Student Spotlight

CASE Student Cultivates Lifelong Learning as Student-Teacher

October 30, 2020

Student Spotlight

Simeon McCray, from Norristown, Pennsylvania, is a fifth-year student in the Combined Accelerated Studies in Education (CASE) program. In this Q&A, he discusses his student teaching experience, the connection he feels with students, and how he avoids teacher burnout. His quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

How did you choose the CASE program?

Equity and Justice Scholar Seeks to Support Underrepresented Students

October 27, 2020

Student Spotlight

Robin-Renee Allbritton, a PhD student in urban education and an Equity and Justice Scholar, has a passion for creating research that supports underrepresented, first-generation college students.

EdD Student Improves College Access for Pittsburgh Public Schools Students

September 14, 2020

Student Spotlight

Tasha Peacock, a first-year EdD student in Urban Education and a Gates Millenium Scholar alumna, has improved college access for local students through her work with the Pittsburgh Admissions Collaboration.

Master’s Student Aims to Open Doors for First-Generation and Multicultural Students

September 14, 2020

Student Spotlight

Jinx Mclean, a first-year student in the Master of Education in Higher Education Management program, uses their voice to open doors for fellow students.

Master’s Student Aspires to Improve Programs for Autistic Children in Saudi Arabia

September 8, 2020

Student Spotlight

Reema Manshi is a first-year student in the Master of Education in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) program and the recipient of the Your Job and Scholarship award from Saudi Arabia. Born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, she aspires to use the knowledge gained at Pitt Education to improve programs for autistic children in her home country.

PhD Student Aims to Shatter Stereotypes for Pacific Islanders

September 7, 2020

Student Spotlight

Jarime Chaco, a first-year PhD student focusing on Urban Education, uses his writing to show young Pacific Islanders how education can open doors. In this Q&A, he discusses his experience at Pitt Education, his non-traditional path to a PhD, and dancing.

EdD Spotlight: Leading Equity and Justice in K-12 Education

August 28, 2020

Student Spotlight

Denise LaRosa is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at The Ellis School, a private, all-girls school in Pittsburgh for children ages 3 through grade 12.

EdD Students Create Scholarship to Pass on the Spirit of Equity and Justice

August 11, 2020

Student Spotlight

After the deaths of George Floyd and many other Black Americans, the School of Education's 2019 EdD cohort was moved to action and created the Equity and Justice Spirit Award endowment.

PhD Student Wins Research Award for Examining Teacher Well-Being

August 5, 2020

Student Spotlight

PhD student Ashley Shafer's research poster, “Increasing Teachers’ Well-Being and Capacity to Implement through a Community of Practice” won the national prize at the Society for Prevention Research’s 2020 Early Career Preventionist Network (ECPN) Student Poster Contest.

Heinz Fellow Helps Students Cross Virtual Finish Line in the Pandemic

July 21, 2020

Student Spotlight

Erica Roberts, a Heinz Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education’s Center for Urban Education found a way to support the social and emotional growth of her third-grade female students at Weil Elementary in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood through the Girls on the Run (GOTR) Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.

Three Vision Studies Students Receive Education Awards

May 18, 2020

Student Spotlight

Three vision studies students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education were honored with 2020 scholarship awards from the Association for Education Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), the nation’s leading professional organization for educators in blindness and visual impairment.

Health and Physical Activity EdD Student Wins Research Award

April 24, 2020

Student Spotlight

Trisha Cousins, an EdD student in Health and Physical Activity at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, won the Best Research Methods Award at the virtual 2020 Pennsylvania Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting and Exhibition Session in April.

PhD Student wins Pitt Graduate Student Government Award

April 20, 2020

Student Spotlight

Ashley Shafer, a PhD student in Applied Developmental Psychology, received the 2020 Leadership and Service Award from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG). The award honors her work with “demonstrated innovation, boundary-breaking outreach, and dedication to the continuation of service.”

Through GPSG, Shafer has facilitated conversations...

Virtual Dissertation Defense Facilitates Connection in Time of Social Isolation

March 25, 2020

Student Spotlight

After four years of intense work as a PhD student in the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, Marijke Hecht’s big day as a scholar was almost here. Her dissertation defense—an occasion set months in advance that, if successful, would be her culminating achievement as an emerging researcher—was scheduled for March 18, 2020.

Then the...

Language Policy the Focus of PhD Scholarship Recipient

January 17, 2020

Student Spotlight

Published 1/17/2020

Within the private, international primary and secondary schools of Indonesia, which are popular among expatriates and wealthy citizens, the official language of instruction has long been English. Starting in the early 2000s, English-mediated instruction was implemented in public schools across many provinces, reaching over 1,000 of the country’s top schools...

Scholarship Helps Future Childhood Education Teacher

January 17, 2020

Student Spotlight

Amanda Simm’s passion for teaching children began in middle school. It was then that she first volunteered at the Mayo Beach Adaptive Day Camp in Maryland for children with disabilities. She liked the camp so much that she returned for seven consecutive summers, rising from being a volunteer to the lead counselor.

H.J. Heinz Fellow Brings Swahili Language and Culture to Pittsburgh

January 10, 2020

Student Spotlight

Mercy Jematia grew up in Mossoriot, a rural town in the North Rift of Kenya. Now, she is studying Social and Comparative Analysis of Education (SCAE) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education as an H.J. Heinz Fellow. The Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh awards the fellowship to students from developing countries who wish to pursue a master’s degree and have...

Student Teacher Receives Dick Thornburgh Disability Service Award

November 22, 2019

Student Spotlight

As a young boy, Timothy Grebeck, who is autistic, was picked on by his classmates.

“I used to get bullied because my peers saw that I was different, but they didn’t know why,” recalls Grebeck.

Grebeck could have gotten angry with them. He could have become withdrawn. Instead, he did what comes naturally to him. He began to educate his classmates on what it means to be...

Student Team Earns Top 10 Finish at Sports Medicine Conference

November 21, 2019

Student Spotlight

Get your buzzer ready for a Jeopardy question about the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

These students finished in the top 10 of the Mid-Atlantic American College of Sports Medicine Conference (MARC-ASCM) College Knowledge Bowl.

If you answered, “Who are Pitt Education Health and Physical Activity Students,” then you are correct.

This November,...

EdD Student Named to Pittsburgh 40 Under 40 List

October 2, 2019

Student Spotlight

The Pittsburgh 40 Under 40 Award, presented by Pittsburgh magazine and PUMP, recognizes “outstanding individuals under the age of 40 whose creativity, vision and passion enrich the Pittsburgh region.” And Lauren Wallace is just that.

Wallace, a 29-year-old proud Pittsburgher, is in the final year of the EdD program at the Pitt School of Education, where she specializes in...

Two Students Receive Chancellor's Staff Award for Excellence

August 16, 2019

Student Spotlight

Two Pitt School of Education students were recently awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Staff — an honor that recognizes the highest level of achievement by University of Pittsburgh employees.

Lauren Wallace, who is in her second year of the Doctor of Education (EdD) program, works as the director of undergraduate recruitment for the university’s Office of Admissions and...

Pair of Doctoral Students Receive Dissertation Fellowships

August 16, 2019

Student Spotlight

A pair of University of Pittsburgh School of Education doctoral students are among the 35 recipients of dissertation fellowships from the National Academy of Education for the 2018-19 academic year. Jamie Amemiya, a doctoral candidate in the Applied Developmental Psychology program, and Oscar E. Patrón, a PhD candidate in Administrative and Policy Studies, will each receive...