Students honored for outstanding scholarship and superior accomplishment

The College of Education recently hosted its 16th annual Recognition Dinner, honoring those who have contributed to the success of this past year.
From donors and alumni of the past to current students of the present, there was a shared feeling of gratitude emanating from everyone in attendance celebrating the mission of the College of Education to transform education.

To Build a Brighter Future

Building a Brighter Future links education from generation to generation, creating ripples of positive impact that will benefit teaching and learning in perpetuity.

Although there are many accomplishments from our students that are a great source of pride, three graduate and three undergraduate students have been identified after a rigorous selection process for their superior accomplishments during this academic year: Charlotte Bolch, Emilie Lenes, Jiahui Wang, Adrianna Escobales, Ellie Chenoweth and Paige Fitzpatrick.
This group of scholars has proven their competency, skill, and dedication in their passionate pursuit of becoming educators. Taking on this endeavor requires a full commitment, and these students have exceeded the norm, going beyond what is required.
These students are part of the momentum that will take us into the promising future. The awards underwrite the capabilities of these scholars, recognizing their dedication and drive to share knowledge.
The generosity on part of the donors is an investment in educators of the future, ensuring that COE students are able to reach their highest potential as scholars and enrich their professional careers. Connecting donors and scholarship recipients strengthens the education community, building bridges that unite us to go farther.

Graduate Student Awards

2018 Outstanding Graduate Leadership Award Winner: Charlotte Bolch
The Outstanding Graduate Leadership Award is given to an advanced-degree student who demonstrates a commitment to service and leadership for the college, university and community.

Charlotte Bolch’s academic and leadership trajectory signals a bright future ahead. Charlotte has served in many leadership capacities, most recently in the role of vice president of the Organization for Graduate Student Advancement and Professional Development (OGAP), treasurer for both the Florida Society of Social Sciences and the Education College Council, and as an executive board member for the Student Alliance of Graduates in Education (SAGE). In these roles, Charlotte supports her fellow students and our entire college and university community. From informal mentoring to more formal activities such as helping to organize the annual Graduate Student Research Day, Charlotte has established herself as an invaluable leader her at the University of Florida.

2018 Outstanding Graduate Professional Practice Award Winner: Emilie Lenes
The Outstanding Graduate Professional Practice Award recognizes a student who demonstrates excellence in professional activities related to educator preparation including pedagogy, best practices, assessment, and the translation of research to improve practice.

Emi is an exceptional scholar and a skilled and dedicated professional that is licensed as both a mental health counselor and a marriage and family therapist. Currently, Emi practices at the PACE (Practical and Academic Cultural Education) Center for Girls but has also practiced with the Shands Vista Crisis Stabilization Unit for seven years. Emi has demonstrated outstanding professional practice in the field of counseling through service to her clients, continuous professional development, training of counseling professionals, and supervision of counselor education and counseling psychology students. She has dedicated herself to the study of holistic counselor preparation. Emi’s dissertation study is an examination of a mindfulness intervention to improve multicultural competence in counselors.

2018 Outstanding Graduate Research Award Winner: Jiahui Wang
The Outstanding Graduate Research Award recognizes a graduate student who demonstrates outstanding scholarship and strong evidence of publications, professional presentations and professional development activities in support of the College of Education’s mission.

Already acknowledged as an exceptional researcher by her mentors and colleagues, Jiahui’s work is consistently of the highest caliber. Her research is some of the best scholarship that is being produced at our college and the University of Florida. Juahui was instrumental in establishing the Neuroscience Applications for Learning Lab (NeurAL Lab) and has represented the university and the lab with a fellowship with the Visual Learning Lab at Harvard University. She has published in top-tier journals, such as Dyslexia and Computers in Human Behavior, regularly and received ten awards for her outstanding research and service to the profession and the community for the 2016-2017 year alone. Committed to impacting the effectiveness of teaching and learning through her research, Jiahui’s dissertation examines the influence of instructor presence in instructional videos.

Undergraduate Student Awards

These awards recognize a student in the Unified Elementary ProTeach program and two students in the Unified Early Childhood program for their superior accomplishments.
“These undergraduate students are truly amazing,” said Associate Dean of Research & Faculty Development Thomasenia Adams, “They have demonstrated exemplary service and leadership, outstanding teacher preparation & readiness and superlative scholarship while maintaining exceptionally high GPA’s. They have made the College of Education very proud.”

2018 Outstanding Undergraduate for Unified Elementary Education ProTeach: Adrianna Escobales
Adrianna is driven to impact education and her community. She will be graduating Magna Cum Laude and her high honors project was founded on moral education and using literature such as Harry Potter for instruction (titled: Teaching Morality: An exploration of Moral Education through Harry Potter). Adrianna has been a member of both Kappa Delta Pi and SFEA since Fall 2017. Her community service has benefitted the Relay for Life at UF, Salvation Army Homework Club, Salvation Army Community Feedings, and Mentor UF. Adrianna is passionate about Language Arts and social studies instruction and, specifically, working with English language learners. Her dream job is teaching fifth grade in a dual language school.

2018 Outstanding Undergraduate for Unified Elementary Education ProTeach: Ellie Chenoweth
Ellie Chenoweth is that rare individual that aspires to teach and give back to the community in every facet of her life, from spending her summers with kids at Finley Day Camp in Raleigh, NC to starting the first College of Education Dance Marathon team (raising over $4,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network). Ellie is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, serves as a College of Education student ambassador, and has maintained a 3.9 GPA. Ellie is driven to teach in lower elementary grades in a Title 1 school setting and hopes to positively impact her future students’ lives. Although Ellie loves teaching, she still has time to watch Iowa State basketball and Ellen Degeneres.

2018 Outstanding Undergraduate for Unified Early Childhood Education: Paige Fitzpatrick
Paige has known that she wanted to work in the field of early childhood education since the 10th grade. This has not only influenced her program of study but also led to her working at Baby Gator since her freshman year. Paige’s primary focus in early childhood education is reading instruction and intervention and her dream job is a reading coach at a school in Atlanta, Georgia. Don’t let that fact fool you. Paige is a true Gator, an avid UF baseball fan and attending almost every single UF men’s basketball game this year. Additionally, Paige is a member of the UF chapter of Sigma Kappa Sorority. Her favorite quote is from the teacher and author, Erin Gruwell, who expressed that “If you can change a classroom, you can change a community, and if you can change enough communities, you can change the world.”

Congratulations to all

It is a true honor to gather with students, donors, and administration and reflect on the tremendous amount of effort that has led to a prolific year.

The academic achievements and donor contributions serve as an inspiration for the college to continue with the pursuit transformative education measures. Congratulations to the scholars and thank you to the donors.

“The collective scholarship, commitment and momentum here tonight represent the University of Florida and all for which it stands – a bright beam of light, illuminating our college for all to see,” remarked Dean Glenn Good, “That is what we are celebrating here tonight. Our shared experience and our growing momentum from our combined efforts.”

Our annual Recognition Dinner is one of our college’s brightest nights of the year. A time to cheer for our accomplishments, to revel in our shared experience and appreciate the growing momentum from our combined efforts. Here’s a quick look back at the evening: