敁珗辦畦 Southern���s secondary math education program has officially earned national recognition as an accredited program through the National Council of Teachers and Mathematics.

Dr. Kari Siko Walters led the accreditation process and said, ���To prove that we have met these, we have to present the data on our students’ performance on their PRAXIS tests (a professional teaching assessment), their course grades, their formal lesson plan that they write, the South Carolina Teaching Standards, a project they do called the Unit Work Sample, another project called the Long Range Plan, and their Clinical Practice Portfolio that they create while they are student teaching. So, it’s a very extensive and detailed report and they are very picky in approving it.���

敁珗辦畦���s secondary math education program met the standards required by the National Council of Teachers and Mathematics:

• Content Knowledge
• Mathematical Practices 
• Mathematical Content Pedagogy
• Mathematical Learning Environment 
• Impact on Student Learning
• Professional Knowledge and Skills 
• Secondary Mathematics Field Experiences and Clinical Practice

Secondary math education students prepare a hands-on activity to be used in the classroom and document what it looks like.

Entering the foster care system understandably fills children with anxiety. A classroom project completed for an Early Childhood Practicum class has the potential to help ease that anxiety.

Alyssa Phillips, a senior child development major, created a project called The Distraction Bag. While comfort bags filled with basic necessities are given to some children in the foster care system, Phillips could find no evidence of anything similar to her distraction bag in South Carolina.

Phillips and her professor, Dr. Jacquelynn Pleis, associate professor of education, have pitched the idea to The Bair Foundation, a Christian-based foster care and adoption service. They are also working on writing a grant and have plans to share Phillips��� idea with other organizations.

Once a child enters the foster care system he or she spends a good bit of time waiting ��� waiting in court room hallways, foster care offices, and doctor offices. The Distraction Bag is designed for case workers to provide children with activities to fill the waiting time.

Pleiss said, ���Alyssa initiated contact with the Bair Foundation, set up meetings with the caseworkers to find out the needs of the children, researched child development theories when choosing the items for the bags, created sample bags, created a sample budget for bags, included a faith component, and then presented the project to the directors of the Bair Foundation.���

Phillips said, “I never had an idea and actually acted on it. So, for me to be able to come up with an idea, then carry it out and see it flourish, it showed me how much potential I have.  

A lot of things went into the planning of this project, a lot of writing plans, making phone calls, inexpensively shopping, researching, presenting information, and summarizing all the things I learned.��� 

Items in the bag were specifically chosen to provide activities to help children pass the time while waiting and to reduce their anxiety.

���Physically, research has shown that when kids can control or direct their movements, especially when stressed or anxious, they can also improve focus and concentration,��� said Phillips. ���Movement and sensory input are essential for learning and carrying out tasks since they involve both the right and left hemispheres of the brain.���

Each bag has multiple objects meant to provide distraction for anxious brains and bodies. ���Fidget toys serve to productively distract and occupy a child���s attention,��� said Phillips.

Phillips��� research showed that a distraction bag can be used to help children calm down when they are feeling upset. The child can choose an activity from the bag to focus on, which can help distract them from their negative emotions and allow them to calm down. A distraction bag can be used to keep children engaged and occupied while they are waiting and can be used to pass the time and reduce the children���s frustration or impatience. 

Pleiss said, ���For me, the big take aways are how this project allowed Alyssa to grow in unexpected ways and the continual connections 敁珗辦畦 makes with the community.���

One of the aspects of the project was finding a way to fill a distraction bag inexpensively. Phillips shopped at local Dollar Tree and 5 Below stores. She was able to find book bags and the items that would enable children to escape from their stressful environments and help them develop in healthy ways.

