Twelve initiated into USAO education honor society

Twelve students at the University of Science and Arts were honored recently as they were initiated into Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education.

"We are very proud of these initiates," said Dr. Jeanne Mather, sponsor of the group and professor of education at USAO.

"Each has excelled in college, understands the importance of being a lifelong learner, and is expected to be an outstanding educator, one who will truly make a difference in his or her students’ lives."

To be eligible for membership, a student must exhibit the ideals of scholarship, high personal standards, desire to help others, and promise in the teaching and allied professions.  In particular, students must have completed 30 credit hours of college work, including at least 9 hours of professional education credit, be admitted into the teacher education program, and have an overall grade point average of 3.0 or higher, on a 4.0 scale. 

These students were initiated: Tamara Awbrey, a senior early childhood education major from Chickasha; Cody Bogle, a senior natural sciences major from Chickasha; Erin Coggan, a junior early childhood education major from Cedar Hill, Texas; Tiana Cook, a senior early childhood education major from Moore; Samantha Fowler, a senior physical education major from Mannford; Elizabeth (Corie) Harris, a senior deaf education major from Norman; Jamie Harvey, a junior early childhood education major from Chickasha; Rebekah Kiefer, a senior deaf education major from Chickasha; Whitney Null, a senior physical education major from Duncan; Emily Potter, a junior deaf education major from Locust Grove; Julia Scott, a senior elementary education major from Tuttle and Meghan Scott, a senior elementary education major from Newcastle.

The guest speaker at the initiation ceremony was Kyle Dahlem, executive director of the Da Vinci Institute, who spoke on "What’s Creativity Got to Do with It? or How I Came to Be Part of the Future.”

Dr. William Bagley founded Kappa Delta Pi in 1911 at the University of Illinois. The organization was established to foster excellence in education and promote fellowship among those dedicated to teaching. The founders chose the name from the Greek words to represent knowledge, duty, and power.

Pioneering from its beginning by including women as well as men, Kappa Delta Pi grew from a local chapter to the international organization it is today, comprising of 582 chapters and more than 45,000 members.

Local members are involved with many community activities including Books For Tots -- which provides books for needy children during the Christmas season.