Notes from the Class of 2012

Magda Chia is Director of Support for Underrepresented Students for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, leading efforts to ensure the assessment system is designed to serve the needs of all students.

Ben Domingue received the AERA Division D Outstanding Quantitative Dissertation Award. An article based on his dissertation will appear in Psychometrika. He is spending the year in Colombia, developing a model for the national education evaluation agency (ICFES) that will assess the effectiveness of higher education programs.

Derrek John Eldredge graduated from the Navy School of Music, where he completed basic training and played in one of the Marine Corps's bands.

Darrell Jackson is Assistant Professor at the University of Wyoming Law School, where he uses critical race theory and legal analysis to research issues of access and retention for historically marginalized communities in higher education.

Erin Kroll is teaching 2nd grade at Twin Peaks Charter Academy in Longmont, CO.

Whitney Millikin is teaching 9th grade Language Arts at Manual High School in Denver Public Schools. She is thrilled to return to DPS, where her interest in education was initially sparked as an AmeriCorps*VISTA.

Laura Mirabito is a Reading Specialist in the Special Education Department for Jefferson County Schools.

Ryan O’Block is teaching Physics, Earth Science, and Robotics at Overland High School in the Cherry Creek School District.

Jaime Passchier is the Master Teacher for the K-8 Expeditionary Learning School, Homestake Peak School, in Avon, CO.  She is responsible for on-site professional development and coaching and leads the Adventure program.

Megan Powers is becoming certified to teach K-12 Art.

Jessica Romero is teaching 7th Grade Core Plus and Language Arts at Fox Ridge Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District.

M. G. Saldivar is an NSF-funded post-doctoral researcher at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University. His research focuses on STEM teachers' use of digital resources for teaching and assessment.

Marcia Thurston is a substitute teacher in three Colorado school districts in addition to coaching cheerleading, gymnastics, and skiing.

Nikki Tobias is teaching 9th and 12th grade Language Arts at Fort Lupton High School.

Carlee Easton is a 5th grade teacher in Tulsa, OK. She is there through Teach for America, an organization committed to closing the achievement gap for minority and low-income students.

Brad Bartels is currently the Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel of the Colorado Education Association.

Graham Slater is pursuing a PhD in Education, Culture & Society at the University of Utah. He studies how neoliberal schooling produces student subjectivities through human capital ideology and standardized curricula and testing. Using critical theory, he also seeks to rethink educational collectivity and autonomy. His work is forthcoming in the Journal of Education Policy and Educational Studies.

Mary Butler is teaching AP Literature and World Studies at Legacy High School in Broomfield, Colorado.

Dana Ripperton is the Karen M. Gil Internship Manager in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She was hired to develop and run this program from the ground-up when it was launched in February 2014, and has already seen the program flourish.

Sean Smith, an elementary education licensure graduate, is living and working in Singapore as a fifth-grade teacher and is wrapping up his fifth year. He enjoys spending time with his wife and three children as well as exploring Singapore when they can. Last year, he completed his MA degree in leadership for international educators from the University of Northern Iowa.