Eight faculty and staff members of Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), along with the RCOE Professional Core Committee, were recently honored with 2020 RCOE awards.
- Matthew Thomas-Reid: Inclusive Excellence Award
- Tempestt Adams: Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
- Alecia Jackson: Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award
- Jill Van Horne: Outstanding Mentoring Award
- Tammie Gelderman ’14: Outstanding Staff Award
- Stacey Garrett: Outstanding Service Award
- Beth Buchholz: Outstanding Scholarship/Creative Achievement Award
- Angela Brown ’14: Outstanding Adjunct or Instructor/Clinical Faculty Award
- Reich College of Education Professional Core Committee: Community of Practice Award
RCOE faculty, staff and students were invited to submit nominations in ten categories: Inclusive Excellence, Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, Outstanding Graduate Teaching, Community of Practice, Outstanding Mentoring, Outstanding Service, Outstanding Staff, Outstanding Administrator, Outstanding Scholarship/Creative Achievement and Outstanding Adjunct or Instructor/Clinical Faculty. For 2020, the Outstanding Teaching Award was changed to two awards: Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and Outstanding Graduate Teaching Awards.
Nominated individuals or groups were then asked to provide supporting portfolios, which were reviewed by the RCOE Awards Committee. Recipients were announced at the RCOE Faculty/Staff Closing Meeting on Thursday, April 30, which was held virtually via Zoom. Awards will be presented to recipients at a later date.
Committee Chair, Dr. Debra Prykanowski, assistant professor in the RCOE’s Department of Reading Education and Special Education, and ex-officio member, Rebekah Saylors, RCOE’s director of marketing, communications, and engagement, expressed thanks to all who nominated a colleague or submitted a portfolio.
“It was so important in a year that was unlike any other that we recognize the amazing work that is happening in the RCOE,” said Prykanowski. “The committee received many strong nominations this year, all of which were worthy of being recognized.”
“It is an honor to be a part of a process that supports community within the college and recognizes the accomplishments of our colleagues,” she added.
Though there were no completed portfolios for the RCOE Administrator Award, the RCOE Awards committee recognized all of the administrators and thanked them for their tireless service during this unprecedented time - Dean Melba Spooner, Associate Dean Monica Lambert, Associate Dean Terry McClannon, department chairs - Dr. Denise Brewer, Department of Family and Child Studies; Dr. Elizabeth Campbell, Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Amy Cheney, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; Dr. Amy Milsom, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling; and Dr. Woody Trathen, Department of Reading Education and Special Education; and directors - Dr. Andrea Anderson, Lucy Brock Child Development Laboratory Program; Dr. Vachel Miller, Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership; and Ike Smith, James Center for Student Success and Advising.
Prykanowski and Saylors also thanked committee members for their time and service on the committee: Dr. Sonja Ardoin, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling; Dr. Beth Frye, Department of Reading Education and Special Education; Dr. Dominique Hammonds, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling; Ron Henries, Adjunct Representative; Melissa Isaacs, Staff Representative; Dr. Aleica Jackson, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; Dr. Greg McClure, Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Patrick O’Shea, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; Dr. Pamela Shue, Department of Family and Child Studies; and Dr. Ashley Whitehead, Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
2020 RCOE Awards Recipients
Dr. Matthew Thomas-Reid
2020 Inclusive Excellence Award
Dr. Matthew Thomas-Reid, assistant professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. Photo submitted by University Communications
Thomas-Reid (he/him/his) is an assistant professor of educational foundations in the RCOE’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian and an affiliate faculty with Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies. He earned a Ph.D. in cultural studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a M.A.T. in middle grades social studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a B.A. in history from Mars Hill University. His areas of research include philosophy of education, social justice education, and queer pedagogy. He joined the college’s faculty in 2016.
“When I first became a teacher, I was told that in order to be successful I would have to hide an important aspect of my identity,” said Thomas-Reid. “This award is deeply personal for me because I have made it my mission in my teaching, service and scholarship to advocate for educational spaces where nobody ever has to hide who they are.”
