Three alumnae, two faculty receive college awards

Catchpole

Griffin

Jackson

Moran

Tobin

   The University of Wyoming College of Education recognizes five members of its extended community during the 2007 Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Former Faculty Award banquet Oct. 26.
   Three graduates are among this year's honorees: Judy Catchpole of Cheyenne, Leah Griffin of Laramie, and Margaret C. "Peg" Tobin of Laramie. Distinguished former faculty honorees are Louise Jackson of Springfield, Mo., and Gene Moran of Laramie.
   After graduating in 1966 with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education, Judy (Simonton) Catchpole launched a teaching career that included assignments in San Diego and Albuquerque, where she helped to develop and teach the first public school kindergarten programs. When Catchpole's family moved to Casper, her focus turned to volunteerism, where she worked as an advocate for preschool education, taught music and preschool at a local church, and served for six years on the local school board.
   In 1994, Judy left the local board for a run for Wyoming's highest educational office, superintendent of public instruction. During her two terms in that office, Catchpole focused her energies on school improvement, accreditation and technology. She also served on the board of directors for Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), a regional educational lab serving Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Currently, she represents 14 states as a National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) ambassador.
    Leah (Sharp) Griffin's path to a 1981 UW bachelor's degree, in elementary education with K-12 certification in art education, included a few detours that took her as far away as East Africa. After beginning her teaching career on the African continent, as a volunteer in primary and secondary schools there, Griffin returned to the United States and eventually Laramie, where she completed her degree and began work as a K-6 art teacher. She also earned a master of science degree in lifelong learning and instruction in 1996. Griffin co-developed a K-6 art curriculum that as adopted by Albany County School district. As one of three elementary art teachers in the district in the 1980s, she typically taught art lessons to more than 1,000 elementary students per year.
   Leah enjoyed other opportunities to explore other cultures and educational programs later in life, traveling to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to conduct workshops on discipline-based art education and, in 1998, visiting schools in Nagasaki and Tokyo under a Japanese Fulbright Memorial Fellowship.
    Margaret C. "Peg" Tobin spent most of her fabled career advising students and mentoring young leaders at the University of Wyoming. Tobin graduated from UW in 1942 with a bachelor of arts in business education. She returned to campus in 1961, as a graduate student for the director of Knight Hall, then a dormitory. Peg graduated a year later, with a master of education degree in counseling and guidance. She took a position as assistant dean of students at Loretto Heights College in Denver but returned to her native state in 1964 to accept a position as UW dean of women. Peg retired in June 1986, as associate dean of students.
   Generations of student leaders credit Tobin for helping them realize their early leadership potential. Many of the student groups under her advisement recognized her efforts, presenting her with their highest local and national awards over the years, among them Spurs, Mortar Board and Panhellenic Council. Her commitments to UW have extended into her retirement. Peg has served on the UW Alumni Association Board of Directors, chaired the UW annual fund drive, and led the effort to build an addition to the Pi Beta Phi house in 1990.
   A position teaching at the UW Lab School brought Louise Jackson to Laramie; but opportunities to continue her education, and guide others as they prepare for their own journeys, led her to graduate study in the College of Education. After ending her Lab School assignment, where she also collaborated on faculty research projects and directed graduate-level remedial reading workshops, Jackson became a full-time graduate student. She completed her doctor of education in 1965.
    After graduation, Jackson left to accept a teaching assignment at North Texas State University and, later to serve as a Title I learning coordinator, remedial reading teacher and free-lance language arts consultant. She returned to Laramie in 1978, to join the College of Education faculty. Jackson taught reading and language arts methods courses, as well as graduate and extension classes in those areas. She directed the Elementary Partnership Program and served as associate dean for undergraduate teacher education. She retired in 1994.
   Gene Moran began the higher education portion of his career in 1965, when he accepted a position as assistant professor and assistant dean at The American University. He ventured west three years later, when he accepted an associate professorship at UW, where he taught English education until his 1992 retirement. In addition to teaching and research, Moran served in administrative capacities that included coordinator of secondary education, coordinator of graduate studies, and acting department head.
    Moran spent a sabbatical year in 1975, teaching in a Pennsylvania public school system. Another sabbatical, in 1985, focused on studying the effectiveness of five-year extended teacher education programs. In 1978, Gene helped to conduct a National Endowment for the Humanities program for area teachers. Moran currently serves on the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Board of Examiners. He also is an evaluator of college and university English education programs.

Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007