Overcomers Alumni Joe and Cindy Grover of Caldwell Have Learned the Measure of Success

The third grade students at Wilson Elementary in Caldwell are perfect, according their teacher, Joe Grover. Well – maybe not perfect, but the perfect age to still love school and get excited about it. That’s why Joe loves teaching them. “Third grade is my favorite grade because you can watch them grow,” says Joe.

Joe’s wife, Cindy, teaches the blind and visually impaired students in the Caldwell School District. She worked as a rehabilitation instructor for about 13 years, and then earned her master’s degree in blind rehabilitation instruction with an endorsement to teach the visually impaired. Joe has been teaching in Caldwell for 14 years.

Cindy and Joe met in Boise at a training program for the visually impaired before attending the University of Idaho, where they were married and where they both received their education degrees in 1989.

Their unique challenges – Joe and Cindy are both visually impaired – brought them together.

“I only have a small amount of vision in one eye,” said Joe. “When I was about 7 or 8 years old and in the first grade, I developed a virus that damaged my optic nerve.”

Joe’s classroom in Caldwell is uniquely adapted to his teaching style, including a closed-circuit computer and magnification technologies that help him see. With the virus, Joe lost his central vision, which is used for close-up work.

“Peripheral vision is used for mobility,” he said, “so I get around pretty well, it’s the close-up work that I struggle with. So all of the magnification technologies that I use are really helpful. The blessing I have in all this is that I have a really good memory and rarely have to go back and re-read anything. Once I’ve read through something, I know it.”

Drawn to Teach

Joe grew up in St. Anthony, Idaho, where his parents stressed the importance of a good education.

“I grew up in an agriculture family, but a career in agriculture was not an option for me,” said Joe. “Because my parents put such an emphasis on education, it really seemed like becoming an educator was the logical step. They completely expected me to become educated. And I think that I wanted to be a teacher as long as I can remember.”

So Joe decided to attend the University of Idaho and get his degree in education.

U-Idaho College Life

But college life was not “fun” for Joe.

“I had to work pretty hard to keep up and get through,” he said. “But professors in the College of Education stuck by Cindy and me every step of the way. They were helpful, trusting, supportive, and reasonable about everything. And through the accommodations and adaptations we had to have, they still held us to high expectations. I have great memories of all the professors.”

One of Joe and Cindy’s contacts at the University of Idaho was Sally Greene, who was working on her master’s degree at the time. Sally is now the Director of Field Experience in the College of Education, but back then she was a mentor to Joe and Cindy.

“This was before a lot of books were on tape, so I recorded many of their books onto a tape recorder for them, and read tests and wrote answers for them,” said Sally. “This quickly grew from a working relationship into a friendship. I would take them grocery shopping, help them study, and even took them to vote.”

Sally says she was impressed with Joe and Cindy’s resiliency, positive attitude and determination.

“I must admit, I was a little skeptical of their desire to go into teaching, just because of the classroom management aspect,” said Sally. “So I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard a few years later that they had not only finished their degrees, but that Joe was a highly successful classroom teacher.”

Joe and Cindy both graduated in 1989. Joe began his teaching career in Wilder, Idaho, and Cindy worked as a rehabilitation instructor before they moved to Caldwell.

A Meeting Down the Road

When Sally was hired in the College of Education, she reconnected with Joe and Cindy. Sally’s job is to place preservice teachers with mentors in classrooms, and last fall she placed University of Idaho education student Emily Groff in Joe’s classroom.

“It was a great experience for both of them and I was very pleased to see that they had decorated their end of the hallway in Vandal colors to help offset the blue and orange that dominated the rest of the building,” laughed Sally.

“Emily was my 20th student-teacher, but my first from the University of Idaho,” said Joe. “She was fantastic. She was fortunate enough to be hired at our school because she graduated in December and we had a huge overflow of fifth graders and were adding another class. Emily was hired to teach fifth grade.”

Joe said that being a mentor teacher is really rewarding.

“It’s fun to watch them develop their own practice,” said Joe. “It is really satisfying to give them the opportunity to stand up in front of the classroom and start implementing the best practices they’ve studied.”

But there was an extra-fun element to mentoring Emily.

“We had a great time because there are only eight or nine true Vandals in our school,” said Joe. “So we decorated the hallway with Vandal swag.”

Why Become a Teacher?

Joe’s life philosophy is summed up in a quote by Booker T. Washington: “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”

Joe wants to encourage students with disabilities to follow their dreams in spite of the obstacles.