Thomas-Reid is the faculty advisor for the Gay and Progressive Pedagogy (GAPP) student organization at Appalachian and is editor of Philosophy, Theory, and Foundations in Education. His areas of research include Philosophy of Education, Critical/Liberatory Pedagogies, and the intersections between Queer Theories and Educational Praxis and Policy.
His current research projects focus on utilizing LGBTQIA+ histories and narratives with a view toward 'queering' pedagogy, praxis, digital literacies, and most recently, assessment practices. In his teaching, Thomas-Reid is committed to Feminist and Queer Performative Pedagogies, which seek to decenter the classroom space and prioritize the safety of those with marginalized identities over the comfort of those with normative identities. In his service work he is committed to advocating for trans*, non-binary, and gender nonconforming students at Appalachian.
Dr. Tempestt Adams
2020 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
Dr. Tempestt Adams, assistant professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Photo submitted by University Communications
Adams is an assistant professor of career and technical education in the RCOE’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Appalachian. She earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction- urban education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a MBA from Pfeiffer University, and a B.S. in business and marketing education from North Carolina State University. She joined the college’s faculty in 2017. While earning her MBA, she worked as a high school business and marketing teacher in Wake County.
“The RCOE is undoubtedly made up of outstanding educators, so I am extremely honored to receive this award,” said Adams. “As a teacher, I work hard to build relationships and set a standard of excellence for my students, while working just as hard to ensure their proficiency.”
“It is my hope that when my students leave my courses, they not only feel more prepared for their next steps but more confident,” she added.
Adams’s research closely examines the educational experiences of Black students and faculty. More broadly, her research interests are college and career readiness, teacher preparation, and urban education. She recently began to explore nonconventional research methods such as autoethnography and arts-based research. She has published in journals including the Journal of Advanced Academics and the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research.
Her service and leadership extend across the profession and the community including her work with the RCOE Inclusive Excellence team, various supporting roles with Freedom School Partners in Charlotte, and being named the new incoming President-Elect for North Carolina Association for Research in Education.
Dr. Alecia Jackson
2020 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award
Dr. Aleica Jackson, professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. Photo submitted by University Communications
Jackson is a professor of qualitative research and social science theory in the RCOE’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies at Appalachian. She earned her Ph.D. in language education from the University of Georgia, M.S.Ed. in middle grades language arts from North Carolina State University, and B.S. in middle grades language arts education from the University of Georgia. She joined the college’s faculty in 2003 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2009, professor in 2014. She began her teaching career almost 30 years ago as a public school teacher.
At Appalachian, Jackson has taught 19 different courses and has directly and closely mentored 40+ students in dissertation and thesis work as well as independent studies and research-based products of learning. She has been involved in curriculum revisions for the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership, developing and offering new courses that are on the cutting edge of qualitative research methodologies and sociocultural theory.
Jackson is committed to delivering a rigorous education to those who live in the Appalachian region and who may have few options for pursuing a post-graduate degree. “It is my belief and commitment that now, more than ever, teachers, educational leaders, and future researchers need to become critical consumers and producers of their professional lives,” she noted.
“This award is dedicated to all the students who have struggled with difficult concepts, have challenged their own cherished ways of thinking, and have disturbed normalizing practices so that they can ‘talk back’ to common-sense ideologies,” said Jackson. “Their critiques of educational practices that further damage marginalized and vulnerable people, and their advocacy for radical change in how structures work and what they do, make possible the new futures that we desperately need.”
Jackson is “dutifully focused on who students might become after being in one of the courses that I teach.”
“My teaching provides an intellectual space for this to happen, and my hard work as an educator happens both inside and outside the space of the classroom as students work to make sense of their shift in thinking; oftentimes, these shifts occur long after our course is over,” she said.
“In my 16 years as a teacher in the Reich College of Education, I have learned to foster learning that engenders discovery, creativity, knowledge construction, critique, and proactive change,” she added.
