Spotlight on Success

Zachary Little, C'13, was named a Maryland Distinguished Teacher Candidate by the Maryland Association of Teacher Educators on Saturday.  Zachary, an elementary and special candidate major at Mount St. Mary's, excelled in his internships where he demonstrated a care for the individual through his daily planning, reflection, and collaboration with other school personnel.  Dr. Barbara Marinak, university supervisor, accompanied Zac to the award ceremony

Outstanding future teachers of Mount St. Mary’s University, Amy Allison, Emily Guertin, Ashley Rozanski, Margaret Kenney, and Joni Herrell, attended the 2013 Teachers of Promise Institute April 12 along with Dr. Stacey Brown-Hobbs, PDS Liaison, and Dr. Barbara Martin Palmer, Dean, School of Education and Human Services. It was a day of learning as some of the nation’s top educators addressed the group, including 2011 Maryland and National Teacher of the Year Michelle Shearer and State Superintendent Dr. Lillian Lowery.  In addition, future teachers were paired with mentors, current or former Maryland Teachers of the Year, and the mentoring relationship will extend beyond the Institute into the first year of teaching.  The Institute is meant to attract and maintain the best and the brightest teachers to Maryland public schools.  The institute was sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland Independent Colleges and Universities, SMART Technologies, and Comcast.

The Criminal Justice Student Association recently took a field trip to the Secret Service Training Academy in Beltsville, MD.  They heard a lecture about the history of the Secret Service, and learned that it was originally formed in 1865 to fight counterfeiting (two thirds of American currency was counterfeit in 1865).  They also learned about how the Service conducts protection training for not only the president and vice president and their families, but also ex-presidents and their families, presidential candidates, and many diplomats.  The facility houses the Presidential Limos, a canine division, an urban training site, and copies of Air Force One and Marine One used for training exercises.  They got a tour of the Secret Service firearm archives (amazing) which includes the gold plated handgun that Elvis gave to President Nixon.  They spent an hour on the mats with the martial arts trainers and another hour at the simulation shooting range firing at electronically simulated targets and participating in various real life “shoot – don’t shoot” scenarios.  It was an incredible experience for everyone.

Pictured with members of the CJSA are Drs. Marty Malone and Tim Wolfe. 

Talk about hands-on learning! Duffy is a year old Cassini Peregrine falcon from Argentina who recently came to visit Professor Denton’s Science Methods classes.  Her owner and trainer, Paul Dubois, is the father of one of our Mount graduates, Hannah Dubois, C’11.  He has been raising falcons and training them to hunt since 1970. Every year he brings a different falcon to the Science Methods classes as part of the predator/prey lessons. His wealth of information about falconry is always well received by the Education students. Duffy is one of nine falcons owned by Mr. Dubois. He expects his falcons to hatch up to 12 eggs this spring. 
Pictured with Duffy is Maggie Noel, C' 14. 

Two extraordinary alums from the School of Education and Human Services were recently inducted into the inaugural class of the Mount St. Mary's Dean's Circle of Excellence. Barbara Spartana Conticelli, C'78, and Michele Egan McGuire, C'87, were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in service to their community, and their work in the field of education.
Conticelli graduated summa cum laude from the Mount and began her career teaching, and then worked in the home raising her children, Maria and Anthony. Conticelli also spent time working as a paralegal and has recently committed to earning her master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University. Conticelli has been a servant to the Church, leading various Scripture studies, sponsoring candidates becoming Catholic in the Rite of Christian Initiation, and living a life of witness to the Catholic faith.
McGuire began her teaching career with the Montgomery County Public Schools, teaching first- and second-grade students. In 2003, she received the Christa McAuliffe Scholarship, a full scholarship, to earn her M.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) from the University of Maryland, and is currently teaching ESOL to students pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Germantown, MD.