Items Phillips included in the Distraction Bags:

• Coloring book with crayons
• 2 children���s books
• Mini stuffed animal
• 2 squeezable toys
• 2 slinkies
• Etch-a-Sketch toy
• Light-up spin wheel
• Light-up pop-it worm
• Fidget link tracks
• Sensory mat

This event was centered around encouraging high school students to find their niche and see what their next few years could look like. Mrs. Katti Hubble stated ���I am excited to share 敁珗辦畦 with students who are interested in not only going to college but to be teachers. We have an amazing program in the College of Education, and I am thrilled to share it with others.�����

Giving local high schools the opportunity to come and see a day in the life of 敁珗辦畦���s education program is a great way to get students motivated. We want to inspire students to find their calling!��

Brianna Parker is a graduate assistant with the office of marketing and communication. She is pursuing a masters in project management.

The 敁珗辦畦 Southern University College of Education is among a select group of education providers recognized for excellence in preparing the next generation of teachers. This fall, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation has continued the 敁珗辦畦 College of Education���s national accreditation.

Accreditation is the ultimate stamp of approval from education peers that the 敁珗辦畦 College of Education is meeting institutional and professional standards in preparing teachers. The ongoing national teacher shortage is clear proof that tomorrow���s teachers must be highly prepared and adaptable in the classroom.

Dr. Julie Fernandez, dean of the College of Education, said, ���Accredited by CAEP furthers our reputation as an outstanding educator preparation program dedicated to developing highly qualified teachers and leaders for our community.  The faculty and staff in the 敁珗辦畦 College of Education are experienced teachers and leaders committed to collaborating with area school districts to create innovative teaching and leading methods.��� 

Students studying in the 敁珗辦畦 College of Education benefit from the college���s local partners and the multiple professional development opportunities available to them. The College of Ed participates in South Carolina���s Teaching Fellows Program, the Call Me MISTER Program, is the Teacher Cadet regional higher education partner working with future teachers from 13 area high schools, and has a robust Future Teachers Society to provide preprofessional opportunities to students.

The 敁珗辦畦 Southern College of Education offers bachelor���s, master���s, and doctoral degrees. 

CAEP is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Accreditation is a nongovernmental activity based on peer review that serves the dual functions of assuring quality and promoting improvement. CAEP is a unified accreditation system intent on raising the performance of all institutions focused on educator preparation. More than 600 educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP Accreditation system, including some previously accredited through former standards.

啦堯梗泭Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation泭() advances excellence in educator preparation through evidence-based accreditation that assures quality and supports continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 student learning.

Carol Poole, a historian and educator, teaches a unique class which is a collaboration between the Berkeley Soil and Water Conservation District, Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, and the 敁珗辦畦 College of Education. Poole is a 1970 alumnus.

The class, Avoiding the Wump World, Preserving the Past, Protecting the Present, Promising a Future, takes the idea of protecting natural resources from a children���s book by Bill Peet named The Wump World. The class for teachers working on graduate or continuing education credit is a combination of science and social studies standards. Teachers take what they learn back into the classroom, impacting the next generation.

Poole said, ���[The Wump World] tells about a world where friendly, peaceful, trusting creatures called Wumps were overtaken by greedy visitors from space who destroyed their home while mining for resources. The Wumps were driven from their beautiful home and forced to live underground. The message is a clear warning to all, but especially to children that we must protect and preserve the world in which we live, or it will become unlivable. For monumental changes to take place, we must look to the children; in order to reach the children, we must first reach the teachers.���

Poole taught the Environmental History of Berkeley County for the first time in 2014. Keith Gourdin of the Berkeley Soil and Water Conservation District approached her about creating a program that would help teachers understand the amazing environment and history of Berkeley County.

The BSWCD and the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust have partnered with the class from the very beginning. ���We read books and articles on the topic, have speakers who are experts in their various areas, take field trips to sites of interest and importance in helping teachers understand the urgency, and work together to develop ways in which they can share the message with their students,��� said Poole.

Poole said BSWCD and LBCT provide speakers, reading materials, and access to sites that are not readily available to the public. In the past the class has visited such sites as Fort Fair Lawn, Francis Marion���s grave, and the Pineville Chapel. Along the way, teachers also learn about the area���s birds, animals, and the landscape, as well as soil and water conservation.

