Jennifer Bond (BS '98, Elementary Education), Matthew McCullough (BS '02, Secondary Education; MA '09, Educational Leadership), Michelle Oppenheim (BS '03, Secondary Education), Donna Rummel (BS '98, Secondary Education), Sara Schymick (BS '05, Elementary Education), and Jonathon Wennstrom (BS '95, Elementary Education), alumni from the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies (TLES) have been selected for the 2015-16 American Achieves Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship.
According to the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship website, “The Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship, as a branch of the national America Achieves Teacher & Principal Fellowship, empowers outstanding teachers and principals to elevate their voices in public conversations about teaching and learning, to assume leadership roles in their schools and communities, and to influence education policies at the local, state, and national levels, including the implementation of college- and career-ready standards.”
TLES alumni Michigan Educator Voice Fellow biographies:
Jennifer Bond (BS '98, Elementary Education) has been an educator since 1999. The majority of those years have been spent teaching at Glengary Elementary in Walled Lake, Michigan. Bond has embraced weekly BYOD Days, Passion Time, and the Maker Movement into there educational routine, as well as running after school programs to foster creativity. Her classroom was featured in Look I'm Learning, a documentary that highlighted the impact of digital learning. She hopes to impact the hearts and minds of the educational system through the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship.
Matthew McCullough (BS '02, Elementary Education; MA '09 Educational Leadership) is currently an Assistant Principal at Onsted Community Schools and has previously held positions as an administrator, teacher, academy leader and curriculum lead in Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor. McCullough has been honored as an Exemplary Nominee for the ASCD National Outstanding Young Educator of the Year and the Michigan Education Association Excellence in Education Teacher of the Year. As a Michigan Educator Voice Fellow, McCullough hopes to increase awareness of the amazing things Michigan educators do each day on behalf of their students.
Michelle Oppenheim (BS '03, Secondary Education) has been teaching english at Waverly High School for eleven years. Oppenheim has enjoyed serving as her high school’s Teachers Learning Together (TLT) Manager for the past five years. Through the Fellowship, Oppenheim is looking forward to shining a light on the good work going on in public schools and plans to turn to the experts, or as she calls them, "teachers in the trenches" for ideas to make them better.
Donna Rummel (BS '98, Secondary Education) is the Project Manager for the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship. Upon graduation from WMU, she taught high school English at Black River Public School in Holland, Michigan and at South Haven High School in South Haven, Michigan. She was also an Instructional Specialist at South Haven Public Schools and focused on initiatives such as Project Based Learning, Response to Intervention, and a district wide transition to the Common Core State Standards. As the English Educational Skills Specialist and Adjunct English Instructor at Lake Michigan College she worked with first-generation, disabled, and low income students, helping them complete their associate’s degrees and transfer to four-year universities. Prior to this, she coordinated the Ingham County Youth Commission in Lansing, MI where she served on the Mayor’s Race and Diversity conference committee and as the co-chair of the Community Coalition for Youth Media and Community Awareness. Donna earned her Master of Educational Leadership degree from Siena Heights University.
Sara Schymick (BS '05, Elementary Education) has been an educator for nine years at various grade levels and has served on and charged numerous school committees. Her first six years were spent at Clintondale Community Schools where she taught grades K-1 and 5-5. For the past three years, Schymick has been teaching science. Schymick was recently selected as the 2014-15 Michigan Association for Middle School Educators (MAMSE) Educator of the Year. Through the fellowship, Schymick plans to share the amazing and dedicated work of various public school educators.
Jonathon Wennstrom (BS '95, Secondary Education) is currently an elementary principal at Rosedale Elementary in Livonia Public Schools. He has been an educator for twenty years and is a former high school wrestling coach. Wennstrom is excited to be a member of the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship and plans to advocate for and celebrate the work of public school teachers and administrators.
Other alumni from the College of Education and Human Development to participate in this fellowship include: Carolyn Bolduc (MA '14, Educational Leadership), Joshua Bridges (BS '05, Career and Technical Education; MA '13, Educational Technology), Erin Mastin (Graduate Certification in Educational Technology), and Shelley Peets (MA '01, Educational Leadership).
To learn more about the Michigan Educator Voice Fellowship please visit their website at miedvoice.org.