More than 80 alumni of the Fredonia-Hamburg Teacher Education Center, a yearlong student teaching partnership that’s enjoyed four wonderful decades, gathered in East Aurora, N.Y., in April to mark a milestone between SUNY Fredonia and Hamburg Central School District. The attendees showed their love of teaching and passion about the preparation they received.
“This is a night for all of us to celebrate,” beamed Carolyn Mooney, program coordinator. President Virginia Horvath emphasized the importance of the collaboration, as well as how unique this program is in the field. Christine Givner, founding dean of the College of Education, added how proud she was that the clinically rich program is still thriving after all these years.
Other speakers included the College of Education’s Ann Marie Loughlin, director of the Office of Field Experiences; Jacquelyn Rasulo, ’95, who will succeed Mooney as program coordinator this fall and enter her 17th year at the district’s Boston Valley Elementary School; and Dr. Donna Okrasinski, ’00, who serves as Race to the Top Education Specialist of Educator Quality for the Rhode Island Department of Education.
Okrasinski traveled some 500 miles to pay tribute, saying it, “laid the roots for successful teaching and learning,” in her early career. She conducted a case study of the program in her doctoral dissertation, and believes it gave her a more solid foundation as an educator.
Dr. John Connelly, one of the program’s early professors, attended.
Its founder, Dr. Daniel Wheeler, shared his congratulations and fond memories via a letter which was read. Marianne Chiumento, who was retiring as the program’s college supervisor, was honored, along with Mooney.
The guest list was “book-ended” by three members of the original class of 1973 – Dave D’Angelo, Joe Vuich and Robb Mair – and 12 teacher candidates from the Class of 2013. Today, the program takes place over the span of the school year and includes on-site methods
