Eight initiated into USAO education honor society
Eight students at the University of Science and Arts were honored in the fall 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.
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.
The guest speaker at the initiation ceremony was Curt Parker, Great Expectations mentor/master teacher, who spoke on "Transforming Lives through Education...ONE TEACHER at a Time.
Students initiated include Mary Rios, a deaf education major from Lawton; Jennifer Kappel, an elementary education major from Oklahoma City; Stormi Foster, a physical education major from Rush Springs; Garan Qualls a physical education major from Stratford, Priscilla Barth an elementary education major from Blanchard; Gabrielle Martinez an elementary education major from Oklahoma City; Christie Sandefur an elementary education major from Yukon; and Shelby Young an elementary education major from Pocasset.