Raleigh West, executive director of Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, and Carol Poole, class instructor, collaborate on a lesson. The natural landscape of Berkeley County factors into class discussions and trips. Understanding Berkeley County���s environment includes understanding the county���s history.

敁珗辦畦 Southern University���s trifecta alumnus, Ashleigh Newell Wojslawowicz ���10, ���13, ���21, is living her life���s purpose in God���s perfect plan.

Currently a Master Crime Scene Investigator, Wojslawowicz, 33, holds the highest tier level of certification by the International Association of Identification as a Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst. She recently shared her research at the annual American Society for Evidence-Based Policing conference in Washington D.C., and the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Dallas, Texas.

Her panel presentation on ���Solving the Recruiting Crisis,��� included reframing the current recruitment crisis, evaluating the impacts of negative media on law enforcement recruiting efforts, and solving the hiring crisis by finding what works through internal research. The international conference provided Wojslawowicz a place for her research and dissertation to fit into a group of people passionate about policing and research.

The standing-room only presentation highlighted the need for such research. ���We have all seen what continues to be put out in the media and the topic of law enforcement actions and behaviors is not something that is going away, and the way we see law enforcement in the community has changed, for example we see police utilizing various social media accounts such as TikTok and Instagram,��� said Wojslawowicz.

She confesses to a little bit of fangirling over the people at the conference who had just been names in her research before. ���To be able to network and meet people that have done a lot more than I have and for them to be so excited about it, and then come up to you later and say I would love to implement this at my agency can we partner and do this, or let me connect you with this person over here because they need to hear this too, and to be welcomed into that circle was a big deal for me,��� said Wojslawowicz. 

Wojslawowicz earned her Doctor of Education in leadership at 敁珗辦畦 with the first cohort which graduated in December 2021. Her dissertation, ���Recruiting Amidst Crisis: Exploring Police Recruit Motivations in a Post-Ferguson Era,��� has opened a broader world for her. She is the principal researcher and lead consultant for The Stono Group, LLC. She is a subject matter expert for the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training where she provides training for domestic and international first responders on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, and she is affiliated with The Justice Clearinghouse, and is an adjunct professor for Truett McConnell University in Georgia.

The public���s response to law enforcement action and behaviors as viewed through media platforms can be a challenge difficult to address. ���Reporting their [law enforcement���s] behavior has been under a microscope in recent years and is not going away, but the environment has shifted, and is continuing to change, all because there is now a commitment to doing better, and you have more people on board because they recognize how badly this is needed,��� said Wojslawowicz.

She said, ���The degree met me at a time in my life where everything lined up; there was no question that this was God ordained and I was meant to be here. I had every confidence that this was the direction my life was supposed to go.���

She had been studying verses in the Bible that point out that God will not fail, and He has a plan for each person. ���There are needs in other people���s lives that only you can fill, so you have a unique purpose,��� she said. ���The moment I realized that there was this need in the world, and I was uniquely designed for it was one of the most exciting moments of realization that I���ve had.��� 

Wojslawowicz had to write a paper during her doctoral work about having an Ah-Ha moment, the moment you realize the connection between what you have been learning and your purpose. She said, ���For me it was realizing that I come from a unique background for someone that is in research. I can draw from perspectives that other people can���t because I���ve lived it, so that���s when I realized that is what I have to do. You need someone like me that will tell you how a survey instrument is giving you data.��� 

She clarifies the need to trust in God���s plan does not always mean it is what one wants. Her dissertation was not the topic she originally wanted to research. ���It is typical with the dissertation process that you start at one point and end up at a different subject, but I knew I wanted to focus on law enforcement,��� Wojslawowicz said.

