Alumni Updates Fall 2013

Marlene Bell (BA ‘68, Credential ‘71) received the 2013 Education Award from the Mexican American Concilio of Yolo County at their 29th Annual Concilio Recognition Dinner/ Dance & Scholarship Fundraiser on October 19, 2013. The Concilio provides support and assistance to low-income people of Yolo County, as well as college scholarships and other assistance to promising low- and moderate-income students, specifically students with Latino heritage.

Allan Bellman (PhD ’06) received the 2013 Texas Instruments T. Leadership Award for his creative uses of technology in the classroom and his work to develop mathematics instruction technology. As a member of the Texas Instruments’ T. Team, Bellman has helped design graphing calculators and other technology to better suit the needs of students since 1987. Bellman is an associate professor in mathematics education at the University of Mississippi. He was a lecturer/supervisor in the single subject mathematics credential program in the UC Davis School of Education’s Teacher Education program and taught high school math in Maryland for 32 years before moving to Ole Miss.

Nancy Gutierrez (Credential ‘02) received a doctorate in educational leadership from Harvard in June. She received the UC Davis School of Education’s Rising Star alumni award in 2010. In 2004, garnering the enthusiasm of young adolescents and the tenacity of parent-leaders and teacher-leaders, Gutierrez co-founded and led Renaissance Academy of Arts, Science and Social Justice (180 students) to become the highest scoring middle school in the Alum Rock School District and a California Distinguished School in only two years. Before being accepted into the new educational leadership doctoral program at Harvard in 2010, Gutierrez served as principal of Clyde L. Fischer Middle School, once the lowest performing middle school in the Alum Rock district.

Luciana de Oliveira (PhD ‘06) is now an associate professor of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) and applied linguistics at Teachers College, Columbia University. She previously taught at Purdue University where she received the inaugural universitywide Faculty Engagement Scholarship Award recognizing her work in professional development for teachers of English learners as an outstanding effort in engagement with local, state, national, or global organizations. De Oliveira also edited two books in 2013, including L2 Writing in Secondary Classrooms: Academic Issues, Student Experiences, and Teacher Education. This book contains a chapter by School of Education associate professor Kerry Enright and another by professor Steve Athanases, and alumni Lisa Bennett (PhD ’13) and Juliet Michelsen Wahleithner (PhD ’13).

Patrick Newell (PhD ‘09) and Irina Okhremtchouk (PhD ‘11) have written an article with Rebecca Rosa, lecturer/supervisor in the UC Davis School of Education’s Teacher Education program, titled “Assessing Pre-service Teachers Prior to Certification: Perspectives on the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)”, in the July 2013 special issue of Education Policy Analysis Archives. Newell is an assistant professor at California State University, Fresno and Okhremtchouk is an assistant professor at Arizona State University. They write about a study they conducted on pre-service teachers’ perspectives on California’s PACT and how it affected them academically, professionally, and personally. You can find the article at http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs.

Andrew Phillips (Credential ‘12) received Rookie of the Year in NextEd’s Pupils’ Choice Awards in June. Pupils’ Choice Awards acknowledge teachers, counselors, and principals who do an outstanding job of using project-based learning to teach core academics like math, English and science. Phillips, who teaches science at Granite Bay High School, was nominated by his students.

James Ratti (Credential ’06, MA ‘07) received a Dorothy Wright Outstanding Teaching Award from San Jose State University (SJSU) for excellence in teaching high school English. This award was established in 1987 as a memorial to a former member of the Department of English at SJSU who distinguished herself for her commitment to teacher education. Former students enrolled in freshman composition courses at SJSU are encouraged to nominate their high school teachers who best prepared them for their college writing courses.

“In reflecting on how I’ve become the teacher I have, I realize it all started at UC Davis,” Ratti recently wrote in a note to his teaching credential supervisor Pauline Holmes. “In working with other teachers all over California and the country, I oftentimes feel better prepared and more attentive to details in the classroom because of the outstanding preparation I received.”

Sandi Redenbach (BA ‘72, Credential ‘73) will be awarded the 2014 Aggie Service Award for her dedication of time, energy, volunteerism, and leadership in support of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and UC Davis. The CAAA’s 40th annual Awards Gala will be held on Friday, February 28, 2014, at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa. For more information and to purchase tickets or a table, contact event organizer Jennifer Thayer at (530) 754-9098 or jsthayer@ucdavis.edu.

Demetrios Spyridakis (BA ‘06, MA ‘09) earned an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University in May. Spyridakis also has a Master of Education degree from Teachers College.

Kevin Williams (BA ’91, Credential ’93), a history teacher at Davis Senior High School, is the featured alumnus in the Summer 2013 issue of UC Davis Magazine.