“The struggles of getting through the process are truly worth the effort,” he said. “Over the years there have been a lot of trials for me. It wasn’t always the prettiest. Not everyone liked me or wanted me to have a chance, but overcoming the obstacles is important. I want to encourage students to follow their dreams and know that the field of education historically changes regularly. Even though things may seem difficult now, it won’t stay that way forever. Just hang in there.”

Joe also thinks that the University of Idaho is the place where future teachers should study.

“The U of I is the ultimate college experience,” said Joe. “I wish we could have stayed in Moscow, but the school district can only hire so many teachers!”

Milken Award Recipent Brady Dickinson

Principal Brady Dickinson was told that the Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction was planning to stop at the high school for a Veteran’s Day ceremony. But that wasn’t the whole story. Dickinson, who is principal of Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls, ended up planning his own awards ceremony. Luna was actually coming to Twin Falls to present Dickinson with a prestigious award – The Milken Educator of the Year.

Dickinson was caught off guard when the award was announced – an honor that comes with an unrestricted $25,000 award. Dickinson was honored for his visionary leadership, use of data to guide instruction and ability to raise student achievement, Superintendent Luna told Canyon Ridge students, school employees, and elected officials at the assembly.

Dickinson is one of about 40 educators around the country to receive the award this year from the Milken Family Foundation. Only 13 school employees in Idaho have been honored with it since the state joined the program in 2003.

Why He was Chosen

As the first principal of Canyon Ridge High School, Brady finetuned the school to stay in line with the community’s needs by conducting a yearlong study on poverty’s effects on the at-risk student population’s performance.

Advanced placement student enrollment has more than doubled during Dickinson’s tenure at Canyon Ridge, while 24 percent of English language learners moved up one or two levels on Idaho’s English Language Arts exam. Students’ proficiency in reading also rose 2.3 percent on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test.

No stranger to leadership opportunities and teamwork, Dickinson led a team effort to form the district’s new high school, the second of two in the district. This included creating a new schedule and staffing plan. For this, he received an Extra Mile Award from the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Dickinson is a former president of the Twin Falls Education Association and has served as one of its state delegates. He is also a former athletic director and coach.

About the Award

The Milken Educator Awards are the nation’s pre-eminent teacher recognition program, having honored more than 2,500 K-12 teachers, principals and specialists coast to coast with more than $63 million in awards. A total of $137 million has been devoted to the overall program, which includes powerful professional development opportunities throughout the recipients’ careers in education. Awardees are heralded in early to mid-career for what they have achieved … and the promise of what they will accomplish in the future.

The Milken Educator Awards were launched by education reform leader Lowell Milken to celebrate, elevate and activate exemplary K-12 educators. For a quarter-century, the Milken Educator Awards have been instrumental in communicating to parents and policymakers the proven fact that the quality of the teacher in the classroom is the most important school-based factor in determining student achievement.

Unlike most teacher awards, this program has no formal nomination or application process. Every participating state’s department of education appoints an independent blue ribbon committee to recommend candidates according to strict criteria, with final selections made by the Milken Family Foundation.

Erin Lenz ’01, first grade teacher in Coeur d’Alene, was named the 2011 Idaho Teacher of the Year – the sixth Coeur d’Alene teacher to win the award since 1999. The announcement was a surprise for Lenz, who received $1,000 from the Idaho State Department of Education, $16,000 in technology from the SMARTer Kids Foundation, and an allexpense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to represent Idaho as a nominee for the National Teacher of the Year.

Idaho superintendent of Instruction Tom Luna made the trip to Coeur d’Alene from Boise to make the surprise announcement during a school-wide assembly at Winton Elementary School.

Richard Cooper ’61

College of Education alumni and president and founder of the Tucson Country Day School, received the Arizona Charter Schools Association 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. After nearly 50 years in education, Cooper has had a positive impact on many Arizona students and has earned the respect of the local community and national leaders. “Every child deserves to succeed and reach one’s own potential,” said Cooper. “The Lifetime Achievement Award is the culmination of my lifelong goal.”

According to the Arizona Charter Schools Association, the decision to present Cooper with the award was easy, considering the amount of time and effort he has invested in the charter movement. Cooper is only the second person in the last 16 years to receive the award, meant to honor a person who has dedicated his or her life and passion to the advancement of education.

