Fifteen students and recent alumni stepped onto the Kanbar Auditorium stage in Studzinski Hall to receive their Maine teacher certifications at the 2014 Honors Day ceremony, marking their completion of Bowdoin’s rigorous Teacher Scholars Program.
Each of the participants – three Bowdoin seniors, nine graduates of the Class of 2013, and three graduates of the Class of 2012 – carried out a full-time, 14-week teaching practicum in a local public high school or middle school this spring, having previously fulfilled requisite coursework.
The newly minted teachers are Laura Hilliard Armstrong ’12, Lianna Kathleen Bessette ’13, Cullen Joseph Brownson ’14, Jessica Sara Caron ’13, Bridget Catherine Connolly ’14, Zoe Danielle Eiber ’13, Hope Kittredge Gimbel ’12, Sarah Herd Hirschfeld ’13, Brian Heseung Kim ’13, Caroline Peabody Moore ’14, Kristin J. M. Rogers ’12, Megan Michelle Samson ’13, Anders Clark Samuelson ’12, Patricia Susan Thibodeau ’13, and Spencer George Vespole ’13.
Their majors span the Bowdoin curriculum, including math, biology, physics, English, Spanish, history, economics, and earth and oceanographic studies. Read more about this year’s cohort of Teacher Scholars, and take an in-depth look at their remarkable activities this spring.
Dispersed across ten different schools for their immersive teaching experiences, the fifteen participants convened once each week for a collaborative teaching seminar led by Bowdoin education professors Charles Dorn and Katie Byrnes. Each year the practicum and seminar culminate with a defense of teaching practice and principles and the presentation of a professional portfolio, in which the participants demonstrate their competency in Maine’s ten initial teaching standards. Having successfully completed the program, they receive full endorsement for Maine initial teaching licensure (with Highly Qualified Status) and reciprocity in all 49 other states.
Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd offered her congratulations for the success of the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars. “It was just fantastic to see so many students and recent graduates on the stage on Honors Day to receive their teaching certifications – a great testament to an impressive and important program that our education faculty and staff have built at Bowdoin.”
