College of Education

Photos by David Kadlubowski and Mathew McGraw GCU News Bureau The first of four Spring Commencement sessions celebrated graduates of the College of Education and College of Humanities and Social Sciences on Monday morning. It included a diploma awarded posthumously to Bionca Sparrow, mother of GCU basketball player Oscar Frayer, who was killed in an auto accident last month. The student speaker was Kayla Peterson of the College of Education.    

It was a year that demanded adaptability. And this year’s graduating class was among the most flexible and driven, GCU leaders said Monday morning during the first of four Commencement ceremonies at GCU Arena. Few exemplify that more than the student speaker, Kayla Peterson. She endured a learning disability and then decided to be a teacher. She said it’s her calling now to help others find their purpose.

Sonya Berges, Assistant Professor in the College of Education, loves distance education. She especially loves it when she can reach out to adult learners who share their struggles. “While I may not be able to share the story of Christ with every student, I believe that my actions of grace and compassion, especially over the past year, model a bit of the love and grace Christ offers,” she wrote. 

There were innovations aplenty as GCU dealt with the pandemic. But none of the required alterations were more visible than the cutouts in GCU Arena, where the basketball environment still was plenty loud enough to be noticed by visiting coaches. Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

One teacher bought a special seat cushion to make a child with autism feel more comfortable in the classroom. Another grew a garden. The stories of what GCU alumni did with the money granted by Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers are inspiring. The organization sponsored by GCU helps those teachers make their students’ dreams come true, too.

At the one-year anniversary of when COVID-19 first affected GCU’s campus, it’s a good time to reflect on how we endured. These five Lopes provide prime examples of determination, ingenuity and resolve who didn’t settle for just making it through but making it better. Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

Jeanne Sanchez of Kenosha, Wisconsin, needed help to get through a year filled with death and destruction. Associate Professor Dr. Kimber Underdown went out of her way to provide it. It’s yet another example of the caring, personal attention online students receive from their GCU instructors. “I’m not some perfect person sitting in an ivory tower and nothing is touching me,” Underdown said. “… They are students, but they are people first.” Reprinted from the February issue of GCU Magazine.

Participants in the Kevin McClean Research Colloquium said they got a lot out of the experience. So did those who merely observed. And as important as it was for faculty, it might have been even more beneficial for students on both sides of the equation. “I honestly couldn’t believe that students who are here at GCU are already learning about all those things and starting to do research projects like that on their own,” junior Klarissa Gutierrez said.

The first day of the Kevin McClean Research Colloquium featured nine impressive presentations, but the three by students on desert plants were the talk of the attendees. “Those kids were impressive, good gravy,” said one of the other presenters, College of Education Professor Jena Akard. The colloquium continues at 3 p.m. Thursday with eight more presentations.

There will be so many presentations at the fourth annual Kevin McClean Research Colloquium, it will take two days for them to all be shared. The colloquium will begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, will be entirely online and will feature five GCU students as well as a wide array of faculty members. It is the fulfillment of McClean’s wish to see the event grow.