She explains where the ideas began. ���There have been several  events within this post-Ferguson era, where law enforcement response and accountability have evolved,��� said Wojslawowicz. ���In 敁珗辦畦 we had a peaceful protest that turned violent in 2020, and my agency was involved with that response. Personally knowing the people who were responding to and processing the crime scene in the days after, it was a very personal connection.��� She said her fellow law enforcement officers were similarly impacted, as she observed the physical and mental exhaustion and stress experienced by the officers following the event.

She said many individuals choose the law enforcement profession to protect and serve; however, following several highly publicized mistakes made by a small number of officers in recent years, a narrative began to circulate throughout the police community regarding perceptions of anger and distrust by citizens. Now, not only are officers dealing with the literal consequences of bad decisions made by a select few, but also the intangible mental effects from a socio-psychological standpoint. ���I was in the middle of this complex and dynamic moment, and searching for what can I do to help, so that is where my dissertation topic of  looking at recruitment motivation in a post-Ferguson era came from,��� said Wojslawowicz.

What she observed firsthand was the organizational struggles for recruitment and retention of nationwide law enforcement. Retention data is not typically shared outside of a law enforcement organization, so she had to switch topics in order to have access to the needed information. Having access to those who are getting into the profession from connections at police academies and understanding why they want to enter the profession despite everything going on in the news, was possible. 

She started there. What she learned was the negative media and its impact on the perception of danger in the job and on officer motivation weren���t a big enough impact to keep recruits from joining law enforcement within her sample.

Wojslawowicz said, ���You are not going to solve the world���s problems with your dissertation; it is just your first step to learn how to do research, and understand the limitations of the data.���

When she was younger, Wojslawowicz thought she knew exactly what the future held. She said, ���I grew up in a conservative Christian home. I was homeschooled through high school. 敁珗辦畦 was my first big social not-at-home experience, so I was very sheltered. I had a plan that I would be married by 21, have three children by 30 and be a private investigator. Yet I���m 33 now with no children and I got married to my husband later in life than I thought I would, but I wouldn���t have it any other way. I wouldn���t be married to any other person; he is my person, my soulmate, God knew what He was doing.��� 

She describes herself as being at home in an academic environment. She knew she wanted to obtain another degree. She said, ���I had stayed connected so I heard through the grapevine that 敁珗辦畦 was going to do this program. I knew that God was telling me it was time to go; I didn���t second guess it.��� 

When she told her husband he gave her his full support saying, ���Absolutely, you are going to do it.��� She said the support of your partner makes a difference. Her undergraduate mentor, Dr. Jacqueline Fish, was a motivator also. Wojslawowicz met her during her undergrad studies. ���She was teaching Techniques of Criminal Investigations, which is basically like a Crime Scene 101 class,��� she said. ���It was an elective for criminal justice students. When I met her, I thought I want to be just like her when I grow up, what she is doing is what I want to do.

���Dr. Fish has a doctorate in education as well, so with her background along with a master���s degree and undergrad in the criminal justice field and then switching to education intrigued me because I wanted to make sure my academic career was diverse,��� said Wojslawowicz. ���I have the field experience of forensics and criminal justice, so I know how the police department works.��� She also holds the practical side of research. She said, ���PhD programs are heavily theoretical with an emphasis on conducting the research, the theoretical frameworks, and testing the hypothesis, which is still something we do in a doctorate in education, however the emphasis always remains theoretical, which is not easily digestible for the typical law enforcement practitioner.��� 

Wojslawowicz explains what is needed in today���s world. ���It is being able to understand how to do the research but then interpret, present, and communicate it with those who can then take that information and apply it practically,��� she said. ���That is where the gap lies, and that is where I feel that I could be the greatest of use. I understand that world; I���ve lived it for a decade, and now I have the academic training to do the type of research they need.��� 

She said, ���I feel that I am able to meet that gap and help fill it in with whoever I am partnering with because one of the things I heard over and over at the conference in D.C. was when the researchers were presenting, they were talking about the lengths they went to understand what it is like to be an officer, the ride-alongs they did, who they met with, asking the different questions to understand the culture, and I don���t have to do that because I come from that, so that was a reassurance for me that I am in the right place because there is a need for me.���

