NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Jan Fiderio at 603.283.2107

May 6, 2008 for Immediate Release

Newsworthy Students from Antioch University New England

Keene, NH - On May tenth, Antioch University New England will proudly confer master's and doctorate degrees on two hundred and three of its three hundred and twenty two graduating students who have completed their degree requirements. These students have completed two to six years of rigorous course and fieldwork in the areas of education, environmental studies, management, and psychology. The following are brief descriptions of just some of the graduates with interesting stories. If you would contact information about these graduating students, please contact Jan Fiderio at 603-283-2107.

From the Department of Education:

(Waldorf teacher education, MEd certification)
Both Lee Manneberg from Israel and Nancy Wilson from Wilton, NH are doing pioneering work in bringing Waldorf methods and practices into the public sector at the unique Pine Hill Child Care Center in the Conval High School. This program introduces high school students to work with very young children, including babies. The program is one of only two such endeavors in North America, the other founded first in Vancouver.

(MEd for Experienced Educators)
Dan and Alyza Morris, graduates of the Experienced Educators program, are a young husband and wife teaching middle school language arts at the same school in Pembroke, NH. Dan and Alyza created a collaborative master's project on helping their school develop a stronger collaborative learning community - a significant challenge for such young teachers. They are also both active in community theatre and coach softball and basketball in their district.

From the Department of Organization & Management:

(MS in Leadership & Management)
Robin Scheu made elegant use of her practicum opportunity to develop a specialty as an interim executive director for nonprofit organizations. Building on her experience in AUNE's Career Development course where she engaged in deep reflection about the purpose and values that she wished to have guide her career. Robin identified being an interim executive director as a desired career path and learned what was necessary to add “interim director” to her repertoire. (Serving as an interim is an actual professional choice. She would serve in this role in multiple organizations without the aim of taking the permanent position.) She researched the role, secured herself a position as an interim executive director, used that experience as the focus for her practicum experience, and thus used her practicum to help develop the competencies require for a new career direction in line with her purpose and values.

(MS/MEd in Organization & Management)
Michele Bourassa of Keene used her practicum project to launch a career as a life coach. As part of this effort, she provided coaching to women with developmental disabilities through Life Art at Monadnock Developmental services.

(MS/MEd in Organization & Management)
(Maria) Teresa Azahar of Keene is a tri-lingual Fulbright scholar from El Salvador who has done an excellent job in the Antioch program and wants to apply the knowledge and skills she has gained to help create effective organizations in her homeland.

From the Department of Environmental Studies:

(MS Environmental Studies, Resource Management and Conservation)
John Bosco Sumani comes from a relatively rural area in Ghana, where opportunities and education are sorely lacking. Through his own initiative John pursued a path of higher education and has demonstrated that he could overcome the combination of culture shock and learning required to understand the complex technical language of the field. More importantly he has breached the gap of trying to develop useful concepts that he can apply when he returns home to his own culture. Not only has he done well in meeting all the course challenges put before him, his thoroughness of research, his ability to abstract the core of the issues and subsequent synthesis of skills places him well for becoming a PhD candidate.

(MS Environmental Studies, Advocacy and Organizing)
Morey Burnham is the second Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program student to be selected by the U.S. Congressional Caucus to serve as a Fellow. He will be based in Washington D.C. and will work with a member of Congress beginning in late May. Antioch University's Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program launched its congressional fellowship in cooperation with the 72-member U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus in May of 2007. Antioch's Fellowship allows at least one Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program student to work in Washington for the caucus and its members every summer.

(MS Environmental Studies, Science Teaching Certification)
Bill Hamilton spent the last 15 weeks student teaching full-time at Brattleboro Area Middle Schools in Brattleboro, VT where he created an exciting, hands-on, minds-on, student-centered science curriculum. He has earned the respect of all of the students he works with (about 80) and is well liked by his cooperating teacher. He's fun, funny, humble, reflective, and an excellent musician.

From the Department of Applied Psychology:

(MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling)
Mark Roberts is a senior member of the National Guard who came to Antioch after working many years in a field where people suffer enormous stress. Being in a leadership position, Mark sees the results of this stress. He came to Antioch University New England so he could better attend to the mental health needs of the people he has worked with for years.

If you would contact information about these graduating students, please contact Jan Fiderio at 603-283-2107

About Antioch University New England (AUNE)
This is Antioch University New England's forty-sixth year as an institution of higher education. Located in Keene, New Hampshire, AUNE offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values-based master's, doctoral, and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Degrees in education, leadership and management, environmental studies, and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service, and sustainability. Antioch University New England is the oldest and largest of Antioch University’s graduate campuses. For more information about Antioch University New England visit our web site at: www.antiochne.edu.

About Antioch University
Antioch University, a visionary academic community composed of five campuses in four states, is uniquely capable of bringing its students' brightest ideals and highest ambitions to life. Each campus has its own distinct academic programs, community life, and regional or national identity. Antioch University is founded on principles of rigorous liberal arts education, innovative experiential learning and socially engaged citizenship. The multiple campuses of the University nurture in their students the knowledge, skills and habits of reflection to excel as lifelong learners, democratic leaders, and global citizens who live lives of meaning and purpose. For more information visit: www.antioch.edu.

Last Updated: 4/1/10