Dr. Jill Van Horne
2020 Outstanding Mentoring Award
Dr. Jill Van Horne, assistant professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling. Photo submitted by University Communications
Van Horne is an assistant professor of professional school counseling in the RCOE’s Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian as well as the program director. She earned her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision and a certificate in play therapy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, M.A.Ed. in school counseling from Western Carolina University, and B.A. in theological studies from Lenoir-Rhyne University. She joined the college’s faculty in 2014.
“Appalachian State is such a student-focused institution and mentoring is a part of each student's success story,” said Van Horne. “To be chosen by faculty and staff of the RCOE for my mentorship is an incredible honor.”
Van Horne’s experience spans from school counseling, the hospital setting, outpatient therapy in schools, to consulting with public and alternative schools. She holds a NC Professional School Counselor License and a NC Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor (LCMHCS). In addition, she is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (RPTS), and is Eagala certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning. Her research interests include incorporating multi-sensory techniques in working with children and adolescents and extending the dialogue between professional school counseling and clinical mental health.
Tammie Gelderman ’14
2020 Outstanding Staff Award
Tammie Gelderman, Reich College of Education’s Office of the Dean Administrative Support Associate. Photo submitted by University Communications
Gelderman serves as an Administrative Support Associate for the RCOE’s Office of the Dean. She earned a MPA from Appalachian and a B.S. in business management from the University of Phoenix. She joined the college’s staff in 2007.
“I work with many wonderful people who give so much of themselves and are each deserving of this award,” said Gelderman. “It is quite an honor to have been nominated for and to receive this award.”
Gelderman currently serves as the assistant director of the RCOE Emergency Team and is a member of the RCOE Technology Advisory Committee, RCOE Communications Team, and the RCOE Inclusive Excellence Team. At the university level, her service includes staff senator on Appalachian’s Staff Senate, with memberships on the AppKIDS sub-committee, Fundraising sub-committee, and Events sub-committee, and a volunteer for Freshman Move-in Day.
“To work with the many people I do university-wide and to have the opportunity I have to give back to the community has truly been a blessing,” she added.
Dr. Stacey Garrett
2020 Outstanding Service Award
Dr. Stacey Garrett, assistant professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. Photo submitted by University Communications
Garrett is an assistant professor of higher education in the RCOE’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education from Clemson University, a M.Ed. in counseling psychology with a concentration in college student personnel administration from James Madison University, and a B.B.A. in marketing from College of William and Mary. She joined the college’s faculty in 2017.
“I am truly honored to be recognized for Outstanding Service,” said Garrett. “From my undergraduate involvement to my early career as a student affairs professional to my current work as a faculty member, service remains at the core of all that I do. Fifteen years later, I am still walking out the purpose of my sorority and my lifelong commitment ‘to be of service to all mankind’.”
Her research agenda focuses on the diversification of higher education, with current studies entered around the experiences of Women of Color faculty.
For the second year in a row, Garrett recently received the Alternative Service Experience (ASE) Outstanding Learning Partner Award for her work with the International ASE program in Belize from Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT) office.
Dr. Beth Buchholz
2020 Outstanding Scholarship/Creative Achievement Award
Dr. Beth Buchholz, assistant professor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Reading Education and Special. Photo submitted by University Communications
Buchholz is an assistant professor in the RCOE’s Department of Reading Education and Special Education at Appalachian. She earned a Ph.D. in literacy, culture, and language education and a M.S. in elementary education from Indiana University and a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She joined the college’s faculty in 2015.
As a researcher, Buchholz studies at the intersection of new literacies, play, multimodal composing, and childhood studies. She works to extend current sociocultural theories to explore the social, ideological, and critical work of children as they collaboratively compose texts and identities across physical and digital boundaries. She is committed to ethnographic methodology, deeply rooted in the complexity of daily life in real classrooms, as a means of co-constructing knowledge with teachers, children, and families. In a second (overlapping) strand of her research, she embraces a teacher inquiry stance and seeks to understand ways to effectively prepare novice literacy educators and support current inservice teachers in designing and enacting instruction for young children’s literacy learning.
