Elon M.Ed. graduates challenged to expect more, empower more and embrace more

PHOTO GALLERY: Master of Education Commencement Ceremony – Aug. 20, 2016

With the challenge to expect more of their students, to empower them within the classroom and to embrace diversity, Elon University conferred degrees Saturday morning to the most recent graduates of its Master of Education program. 

Nine graduate students received their degrees during the Aug. 20 Commencement ceremony at Whitley Auditorium that also saw five candidates receive academically/intellectually gifted licensure certificates. For graduates, it was the culmination of three years of academic work completed while they were continuing their work in the classroom as teachers. 

In her Commencement address, Kebbler Williams ’98, an education planning and development consultant with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, asked the graduates to think back to a classroom they have led filled with a diverse group of students, and how they approached the challenge of helping children from a broad range of backgrounds succeed.  

“When expectations outweigh your students’ backgrounds, you open their worlds to endless possibilities,” said Williams, who serves as secretary for the Elon University Board of Trustees. “As educators, you have the power to give your students a voice. Allow them to see themselves in the artwork on the walls, in the stories that are read, in the word problems that are used, and in the discussions that are held — both formally and informally.”

​Williams noted that she was delivering her remarks where she began her own journey as an educator, which has included serving as a principal in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. Williams received her master’s degree in school administration from N.C. State University and her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, Williams works with charter schools to ensure academic excellence, Elon’s Ann Bullock, dean of the School of Education, noted during her introduction of Williams. 

Along with expecting more from those they are charged with educating and empowering students to identify themselves as learners, Williams challenged the new Elon graduates to embrace those differences they find within their classrooms. 

“If we do not talk about our differences and how to handle them in our classrooms, the result is a deafening silence,” Williams said. “We must come together. Whether you are a citizen of the United States, Colombia, China or anywhere else in the world, it is your duty as an educator to help our society to heal by teaching your students to be better — embracing all of the things that make them unique individuals and teaching them to embrace the diverse qualities of all the people they meet.”

​Paola Contreras completed her degree while teaching first grade at Elon Elementary in a Spanish immersion program, and she was one of six native Colombians in this year’s Master of Education program class. 

“I feel this program is very strong in promoting leadership,” Contreras said before processing into Whitley Auditorium to receive her degree. Asked about what she takes away from the program, Contreras said, “Now I know now how to look for resources that are research-based. It’s taught me how to be inquisitive.”

In his charge to the new graduates, Elon University President Leo M. Lambert said they join a rich Elon tradition, a long line of exceptional educators who have answered the call to shape the minds and the hearts and the spirits of young people.

“You bring ideas alive, transforming ignorance into curiosity and respect, conformity into innovation, dependence into self-reliance and apathy into inspiration,” Lambert said.

2016 Graduates of the Master of Education program:

Tatiana Alexandra Álvarez Guzmán

B.A., Universidad del Tolima

Yeimi Estrella Cabrera Marín

B.A., Universidad del Valle

Kelly Braxton Coble

B.A., Elon University

Paola Andrea Contreras Ramirez

B.A., Universidad Coopertiva de Colombia

Cynthia Yaneth González

B.A. Universidad Technologica de Pereira

Tammy Geneva Moore Laws

B.S., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Jhonatan Marín Mesa

B.A., Universidad Pontifica Bolivariana

Jaime Alberto Osorno González

B.A., Universidad de Antioquia

Linyong Yao

B.A., Hangzhou Normal University

 

2016 Recipients of Academically/Intellectually Gifted Licensure Certificates:

Elizabeth Stuckey Estes

Paulita Musgrave Gross

William Stanley Holland

Emma Johnson Linn

April McKinney Neathery