Wojslawowicz is facing the future with confidence. ���Now I���m doing so much more, I have no idea where I might end up, but trust in Him along the way because He knows what���s best. Where I am finding purpose and fulfillment is in being able to help others, after a decade of forensic work, here I am, doing analysis, but what I am researching is more than just crime scenes, it���s more than just going to a burglary or working a homicide. And all that is very important, and I���ve done that, but now, I have shifted to a bigger scope, my framework has become larger, and I am looking more long-term for organizations and agencies,��� she said.

Trusting Christ���s guidance and what He has ordained for her life sustains Wojslawowicz. She doesn���t define success by what she can accomplish but by moving forward in what God has called her to do. ���I am merely the vessel for His plan to be accomplished,��� said Wojslawowicz.  ���When I look back five or 10 years from now, I hope that I have continued to follow that progression of trust and reliance on Him and His progression.��� 

Catalina Duran Ballen is a junior communication studies major at 敁珗辦畦 Southern University and is an intern in the Marketing & Communication office.

Butler recalls an instance when she essentially took on the role of a language interventionist due to the children���s inability to grasp language. ���This specific group of kindergarteners had such poor oral language development, I couldn���t even begin to teach them anything about literacy,��� she says. Motivated from this experience, Butler decided to attain her Doctorate in reading education to better equip herself for these types of challenges. 

While she was pursuing her Doctorate, Butler knew she could best serve her purpose as a professor in higher education so that she could share her expertise and experience with those who are going to be teachers. And, Butler shares that experience with students at 敁珗辦畦 Southern University, where she has been since 2017. She describes her undergraduate students as having that ���fire in their belly��� and ���high aspirations.��� ���When they graduate, they are ready,��� she said. 

Butler is encouraged by the growing number of students at 敁珗辦畦 and is also encouraged by the number of students coming into the education field, noting the shortage of teachers in the state. 

A passion for teaching and education are not the only things that led Butler to 敁珗辦畦. Her Christian faith played a key role in her decision to teach at 敁珗辦畦. When she first applied for the position, she recalls the 敁珗辦畦 chair of the search committee telling her that she would be praying for her and her decision to come teach at 敁珗辦畦. ���I was like, ���there we go. This is going to be a good place,������ she says. With a love for Christ, a passion for teaching and helping others,����Butler is excited for the future of education at 敁珗辦畦 as it continues to grow.��

Hunter Gatling is a graduate student at 敁珗辦畦 Southern University and is a graduate assistant in the Marketing & Communication office.

What most would only dream of doing, three-time alumnus and adventurer Don Lauer has likely achieved it.

When his son Matthew was only 8 years old, Lauer made a promise he intended to keep. ���We free climbed a mountain peak about 1,000-feet high, and I was explaining to him some of the mountain structures. I told him, ���Look, as long as you want to keep climbing mountains with me, I���ll take you anywhere you want to go.������ Last April, he lived up to that pact���making the trek up Mt. Everest with Matt.

At times, their journey to Everest seemed a far-fetched, unattainable idea���especially during a global pandemic. The 45-year-old network engineer was, after all, in his final year of the Doctor of Education in leadership program at 敁珗辦畦 Southern University. His then 16-year-old son, Matt, was also in school. But nothing would keep Lauer from this grand adventure���not even a health scare.

With heart

Lauer and his son planned their trip for April 2021. It took more than a year to prepare. There was a lot to do beyond just travel arrangements���things like hiring excellent guides, securing the right equipment, and preparing their bodies for intense conditions with physical training.

���The only hill we have in 敁珗辦畦 is the Cooper River Bridge���I would windedly hike it,��� Lauer said. His supportive wife set up a workout routine for him to build up his endurance. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, Lauer, who works in network engineering for Naval Information Warfare Center (previously SPAWAR), transitioned to a work-from-home environment. He would work out during lunch and immediately after work. Training happened nearly every day.

