Kenny Renner-Singer, M.A.T. ‘00, has been named Washington State Middle Level Principal of the Year. He is the principal at Icicle River Middle and Beaver Valley Elementary schools in Leavenworth.

Carolyn S. Carr, professor of educational leadership, has been recognized as an “ally” of Latino school administrators in Oregon.

Kurt Nelson M.P.A. ’98 writes about the clash between native and non-native populations in the Pacific Northwest from 1853 to 1859, a key period in the region’s history in his new book Treaties and Treachery: The Northwest Indians’ Resistance to Conquest.

Matt Love M.A.T. ’88 blends an eclectic variety of literary genres—along with more than 100 photos—in this homage to Newport’s Yaquina Bay Bridge, Love & The Green Lady.

Allen Webb, M.A.T. ‘86, earned his degree in Language Arts and after six years of teaching high school went on to earn a Ph.D. and become a professor of English at Western Michigan University. In 2011, he published three books on literacy instruction—all at once. His books are Teaching Literature in Virtual Worlds: Immersive Learning in English Studies, Teaching Literature of Today’s Middle East, and Teaching to Exceed the English Language Arts Common Core Standards.

Professor Teresa McDowell is a recipient of the Anslem Strauss Award, presented by the National Council on Family Relations.

Elena Garcia-Velasco M.A.T. ’97 earned Oregon’s top teaching honor.

Maureen Daschel M.A.T. ’87 received a statewide honor for her exemplary work as a science educator.

Sean McEnroe, M.A.T. ‘94, changed careers from being a high school science teacher to become one of a growing vanguard of Atlantic historians, who see the cross-Atlantic relations among the Americas, Africa, and Europe as sharing a collective narrative that cannot be cleanly segregated from one another’s influence. McEnroe now teaches history at Southern Oregon University. A recent article about Oregon volunteers in the Philippine Wars of 1898 and 1899 won the Joel Palmer Award for Best Article of the Year in the Oregon Historical Quarterly. McEnroe has served on the Oregon History Project Advisory Board and provided consulting and research for the Oregon Historical Society.

Lisa Cach M.A. ’96 has written a young adults that follows a teen’s journey to a boarding school in France and her dreamscape encounters with a handsome boy from the 1500s. It’s called Wake Unto Me.

Steven Hawley M.A.T. ’96, a journalist and self-proclaimed “river rat,” argues that the best hope for the Snake River lies in dam removal, a solution that pits the power authorities and Army Corps of Engineers against a collection of Indian tribes, farmers, fishermen, and river recreationists, in his new book Recovering a Lost River: Removing Dams, Rewilding Salmon, Revitalizing Communities.

Donald Altman, M.A. ‘04, brings the benefits of mindfulness down to earth and into everyday life. With fifty exercises and practices to build awareness and center attention, you will discover how to savor routine pleasures, build fulfillment in your work, enhance and heal relationships, change unhealthy habits, and connect to peace even in the midst of chaos or uncertainty.
New World Library, 2011. 200 pages.

Longtime graduate instructor Paul Copley receives a fond farewell in this tribute celebrating his impact as an educator.

Jill Ellis M.Ed. ’75 discussed hearing loss in young children at a TEDx conference focused on teaching compassion.

Commencement speaker Stephen Krashen has garnered attention over his assertion that poverty is the most important challenge facing schools today.

Deborah Peterson is one of 279 students who celebrated commencement on June 5, 2011

Jeff Rose, Ed.D. ‘08, has been described as a “rising star.” Indeed, the 38-year-old is now among the youngest superintendents in Oregon. He has been chosen to lead the Beaverton School District, the third largest in Oregon with 39,000 students.

Alumnus and science teacher Andrew Wex M.A.T. ’05 earned a Reader’s Choice Award for Best Teacher sponsored by his local newspaper.

Frustrated with life, teaching, and the inability to become a writer, Matt Love M.A.T. ‘88 escaped Portland in 1997 at 33 years of age and moved to the Oregon Coast. A year later he became caretaker of the 600-acre Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge. During his decade (1998-2008) as caretaker, he helped restore the grounds to fuller ecology, discovered a love for teaching, and reinvented himself as a writer and historian who established Nestucca Spit Press and eventually won the 2009 Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award from Oregon Literary Arts. Gimme Refuge is his passionate 177-page account of his teaching career, experience as caretaker, and awakening as an Oregonian.

Alumna Janice Packard M.A.T. ’94, a teacher at Estacada High School, was named Oregon’s art educator of the year.

Forbes Magazine recently named Portland #4 in it’s latest ranking of most relaxed cities.  The ranking was based on factors that contribute to a less stressful life, including lower commute times, less hours spent in the office, and a healthier lifestyle.

Alumnus and educator Tim Schulze’s efforts to help ESL students earned him this local media coverage about his fledgling summer program.

Heather Cordie IAL ‘04 has been selected as Superintendent of the Sherwood School District. Colleagues describe her as student-centered and collaborative in this newspaper profile.

Bill Rexford, M.A.T. ‘92 has teamed with Lewis & Clark to lead an initiative that would improve American history education in rural Oregon.

Lynn Peirce M.A. ’83 applies her counseling degreeto her work in the nursing field, offering psychiatric care for elderly patients.

Kurt Krueger M.A.T. ’74 was elected president of Concordia University Irvine, a private, liberal arts university in California.