College of Education

Graduates of the online program at Grand Canyon University always have inspirational stories to tell, and this year they were equally inspired by keynote speaker Gian-Paul Gonzalez’s talk — and by the celebration that is a GCU commencement ceremony.

If the graduates at fall commencement didn’t know about ninth-grade world history teacher and New York Giants chaplain Gian-Paul Gonzalez before they got to GCU Arena, they sure do now. Gonzalez’s keynote addresses at the five ceremonies were a hit every time, and in addition to all the standing ovations he also was descended upon by a sea of thankful listeners when he came out to watch the “tunnel walk” after the Saturday morning ceremony.

Photos by David Kadlubowski and Travis Neely GCU News Bureau The final fall commencement ceremony at Grand Canyon University was solely for the College of Education. There were 725 graduates participating Saturday afternoon.  

Photos by Slaven Gujic and Travis Neely GCU News Bureau The Friday evening ceremony of fall commencement at Grand Canyon University featured 637 nontraditional graduates in the College of Education and College of Nursing and Health Care Professions (bachelor’s level).      

Eighty GCU students are in the class room already, gaining valuable experience by teaching lessons in math, science, social studies and art at nearby Westwood Elementary for students from preschool through Grade 3.

Increasingly, students at Grand Canyon University are adding minors. These extra concentrated courses give students deeper knowledge in a branch of their major, an increased skill set, a complement to their major, or a completely different academic area to explore.

A mixture of logical debate strategies for pro-life arguments and anecdotes about the sanctity of human life highlighted GCU’s second annual Bioethics Conference, Human Dignity: Clash of World Views. One speaker refused to abort her daughter and refused to use stem cells from fetuses to aid her brain damaged son. Another speaker shared heartfelt steps to ease grief from the loss of a newborn.

The new master’s degrees in teaching content programs at GCU meet educators’ needs, enabling high school teachers to keep their jobs teaching dual enrollment and adjunct college professors to maintain their positions at colleges and universities. The programs were designed to dovetail with the standards imposed by the Higher Learning Commission, which oversees colleges and universities in 19 states, including Arizona.

The second annual Bioethics Conference, titled “Human Dignity: Clash of World Views,” is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 20, at GCU Arena and the First Southern Baptist Church.

GCU is always evolving, with new buildings rising up and offices and colleges moving to new spaces. All the change makes for an interesting first-day of class. The GCU News team fanned out on Monday to talk to students, professors and even the Success Patrol and Academic Career Excellence Centers, who there there to make sure students found their classrooms.