Exactly four weeks out from their trip across the world, Lauer hit a roadblock that threatened to destroy their big plans. His heart went into atrial fibrillation, also known as Afib. Lauer had a team of cardiologists run tests and extend guidance. His biggest question: ���Could I physically survive and go?���

Due to his physical training leading up to that point, and the fact that Lauer would be joining a medical missionary team on the trip, the doctors cleared him for travel with the caveat that he would need a heart ablation after his return.

Built with grit

Some may wonder how Lauer could entertain a potentially dangerous trek up one of the highest elevations on the planet, but a look into Lauer���s life illustrates this Buccaneer���s grit. A Navy veteran, Lauer was medically released from the military in a full body cast. After an early retirement, he began working in civil service and sought to advance his education. He completed his bachelor���s in 2007 and master���s in 2009 from 敁珗辦畦. Ironically, Lauer���s capstone project in his final semester of the Master of Business Administration program was a case study that 敁珗辦畦 would have the market for a doctoral program.

In addition to working and going to school, Lauer was also raising a family with his wife, Danylle. They have five children. Though life as a working professional and father kept him busy, his bucket list included going back to school yet again for his doctorate���that and traveling the world.

Growing up on the West Coast, mountaineering was no new concept for Lauer. He had been on plenty of treks before. His spirit of adventure also recharged with mission work in Honduras and Africa. Having traveled with Lauer on mission trips, his equally adventurous kids have also joined him on adventure trips in the U.S. and Canada. ���It really started with mission work around the world,��� he said. ���If you���re unafraid to jump on a donkey and ride to a remote village in the middle of nowhere, then climbing a mountain [can be done]. The mission field is good training.���

Matt said he is grateful for the many trips with his dad. ���He has only fueled my ambition to go on more crazy adventures,��� he added.

Trips with his sons have meant something special to Lauer. ���It welcomes them to manhood,��� he said. ���It���s that time individually where we have that goal together and that struggle together. It���s a bond between father and son that you can���t replace.���

One fateful day, Lauer made a different kind of trek���this time joining one of his sons on a campus tour at 敁珗辦畦. While walking by a table in the Dining Hall, Lauer stumbled upon a sign announcing 敁珗辦畦���s first doctoral program. He was immediately hooked and began another academic journey with his alma mater to fulfill another bucket list item.

Trip of a lifetime

When Lauer began planning a month-long trip clear across the globe to hike a famous mountain, he knew he���d have to take some time off work as well as school. The EdD team and Dorchester County School District 2 made it work for Lauer and his son. Amazed with how supportive his work, 敁珗辦畦, and Matt���s school were before and during the trip, Lauer commented, ���I thoroughly believe God ordained this for us to go.���

The Lauer duo left with their team on April 13. With COVID still at its height, Matt and Don were the only humans in the international terminal at one point. Once in Nepal, it took them 12 days to get to base camp, but only three days to make their way back. ���On the way up, you have to worry about altitude and acclimation,��� Lauer said. ���You���d take one step and it felt like you���d run 50. I���d take a few steps and breathe.��� 

So much of the experience left Lauer captivated. First, with the people. Lauer encountered a very resilient and gracious people on his trip, specifically the mountain guides who led him and his fellow teammates up Everest. ���It���s mind-boggling the resilience of the Himalayan Sherpas,��� Lauer said of the elite mountaineering people of that region. ���I think the Sherpas are the only ones who can say they walked up and down both ways in the snow. They have an amazing work ethic.���

In Kathmandu���the capital of Nepal���the majority of its residents are Hindu. Further up the mountain are Buddhists. ���It���s incredibly humbling to be around them,��� said Lauer. ���They were so incredibly nice and just so happy to see us. If you think of how our world was shut down by COVID, they have two 60-day tourist seasons and most of their money comes from us.���

Lauer also took in the vastness of God���s creation. ���The Himalayas are incredibly humbling���they���re gorgeous,��� he said, describing the mesmerizing views he encountered as he climbed. ���There���s nothing like them in the world.���

As Lauer, Matt, and the rest of the team climbed, it was not lost on them how dangerous it could be. They walked through a memorial of hundreds of hikers who died making the same climb. Lauer said it was humbling to know that others died trying. 

