Kudos: Tolosa-Casadont receives Glickman Challenge grant; Bahar receives Emerging Scholar in Gifted Education Award; Russian Flagship program students visit Capitol Hill

Bahar receives Emerging Scholar in Gifted Education Award

Kadir Bahar, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, recently received the 2023 Emerging Scholar in Gifted Education Award from the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC). The organization’s emerging scholar award recognizes recipients in the first 10 years of their career who have impacted the field of gifted education through their research, leadership, or service.

“Receiving the Emerging Scholar in Gifted Education Award from the WCGTC is a great honor and a tremendous responsibility,” said Bahar. “It means that my research and passion in this field are recognized and valued by my peers worldwide, and that I can make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of gifted education.”

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Tolosa-Casadont receives Glickman Challenge grant

Lou Tolosa-Casadont, a clinical professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, received the Glickman Challenge Grant provided by professor emeritus Carl Glickman and his wife, Sara, to support faculty in implementing collaborative projects in high-needs schools.

Tolosa-Casadont will extend her collaboration with Christian Cordón, a Spanish teacher at Clarke Central High School (CCHS), to create a Reading Nook and a Reading Club to support learners enrolled in Spanish for native speakers beginning at their current levels of language acquisition and cultural understandings. The collaboration will also support them in their individual development and growth that will extend their linguistic abilities and cultural knowledge through collaborative projects, discussions, and in-school service to the school community.

The Reading Center will be a free voluntary reading program that will take place daily in Cordón’s classes to allow students to select, read, and discuss Spanish books at different levels with a goal of increasing reading abilities and comprehension. The Reading Club will be organized and scheduled by the students either before or after school and will include reading for pleasure and talking about books of their choice. Learners will provide service to the whole school community through peer-tutoring in Spanish for learners at all levels, and they will also develop programs throughout the year to increase knowledge and awareness of Spanish-speaking countries and the Spanish-speaking diaspora, including topics of immigration and culture. These will be designed 100% by learners and will be presented to the whole school community.

Two main events will take place in the fall and spring. The fall event will align with Hispanic Heritage month, and the spring event will celebrate Black History month. These events will be presented to the whole school community during the school day and will include multimodal approaches. Learners in these clubs, supported, guided, and advised by CCHS teachers and Tolosa-Casadont, will envision and create their own displays and performances to be shared with the whole school community.

Thank you to the Glickman Challenge Grant committee, comprised of Mary Frances Early College of Education faculty and school partners, who reviewed multiple worthy proposals:

Kathy Thompson, chair, Department of Educational Theory and Practice
Ruth Harman, previous recipient, Department of Language and Literacy Education
Jennifer Scott, Clarke County School District

Russian Flagship program students visit Capitol Hill

Students enrolled in the advanced coursework of the Russian Flagship program recently participated in a field trip to Washington, D.C. They met with representatives from Senator Warnock’s and Ossoff’s team on Capitol Hill to ask questions about professional pathways to public service, discussed national security careers with representatives of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office and Institute of International Education, learned about federal scholarships and internships requiring critical language proficiency, and toured the nation’s capital with a certified Russian-speaking tour guide.

The Russian Flagship Program is a collaborative initiative between the Department of Language and Literacy Education and the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, funded by The Language Flagship, a public/private partnership sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP).