Dr. Charles Henderson passed away on July 13, 2012 at his home in Jacksonville, Florida at the age of 85.  Born in Gainesville, Florida, Dr. Henderson earned his Doctorate in Education from the University of Florida in 1967.  He also served in the U.S. Navy during World War ll.

Dr. Henderson was the principal of the UF College of Education’s P.K. Yonge Laboratory School and a professor in UF’s College of Education Department of Instruction and Curriculum for 21 years.  In 1985, he retired early as professor emeritus, but continued to teach part time until 1998.  Dr. Henderson was a member of the team that established the Florida Association for Staff Development and he was presented the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Florida Educational Leadership Award in 2000.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ann Messer Henderson.

The Florida Times-Union obituary for Charles Henderson.

Dr. Bert Purga passed away on Thursday, August 9, 2012 at Cape Canaveral Hospital at the age of 62.  The Merritt Island resident was provost of the Palm Bay campus from 1994 until 2007.  During his tenure, the campus underwent numerous expansion projects.

The New York native started his career as a teacher at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake, NY.  He later earned his doctorate degree in education from the University of Florida in 1979.  Dr. Purga was recognized by the University of Florida as an Institute of Higher Education Outstanding Graduate.   He also served as dean and president in the Eastern Iowa Community College system.

His surviving immediate family includes: his wife, Margaret, and his son, Jonathan.  Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am, Tuesday, August 14th at Divine Mercy Catholic Church, Merritt Island, to celebrate his life.

 

Randy (BAE ’96 & MED ’98, Elem. Ed.) and Amy (BAE ’93 & MED ’94, Elem. Ed., EDS ’02, Ed. Leadership)  Hollinger, longtime educators at P.K. Yonge, are now bringing their love of teaching to Santa Rosa Beach.

The Hollingers have a history of being “out-of-the-box thinkers”, especially in education. They are the founders of the new TESLA (Technology Engineering Science Leadership Academy), an alternative learning environment.  According to the website, “students are engaged in learning that provides a balance of technology based and hands on approaches to their learning.”  The school opened more than a year ago with 15 students and has since grown to 33 students, ranging in age from second grade to high school.

Examples of the hands on projects the students at TESLA are involved in include raising Mexican Axolotls, an endangered, water-dwelling salamander, and building their own Tesla coil from scratch.

 

Randy Hollinger inherited his love of teaching from his parents.  Dr. Tom Hollinger is a retired professor at UF and his mom, Mrs. Sandy Hollinger is Deputy Superintendent of schools for Alachua County.  Says Randy, “My mom and my dad both are not just teachers, they’re really good teachers…I would think of the things people had said about my mom or what they’d said about my dad and think, ‘If I’m going to be a teacher, I want people to say those things about me someday'”. Turns out, he has achieved this goal having received numerous awards from a Scholarship of Engagement Award at UF, to being voted one of Gainesville’s most interesting people.

Amy Hollinger has served as assistant principal of P.K. Yonge’s Elementary School, and as a teacher at J.J. Finley Elementary school.  During her career, Amy has been very involved; leading and coordinating numerous programs, attending professional conferences, chairing committees including the School Advisory Council, and giving professional presentations.

After submitting a top-rated research article, recent College of Education doctoral graduate Stephanie Dodman (PhD ’11, curriculum and instruction) has been awarded a Special Interest Group Scholarly Award by the American Educational Research Association, a national interdisciplinary research association with about 25,000 professionals in the field.

Dodman, an elementary education assistant professor at George Mason University, was recognized for her dissertation-based paper by the School Effectiveness and School Improvement Special Interest Group (SIG), a division of AERA that encourages members in school effectiveness and improvement specialties to conduct research, evaluate school programs and exchange ideas. Dodman also received a $300 check.

Her dissertation underlined the issue of accountability for chronically failing high-poverty schools, building on previous research findings that without strong internal conditions, schools will not improve. Dodman presented a case study of effective internal reform in an underachieving, high-poverty elementary school and presented a theory of school reform based on her findings.

After receiving her bachelor’s and M.Ed. degrees from UF in 2001 and 2002, respectively, Dodman taught in Florida public schools and worked on a team at UF’s Florida Museum of Natural History creating a science-literacy curriculum for Head Start. Dodman joined George Mason’s education faculty last fall after earning her doctorate at UF.  In addition to teaching curriculum and instruction courses, she dedicates time to Westlawn Elementary in Virginia, where she is a Professional Development School university facilitator. She also works with a high-needs charter school in Washington, DC as part of a school improvement partnership effort.

Truly Hardemon (MED 2012, Curriculum & Instruction) recently shared how her degree from the UF College of Education has impacted her life.

“Though it sounds cliche, going through the M.Ed. program has changed my life and confirmed my passion for life-long learning.  I have met so many interesting educators working with educational technology from a wide variety of perspectives.  The program opened new windows into online teaching and learning in higher education, exposed me to the rich history the military has in distance education and innovation, and gave me a better understanding of the exciting challenges of integrating technology into K-12 educational environments. I have the firm belief that my graduate degree will serve me well, whether I remain in higher education or take a bigger step and move toward K-12 education.”