They hiked up over 20,000 feet and slept in -20 degree sleeping bags. Lauer experienced what felt like four seasons in a day. He���d slather on sunscreen in the morning to avoid getting sunburn and would strip down to a T-shirt by midday. The highs would reach in the 30s and lows in the -20s. Sometimes they���d walk through blizzards, though it was the region���s summer season. To stay hydrated, they���d boil water at night to purify it and add it to Nalgene bottles to sustain them for their hike the next day.

Their goal was to make it to Everest Base Camp. A trip to the very top of Mt. Everest costs $40,000 for an American���that did not fit into their mission or budget. The four medical professionals on his team���including a surgeon, nurse practitioner, and EMT���did training at the villages and tent hospitals along the journey up the mountain to base camp. In addition to bringing resources, they did lectures each day after hiking. 

���The villages were dealing with COVID in real time. Each village needed different resources,��� he explained. ���One of the problems at Everest Base Camp���a literal tent���was Khumbu cough, which is basically a cold. But Khumbu cough and COVID have similar symptoms, so many would have to be evacuated to eliminate the spread.���

One teammate broke her foot and was medically evacuated. The rest of the team continued on. 

Lauer said his hardest day was when they reached between 12,000 and 14,000-foot altitude. ���Everyone hits a wall, and that was the wall that hit me the hardest. It���s hard to prepare because you don���t know how your body is going to react,��� he said of the physical toll of the hike. ���I just got really tired. My son got a little headache.���

Though physical fitness is vital, preparation and endurance is equal parts mental and emotional. The team received support along the way. Churches and hundreds of people, including 敁珗辦畦 professors and students in Lauer���s cohort, sent text messages and emails to the Lauers and other teammates with prayers and words of encouragement. ���You don���t think about that as part of the preparation���it opened up quite a bit of blessings for us. Messages always came at the right time when we���re cold and wet and exhausted,��� he said.

Lauer was grateful for their guide and assistant guide from the Sherpa villages. ���Our assistant guide was 21 and had been doing this for five or six years. The guide has done this 100 times,��� he said. ���They���re used to doing eight to 10 treks a year to make salary for the year.��� Lauer added their team was the only group for the guide at that point in the year���the economic effects of COVID felt even in the smallest remote villages of India and Nepal. 

The Delta variant of the virus was closing in on them at the end of their journey���they made it out of Nepal just in time. Lauer said, ���God lined it up to get us in and out of the country safely.���

Spirit of adventure

Lauer had just one more mountain to climb upon his return to the states���his dissertation.

���A small amount of people pursue and finish a doctoral degree. Equally, a small amount of people pursue and climb Mt. Everest. Who does both at the same time? Only Don Lauer,��� said Dr. Robert Doan, assistant dean of the College of Education. ���Through faith in God and support of his family, Don was successful at both of these unique experiences. He demonstrates a lot of grit���which was also his main framework for his dissertation.��� 

He graduated in December with his doctoral degree���one of 23 trailblazers to walk across the stage as 敁珗辦畦���s first doctoral graduates. His dissertation is entitled GRIT: A Comparison of Military Versus Non-Military Students at a Private Christian University.