Cooper opened Tucson Country Day School as a private preschool and kindergarten and Camp Adventure summer day camp in 1968. In 2000, he was one of the first to receive approval to open an Arizona charter school. The school started in 2000 with 43 students and today serves 681 students with 58 teachers and 101 staff. As a highly visible hands-on leader, Cooper attributes the school’s success to the high quality teachers and staff.

Cooper was also recently recognized by Newt Gingrich with the Arizona Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Speaker Gingrich visited the campus to see what makes Tucson Country Day School successful.

Marilyn DeLeve’ College of Education dean’s assistant

“A few days ago while rearranging my bookcase, I came across a small, fabric-covered book. I stopped my work and sat in my favorite chair and read every page. What a special gift! The little book was filled with messages from wonderful graduate students covering a long period of years and locations far and near.

“It was truly a blessing to have had a position in the College of Education [as dean’s assistant] for 25 years, where I could be of assistance to wonderful students who came to Moscow from all over the United States and from Ecuador, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Tanzania and the frozen north of Alaska. Not many people have such an opportunity.

“Each of you students were very special to me, and if you are reading this, I hope life has been kind to you and that you, too, have fond memories of the outstanding faculty who served you in this wonderful College of Education, University of Idaho.

“Thank you so much for the memories – they mean so very much!”

Marilyn DeLeve’, 1326 Tamarack Dr., Moscow, ID 83843

Barbara L. Grant ’04 of Boise received the 2011 award from the American Medical Writers Association for the best consumer health publication. The book she coauthored is titled “Complete Guide to Nutrition for Cancer Survivors.” Barbara is the outpatient clinical nutritionist at the St. Alphonsus Cancer Care Center in Boise and is a board-certified specialist in oncology nutrition. The book, published in 2010, is written for consumers, patients, and families seeking reliable information about nutritional support for people with cancer. “Pretty wonderful for a Vandal,” she said. boisegrant@msn.com

Dorothy Seney MacPhee ’68

, of Coeur d’Alene and Yuma, Ariz., reports that she has three sons who are all University of Idaho graduates: Craig, John, and Glen. Not only that, four of her ten grandchildren are University of Idaho graduates, and her ten great-grandchildren are all “future grads.”

Eric Mann ’11 was offered a professional opportunity of a lifetime – in more ways than one. He completed his student teaching in Sandpoint in professional technical education in December and was immediately hired to teach there permanently. Just a short time later, he was selected to serve on a committee for the U.S. Department of Education as a non-federal negotiator representing postsecondary students. The committee’s job is to determine standards and regulations for teacher preparation programs throughout the nation.

Sandpoint high school principal Becky Meyer, also a U-Idaho alumna who recently earned her doctoral degree, nominated Eric for the position.

The committee is made up of approximately 20 university presidents, college of education deans, private university interests, financial aid officers, and two practicing teachers, including Eric. The committee was formed as a reaction to the lack of self-regulations from teacher preparation programs and to establish financial support. “It’s a very specific position with a very widespread impact,” said Eric.

Eric flew to Washington, D.C., in January to attend the first of three committee sessions. The focus of the meeting was directed toward providing input for the Department of Education to write draft regulations for negotiation at future committee meetings. The committee is also working to better define what constitutes a high quality teacher preparation program.

“We discussed methods for reducing reporting burden while increasing validity and consequence to assist in providing a continuously improving teacher force,” said Eric, who returned to D.C. in February and again in April for more meetings.

Chris Naccarato ’02, “I am celebrating my 20th year of teaching and launching rockets this year, and have a very special astronaut event planned. This year will mark my 24th astronaut to visit, and I have done every program that NASA has done except one – Gemini. It has taken me three years to chase one of those astronauts down, but have had success and will complete that goal this year. It has been my goal as a teacher of making history come alive with my students. I hope to one day look back on that goal and feel that objective was accomplished. I am very proud to be a U of I alumnus, and I have always appreciated the big support that the U of I has given me.”

Lynda Cochran Sperazza ’05 is now an associate professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the College of Brockport, in the State University of New York system. Sperazza’s research line continues in programming specializing on the effect of the baby boomer generation on leisure needs.

Andrew T. White ’10 of Boise opened the doors for Concordia University School of Law in Boise – the first law school to be built there. His dissertation examined law schools and community engagement. He also has a second home in Seattle and enjoys Puget Sound. “Great place to write journal articles!” he says.

Jessica Shawley ’08, Moscow Junior High P.E. teacher, has won the National Middle School Teacher of the Year award. Jessica was a Wright Fellow in the College of Education and earned her master of education degree there. Congratulations to Jessica!