Submitted by Saint Martin’s University
Saint Martin’s University’s College of Education and Counseling (CEC) has received a grant to host a teaching equity conference on campus this fall. The CEC was awarded the grant by the Teaching Equity Network (TEN), which is composed of the Professional Educators Standards Board, the Washington Education Association, and the Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education. The conference has a proposed theme of “Advocating and Teaching for Educational Equity” and will bring together educators and future educators from the region to equip, empower and encourage them to be strong advocates for equity within their spheres of influence. Educational consultant Erin Jones of Erin Jones, LLC, is slated to deliver the keynote presentation for the conference, which is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 27, 2018.
“This grant is a wonderful recognition by the Professional Educators Standards Board, the Washington Education Association and the Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education,” said Kate Boyle, Ph.D., interim provost. “The College of Education and Counseling at Saint Martin’s University is pleased and humbled by the recognition of our faculty and the community partners with whom we are working to examine and improve our focus on access and equity. We are so excited to work with our K-12 Education partners in the surrounding counties by providing the conference on teaching and equity.”
“Saint Martin’s is bringing the community and educators together,” said Linda Maier, Ph.D., assistant professor of education and director of the School Administration Programs. “The conference will provide an opportunity to network and share resources in order to create a learning environment that is inclusive and supportive for all students.”
Maier and the other conference organizers hope to involve participants from Thurston County, Lewis County, Pacific County, Grays Harbor, Mason County, and from selected schools in Pierce County. The conference will feature sessions on diverse topics, including proposed sessions on advocating for indigenous youth, students of color, military home students, English-language learners and immigrant students, students in poverty and LGBTQ students.
More details about the conference and registration information will be released in the next two months and will be made available on the Saint Martin’s University website. Please contact Dr. Linda Maier at lmaier@stmartin.edu for additional information.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent, four-year, coeducational university located on a wooded campus of more than 300 acres in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 13 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 27 majors and ten graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education, nursing and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes more than 1,300 undergraduate students and 250 graduate students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its Lacey campus, and more students to its extended campus located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Visit the Saint Martin’s University website at www.stmartin.edu.