Here’s a round-up of education briefs. Want more education news? There’s no full-time reporter west of Richmond covering education K-college. You can help fix that. Help us fund this position.
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Pulitzer winner to speak at Virginia Tech
Pultizer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong will speak at Virginia Tech on Oct. 19
The event is part of the Hugh and Ethel Kelly lecture series, which has been bringing Pulitzer Prize winners and Nobel laureates and other distinguished speakers to campus since 2013. Attendees will be asked to wear masks.
Yong is a science staff writer for The Atlantic. He was named “the most important and impactful journalist” of 2020 by Poynter and awarded journalism’s top honor, the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for his crucial coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yong’s lecture, “The Art of Science Journalism,” will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre in the Moss Arts Center. Hosted by the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science in partnership with the College of Engineering, the event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.
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Virginia Tech professor wins math award
The Mathematical Association of America has awarded Estrella Johnson, an associate professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics, its 2022 Annie and John Selden Prize for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education.
According to the association’s website, the award honors “a researcher who has established a significant record of published research in undergraduate mathematics education and who has been in the field for at most 10 years.” Johnson’s research centers on the pedagogical practices of mathematicians with the goal of better understanding and supporting high-quality, ambitious teaching in undergraduate mathematics classrooms.
An ongoing focus of Johnson’s research rests on inclusion and diversity – both in the mathematics classroom and in the sciences more broadly. With that interest, Johnson also serves as the assistant dean of inclusion and diversity in the Virginia Tech College of Science.
Her research has been published in Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, the Journal of Mathematical Behavior, the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, the International Journal for Undergraduate Mathematics Education, the International Journal of STEM Education, and more.
Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education from New Mexico State University in 2007 and a master’s degree in the science of teaching mathematics in 2009 and a doctoral degree in mathematics education in 2013, respectively, from Portland State University in Oregon.
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Southside Virginia Community College hosts open house in South Hill Oct. 18
Southside Virginia Community College is planning to host an open house event at the Lake Country Advanced Knowledge Center in South Hill on Tuesday, October 18th from 3:00PM to 6:00PM.
During the event attendees will be able to tour the facility and SVCC lab areas while learning about programs offered at the center including Information Technology, Electrical, HVAC and Welding.
Attendees will also have the option to receive assistance filling out admission applications for the Spring 2023 semester as well as participating in mock interviews with local industries.
The first ten attendees to register for a mock interview will receive a prize.
The Lake Country Advanced Knowledge Center is located at 118 East Danville Street in South Hill. For attendees interested in registering for a mock interview or wanting to know more information about the event please call (434) 955-2252.
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Mountain Mission School opens renovated residence hall
Mountain Mission School in Buchanan County has officially opened “Fran’s House,” a newly renovated residence hall for girls located on the school campus.
Named in honor of Frances Gibson McGlothlin, who was present for the ribbon cutting, along with her husband, Jim McGlothlin, the new residence hall was formerly utilized as Toddler Hall, but after renovations, a gift from the McGlothlins, which included the addition of a second floor, it will now be used to house the older female students who make Mountain Mission School their home.
MMS President Chris Mitchell welcomed, faculty, staff, students and guests to the ceremony noting that in 1973, the building first known as Toddler Hall was completed and named the Mrs. P.H. Welshimer building. The BD Phillips Trust Fund provided the funds to construct the original building, which served the school for some 49 years.
Jim McGlothlin told those gathered for the event that the renovations and naming of the building in her honor was his Christmas gift to his wife, according to a release from the school.
“We don’t give each other Christmas presents,” he said, noting instead, they choose to give to groups like Mountain Mission School and encourage others to do so as well. The funds which went into the Fran’s House construction represented that gift from two Christmases ago, he said.
“This might be the best gift I’ve ever given to her,” he said, according to the school.