Year, New听England Photographer of the Year, Virginia听Photographer of the Year and North Carolina听Photographer of the Year (twice). His coverage听of an Afghanistan trauma hospital garnered numerous international and national听awards, and his work has also appeared twice on the cover of the Best of听Photojournalism magazine. Taylor is also a documentary filmmaker. His films听have been in more than 40 film festivals and his most recent film, The Hardest听Day, is now available for streaming on the PBS platform.听
Bethany Wilcox is assistant professor of physics and听a member of the Physics听Education Research group. Her research听interests include understanding and addressing听students鈥� difficulties utilizing sophisticated听mathematical tools and techniques in the听context of physics problem听solving. In听addition to investigating students鈥� difficulties听in the context of a single course, she is听also interested in understanding how these听difficulties change longitudinally as students advance through the curriculum听and encounter these mathematical tools in multiple contexts. S
Emily Fiebig is听an exceptional intervention听teacher at Northridge Elementary in Longmont,听part of St. Vrain Valley Schools. Despite听personal challenges, Fiebig shows up to work听with a smile on her face and a passion for听helping students. She is a master at developing听positive relationships听with students and earning听their trust and respect through her kindness听and humor, a nd she embodies the spirit听of education. Fiebig鈥檚 expertise in identifying student needs and customizing听her instruction to meet those needs is unmatched.听
Tara Kawalec听teaches 7th grade science at STEM Launch K-8 in Thornton听part of Adams 12 Five Star Schools, where she teaches students, collaborates听with parents, mentors young teachers and student teachers, and collaborates听with peer teachers. Each interaction she has with all of听these stakeholders听is intentional and genuine. Kawalec loves to guide students through the social听emotional difficulties of middle school. Her love of听science and ability to infuse听students with that same love and the positive energy from the environment of听her classroom carries over into other classes.听
Vera Moreno-Hamm has been a bilingual educator in Boulder Valley Schools听since 1989, and she has been mentoring students, teachers and leaders for听decades. As a Bilingual Literacy Interventionist at Columbine Elementary and听proud CU Boulder alumna of both bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees, Moreno-Hamm听fosters a sense of belonging among her students to this day, and she does听incredible work with students to increase their skills in听reading and writing in听both Spanish and English. Vera is kind, consistent, and supportive and she sets听high expectations for students. Moreno-Hamm听appreciates, validates, accepts and treats听students fairly 鈥� four indicators of belonging, said a former student and听her nominator.