���I tell my kids to not quit. Don���t quit when it gets hard,��� said Lauer. ���If you won���t go a little bit beyond your comfort zone, you���re never going to grow and you���re never going to learn and you���re always going to be afraid. We���re not built to live in fear, we���re supposed to have a spirit of adventure.���

Matt checked a big box on his bucket list by climbing Mt. Everest. ���My biggest takeaway from this is to be grateful for what I have,��� he said. ���We have been up and down the Himalayas and in every town with freezing temperatures there would be nothing but a furnace in a single big room for everyone to be in.��� 

This fall Matt will become a Buccaneer following in his father���s footsteps as well as the path of his older brother, Donnie, and mother. You will likely find him in the new Science and Engineering building on campus as he begins his studies in engineering. 

What���s next for the Lauers? According to the newly titled Dr. Don Lauer: teaching, research, and Kilimanjaro.

���More and more schools are working with students whose primary language is not English,��� said Fernandez. She said it was, ���the biggest demand from area districts when I met with them last year.��� 

Dr. Tammy Harosky, associate professor of education, said, ���this certification will also prepare the mainstreamed classroom teacher working with the influx of refugees coming into the area.��� 

One does not need to be enrolled at 敁珗辦畦 to participate in this ESOL endorsement.

���This is a non-degree seeking endorsement for teachers who already have a bachelor���s degree and teaching certification,��� said Fernandez.  

Participants of the coursework can expect to learn teaching strategies to help their students further enhance their English.

���These courses cover the specific needs and teaching strategies necessary to help non or limited English speakers to learn to speak, read and write in English,��� said Fernandez. She also added that ���ESOL does not teach students in their native language but helps them to improve their English speaking, reading and writing skills so they can be proficient.���

The cost of the courses is covered per credit hour. The endorsement is seven credit hours at $450 per hour.

Having more teachers in our districts who will be ESOL-certified will make an impacting difference.

���These teachers will have ESOL students assigned to their classes, and the teachers will have the knowledge and skills to meet their students��� needs in terms of providing learning opportunities that will lead to success,��� said Fernandez. She said, ���there are very few teachers in the Low country that have this certification.���

敁珗辦畦 is the only university in South Carolina offering this opportunity. 

Courses begin Summer 2022.  to 敁珗辦畦 graduate programs as a non-degree seeking student. 

Catalina Duran Ballen is a junior communication studies major at 敁珗辦畦 Southern University and is an intern in the Marketing & Communication office.

Listed below are the newest 敁珗辦畦 Southern alumni, along with the dissertation titles of doctoral graduates. 

Master of Education Candidates

• Casey Bolduc
• Holly Clark
• Matthew Cooper
• Melissa Devore
• David ���Eddie��� Felkel
• Alexis Gandy
• Stephanie German
• Nadezhda ���Hope��� Ivanova
• Ashley Johnson
• Katelyn Kuykendall
• Alyssa Liles
• Sommer McKenzie
• Allison Moyer
• Kelly Perea
• Emily Sandifer
• Ebony Trapp
• Debra Vance
• Deanna Wilson
• Jackson Woodle

Doctoral Candidates

• Rebecca Crook ��� A Quantitative Study of The Impact of Four-Day School Weeks on Teacher Retention in Rural Public-School Districts
  
• Glorimar Blanco ��� Retaining Latinx Faculty in Higher Education

• Emily Enloe ��� Girls Need to Jam: A Somatics-Based Hip-Hop Dance Intervention and Its Impact on Adolescent Females

• Christina Furrow ��� Building Principal Self-Efficacy Through the Lens of Principal Preparation Programs and Principal Leadership Professional Development Experiences

• Abbie Scott ��� Course Scheduling���s Impact on the NCAA Initial Eligibility of Male Student Athletes

• Skylette Scott ��� Examining the Impacts of COVID-19 on Upper Elementary Students��� Academic Achievement in South Carolina Rural Title I Schools: Prepandemic Versus Pandemic

• Vivian Simons-Profit ��� The Development of Leadership Styles of African American Women Human Resources Administrators and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

• Kelly Simpson ��� A Case Study on Creating and Sustaining Organizational Culture in a Startup Company

• Stephen Sistare ��� Overcoming Resistance Through Organizational Change Models and Leadership Strategies