DIGITAL GCU Today AUG issue

GCU MAGAZ I NE • 33 Edith Sarmiento, M.A. in Reading with an Emphasis in Elementary Education, ’16, is a third-grade teacher at A.J. Mitchell Elementary School in the Nogales (Ariz.) Unified School District. Last year at her school, her students scored the highest on the AzMERIT test in English language arts and tied for the highest in math. Sarmiento received recognition for her work at the NUSD governing board meeting in April. Keira Jones, B.S. in Psychology, ’16, is a full-time blogger in Phoenix. Her blog, “Style Me Fair,” focuses on educating readers about fair, conscious and sustainable fashion. Christopher Gates, B.S. in Educational Studies, ’16, and MPAwith an Emphasis in Government and Policy, ’17, published his second book, “Unwind. Up, Up, and Away!”, in April. Gates has more than a decade of experience in K-12 education and is a certified social and emotional intelligence coach in Miami Gardens, Fla. Mack Olsen, B.S. in Marketing, ’16, is the product director for Portland Gear, a Portland, Ore., company selling T-shirts, accessories and hats for men and women. In February, Olsen collaborated with another GCU graduate, Brady Harrison, to launch Hiney Underwear, a men’s underwear subscription service. Brady Harrison, B.S. in Business Management, ’17, is the co-owner with Mack Olsen of Hiney Underwear, a men’s underwear subscription service. Hiney is his third company, including Frigid Aspect, an Alaskan winter apparel company he founded right after high school. ReaganWright, B.S. in Business Management, ’17, is the Public Relations and Marketing Director at Bloguettes, a creative strategy and design studio in Phoenix. Wright also offers freelancing services and runs her own lifestyle blog, “On the Reag.” Tammy McGarity, DNP, ’17, is the director for the Center for Clinical Excellence at a Magnet hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She is responsible for a team of nurse educators and for programs such as orientation, residency and frontline leadership development. Molly Turner, B.S. in Counseling with an Emphasis in Addiction, Chemical Dependency and Substance Abuse, ’18, a former GCU beach volleyball player, turned pro this summer and qualified for the main draw of tournaments in Seattle and San Francisco. Turner and her partner won three qualifying matches and earned $1,000 each for reaching the round of 16 in each tournament. GCU NEWS ‘Top of Class’ gets high marks The “Top of the Class” podcast from the College of Education, founded by Emily Pottinger and Dr. Meredith Critchfield, can be accessed through iTunes and listened to on numerous devices, including smart phones, while exercising or commuting. “I think it is going very well,” Pottinger said. “We are getting very positive feedback. Listeners are saying that it is informative and it is uplifting the field of education. Especially in light of some challenges in the field, it is a breath of fresh air. “We have a close-knit group of faculty, so we know from our faculty on campus and our online faculty, we know from those listeners that they are having continued conversations on these relevant topics.” —THERESA SMITH STEM webinars branch out Dynamic STEM duo Corinne Araza, Director of K12 STEM Outreach, and Marni Landry, K12 STEM Outreach Manager, got their feet wet in the webinar world over the summer by helming two “STEM Ready” podcasts for the Virginia-based National Catholic Education Association’s website. The mission: to help Catholic school educators with their science, technology, engineering and math efforts. Those two webinars were steppingstones for the pair – and for Strategic Educational Alliances, which will produce GCU’s own platform of teacher-development webinars in the 2018-19 academic year to further scale professional development in critical need areas, such as STEM, inquiry and strategic planning for K-12 audiences. “We will move forward in different professional-development topics, but, by and large, to start out, it’ll be STEM-ready topics because that is the area that will best support the development of STEM-ready students for GCU,” Araza said. SEA will launch its first webinar in October. Araza said the topic will be STEM and Christian worldview. — LANA SWEETEN-SHULTS Dr. Meredith Critchfield (left) and Emily Pottinger. photo by david kadlubowski