Two Westminster Alumnae Honored as Missouri’s Outstanding Beginning Teachers

Westminster alumnae Lori Fletcher ’14 from Columbia, MO and Haylee Rethman ’14 from Fulton, MO were recognized March 29 as two of Missouri’s Outstanding Beginning Teachers at the spring conference of the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE), held at the Columbia Conference Center in Columbia, MO.

Fletcher, a secondary education and mathematics major at Westminster, teaches at Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, MO.  Rethman, a Spanish, English and Secondary Education major at Westminster, teaches at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Jefferson City, MO.

Chair of Westminster’s Education Department Dr. Jim Concannon as well as Professors Bob Cowles, Mary Majarus and  Sue Serota attended the ceremony.

The Outstanding Beginning Teacher Awards recognize teachers in their first two years of service who demonstrate excellence in serving children in school districts across Missouri. Fifty-nine of the approximately 8,000 teachers who were certified in the last two years were given engraved glass apples for their dedication and service to Missouri’s schools and communities.

Award recipients were selected based on recommendations from Missouri’s state and nationally recognized teacher education programs and a recommendation from candidates’ school districts.

Awards recognize teachers in their first two years of service who demonstrate excellence in serving children in school districts across Missouri. Fifty-nine of the approximately 8,000 teachers who were certified in the last two years were given engraved glass apples for their dedication and service to Missouri’s schools and communities.

Awardees were challenged to continue their work by creating fair classrooms through a pedagogy of care in a professional development session conducted by Dr. Lauren Arend, professor of education at Saint Louis University, and to be stalwarts for democratic thought during the keynote address by Dr. Julian Vasquez-Heilig, professor of educational leadership at California State Sacramento.

MACTE recognizes the contribution of these fine teachers, as well as all of our excellent, highly qualified teachers throughout Missouri’s who serve and educate our students.

The Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is a state affiliate of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), and serves as the voice for educator preparation programs across the state.

Offering Bachelor of Arts degrees with majors in early childhood education (birth-grade 3), elementary (grades 1-6), middle school (grades 5-9), or secondary education (grades 9-12), Westminster focuses on extensive, in-classroom experience — beginning freshman year — for students and educates students through small class sizes conducive to personalized guidance and mentoring by faculty.  For more information on Westminster’s education program, visit westminster-mo.edu.