The fourth Annual Randolph-Macon College Education Alumni Board Meeting was held during Homecoming weekend, which took place October 21-23, 2016.

The Education Department established the Education Alumni Board in 2012 to provide an opportunity for education alumni to meet with current education students and discuss meaningful and practical ideas with the future educators. The board is made up of education alumni, current education students, and current and retired education faculty and staff. Two community members, Stewart Roberson (superintendent emeritus, Hanover County Public Schools, and chairman and president, CEP Moseley) and Hillary Billingsley (reading specialist, South Anna Elementary School), serve as advisors to the board. 

Generating Ideas
Over a two-day period, education alumni participated in workshops and discussions on topics of classroom cultures and student diversity.

Maryanne DallaValle ’10, who teaches at Montrose Elementary School in Henrico County, Virginia, serves as chairperson of the Alumni Board.

“This year’s meeting was a very productive and reflective one,” she says. “Having the opportunity to discuss diversity in a safe environment allowed us to generate ideas on how to include diversity instruction in undergraduate courses, and to reflect on how we, as educators, are providing a safe zone for all students. The weekend was a rejuvenating, eye-opening experience and generated many ideas.”  

Viable, Creative Solutions
Professor Diana Yesbeck, chair of the Education Department, says the annual meeting was a great way for alumni and students to brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other.

“During two workshop sessions, participants discussed recommendations for the teacher preparation program with respect to instruction on student diversity,” she says. “The work sessions resulted in great suggestions to strengthen our teacher preparation program and provide quality instruction to meet a growing need in the diversity of our K-12 schools.”

Other officers of the board, including Frances Joyner ’00 (co-chairperson), Jocelyn Carver ’11 (secretary), and Carmen Frayser ’14 (event coordinator) helped facilitate the group discussions.

“The Board did a great job tackling a very broad and difficult topic that affects us in our everyday lives,” says Carver. “Diversity is hard to encapsulate; therefore, the potential problems that can arise from this topic are seemingly endless. The group offered viable and creative solutions to many of these problems and a fantastic discussion took place.”

Chris Murray Jr. ’05, who teaches social studies at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Maryland, gave a presentation on preparing teacher candidates to be empathetic teachers.

“Education is like a boat on an ever-changing sea of diversity that today’s teacher must learn to navigate,” says Murray. “I was proud to spend time during Homecoming weekend learning from all of the wonderful education alumni and sharing ideas with the dedicated faculty. The opportunity to continue to have a voice in Randolph-Macon’s education program—the foundation of my career—was an amazing experience. I am proud to call myself a Yellow Jacket.”

Teaching and Learning
“Teaching and learning about student diversity is a primary responsibility in training our pre-service educators,” says Yesbeck. “Our K-12 schools are a reflection of our society: rich with diverse backgrounds, cultures, communities, and learning styles. To become culturally responsive teachers and learners, discussions about those dimensions that make up diversity other than what is visible to the eye help promote rich and meaningful discussions.”  It is the individual approach to each learning objective that makes RMC’s education program unique, says Yesbeck.

“Equipped with a greater understanding of how cultural differences and similarities are transferrable to student classrooms, our education students have a deeper appreciation when designing and delivering lessons in fieldwork and student teaching placements.”

The Education Program at RMC
With a strong tradition of preparing outstanding teachers, RMC’s education minor is a Virginia Department of Education approved educator preparation program and is accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. The teacher preparation program at RMC creates reflective, passionate educators who are highly qualified in their content areas and in 21st-century teaching skills. Inspired by RMC’s own dedicated teaching faculty, our graduates bring to their own classrooms a commitment to children, youth, families and diversity.

With the first course in RMC’s teacher preparation program, students are in the community, working with students and teachers in local school classrooms. RMC education courses fully integrate classroom and experiential learning, opportunities for collaborative research, civic and global engagement, personalized guidance, and leadership development.