“This award is significant in that it highlights the collaborative spirit that I aim to embody in my scholarship: engaging in research projects that bring together faculty and research assistants across departments and institutions, as well as faculty learning from/with teachers and children in local K-12 school settings,” said Buchholz.
“This award also honors my commitments to building relationships as a way to co-construct knowledge with teachers, children, and families rather than simply placing them as the objects of study,” she added.
Earlier this year Buchholz received the Elizabeth G. Sturtevant Exemplary Article Award from the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) for her article “Failure is an Option: Making Room for Mistakes in Literacy Education”. The article was published in Educating for a Just Society: Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers Yearbook.
Angela Brown ’14
2020 Outstanding Adjunct or Instructor/Clinical Faculty Award
Anglea Brown, adjunct instructor in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Photo submitted by University Communications
Brown is a full-time adjunct instructor of career and technical education (CTE) in the RCOE’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Appalachian. She earned a M.A. in educational media/instructional technology with a concentration in new media and global education from Appalachian State University and a B.S. in Accounting and Business Education from Virginia Tech. In addition, she is a former workforce educator with NCWorks and Wilkes Community College.
Brown joined the college’s faculty in 2013 as a part-time adjunct instructor and was offered a full-time position in 2018. During her time at Appalachian, she has taught undergraduate courses in business communications, personal money management, and teaching and learning in the digital age. Her teaching focus is to provide a professional, collaborative, positive, flexible, global, and inclusive learning environment for online and face-to-face courses.
“I am honored to receive this award and grateful for the opportunity to teach within a college and university that puts teaching first (#firstteach),” said Brown. “I enjoy challenging my students to take small steps, personally, professionally, and financially to make a difference in their lives as well as others.”
She also added, “I am proud to be a Mountaineer!”
Reich College of Education Teacher Education Professional Core Task Force
2020 Community of Practice Award
The Reich College of Education Professional Core Committee: Denise Brewer, Jeff Goodman, Monica Lambert, Terry McClannon, Greg McClure, Tracie Salinas, Rebecca Shankland, and Gayle Turner.
The RCOE Teacher Education Professional Core Task Force has been working much of the past three years to reconceptualize and redesign the professional core, a component of all teacher education programs at Appalachian. The work has been guided by a primary statement/question: “How might we create a transformative experience that promotes social justice, models democratic pedagogy, inspires reflective teaching, cultivates a diverse learning community, and is integrated within the entirety of teacher education?”
For the 2019-2020 academic year, the focus has been on idea convergence. The Task Force along with expanded teams began course development, troubleshooting, and making recommendations. Committees, departments, programs, and other key stakeholders vetted the proposed core. Implementation of the new core is scheduled for the 2021-2022 academic year.
The Task Force draws together a variety of members, disciplinary approaches, and expertise to develop shared values, cultivate community, and utilize a negotiated collection of practices in its work. Members of the task force are Dr. Denise Brewer, associate professor and chair in the RCOE’s Department of Family and Child Studies; Jeff Goodman, senior lecturer in the RCOE’s Department Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Monica Lambert, associate dean and professor in the RCOE’s Department of Reading Education and Special Education; Dr. Terry McClannon, associate dean and professor in the RCOE’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; Dr. Greg McClure, associate professor in the RCOE’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Tracie McLemore Salinas, professor in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Mathematical Sciences and director of the RCOE’s Mathematics and Science Education Center; Dr. Rebecca Shankland, associate professor in the RCOE’s Department of Reading Education and Special Education; and Dr. Gayle Turner, associate professor in the RCOE’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies.
Many of the members mentioned the work the Task Force is doing will “make the Appalachian teacher education experience even more transformative”, “benefit our students and public school partner needs”, and “model for our students the potential for collective decision making in education.”
Salinas, who has coordinated the group this year, noted, “Working with a team is always rewarding, especially a team that has been as functional, reflective, and thoughtful as this one. The group, also including former members PJ Nelsen and Nickolas Jordan, spent more time developing trust than I had ever seen a group allow. That's a key component of developing a true Community of Practice.”
“Winning the award shows that the teacher education community embraced this approach and values its results,” she added.
RCOE Award Recipients
