August 2018 Newsletter

Thea and Art Mills Scholarship to Support Generations of Teachers to Come

“Nothing is more important than these two things—one is the arts, to give a sense of hope and expression, and the other is education, to help people find a way forward in cooperation with others,” said Thea Mills (Cred. ’68). Thea started her teaching career in 1967 as an intern teacher through the UC Davis Education Department.

Thea and her husband Art Mills were inspired to give to the School of Education after watching their daughter Saskia earn her credential and master’s degree from the School. They recently increased the amount of their scholarship and also bequeathed a gift to the School of Education with the intent to endow their scholarship through their estate. Read more about Thea and Art’s passion for giving.

Professor Cati de los Ríos Earns Promising Researcher Award

School of Education Assistant Professor Cati de los Ríos has been awarded the 2018 Promising Researcher Award by the Standing Committee on Research of the National Council of Teachers of English. This honor is conferred annually to a researcher who has produced an original and outstanding paper from their dissertation within two years of the award year. de los Ríos was given the award for her unique research article about a U.S.–Mexico transnational high school student’s engagement with Mexican ballads, called “corridos,” as a way to understand his social and political world and explore language, music and literacy.

“This award is extremely special to me,” said de los Ríos. “The student who is centered in the article, Joaquín, exemplifies with vivid clarity the profound and sophisticated genius of transnational young people that critically read, write and perform corridos. It is an immense honor to be able to elevate his case study as a contribution to the field.” Read more about de los Ríos’s research and her recent award. 

Alumni Spotlight: Mikael Villalobos

Mikael Villalobos (BA ‘93, EdD ‘14) has dedicated his career to diversity and inclusion within the field of higher education. In his current role at UC Davis as Associate Chief Diversity Officer in the Office of Campus Community Relations, he strives to support UC Davis’s goal of building a more diverse and inclusive campus community.

Villalobos chose to earn his doctorate in educational leadership through the School of Education because of its problem-based approach to learning. “I wanted to pursue graduate work that had direct connection to practice and engage in research that very much gave back to the campus community,” he said. “The CANDEL program marries scholarship with practice, and its scholar-practitioner model really resonated with me.” Learn how Villalobos’s EdD has helped him build a more inclusive climate on campus in our latest alumni spotlight.

Professor Karen Watson Gegeo Announces Retirement

Professor Karen Watson Gegeo recently retired from the School of Education. Now a Professor Emerita, Watson Gegeo dedicated 27 years of teaching and service to the School and campus, serving as a faculty member in the Graduate Groups in Education, Linguistics, Geography, Human Development, Child Development, Community & Regional Development, Cultural Studies, and International Agricultural Development, and as a member of Designated Emphasis faculty in SLA and Feminist Theory and Research. She has served on 63 PhD, EdD and MS degree dissertation or thesis committees, and was awarded the UC Davis Chancellor’s Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award in 2004.

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

New Video Highlights Student Teaching Experience

Teaching credential students at the School of Education split their days between taking classes at the UC Davis campus and teaching in K-12 public school classrooms with the support of resident teachers. In this video, we hear directly from teaching credential students and resident teachers about what it’s like to teach together and learn from each other in the classroom. 

Teaching Credential Students Welcomed to Campus 

Earlier this month, School of Education faculty and staff and our 158 new teaching credential students celebrated the beginning of the school year with a scavenger hunt, food, games and raffle prizes. The large majority of this year’s cohort are Californians and a quarter are first-generation students. Check out photos from the Multiple Subject and Single Subject BBQs.