December 15, 2011
Kappa Delta Pi chapter receives multiple awards at convocation
Lotta Larson, assistant professor in curriculum and instruction, and seven pre-service teachers accepted multiple awards and made four presentations at the Kappa Delta Pi convocation last month in Indianapolis.
Kappa Delta Pi, international honor society in education, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. Larson said the awards were especially meaningful because this year marks K-State’s Iota Xi chapter’s 50th anniversary of Kappa Delta Pi membership. Kappa Delta Pi has 582 chapters and 45,000 international members.
The K-State chapter received a monetary award for winning the national Kappa Delta Pi Program Award in the service category for its Literacy Alive! project, subtitled Literacy Integrating Kids & Soldiers, or L.I.N.K.S., and general service projects.
The L.I.N.K.S. project came to life thanks to fourth-graders at Morris Hill Elementary School on Fort Riley. The students, using literacy and technology, created an electronic book complete with photos and a video that documented the process. Students read each page until the book was completed then it was then sent to their parent who was deployed in Iraq.
“Community service is a big part of what we do in Kappa Delta Pi. It is especially meaningful when we make a difference in our local schools. Not only do K-12 students benefit but it’s also an opportunity for our KDP members to experience what it is like to teach and work directly with children,” Larson said. “It’s definitely a win-win situation.”
At the convocation, Larson was awarded the Regional Counselor Award for outstanding service to the society. Two preservice teachers were recognized for scholastic excellence. Emily Riley, a music education major, was the recipient of the Jerry Robbins Scholarship, and Stephanie Alderman-Oler, secondary science education major, accepted the Kappa Delta Pi Presidents’ Scholarship. Alderman-Older also received the Kappa Delta Pi Distinguished Chapter Officer Award in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments as Kappa Delta Pi President of the K-State chapter.
“All of our students represented K-State so well,” Larson said. “It made it worth all of the effort. I was so proud of them.”
Larson presented two workshops, “It Begins at home: Forming Successful Parent-Teacher Partnerships” and “E-Books and E-Book Readers: Teaching Reading t to 21st-Century Kids.” Alderman-Oler presented “Alternative Summer School: A Space for Growth” as part of a round table presentation. In a poster session, Alderman-Oler and fellow pre-service teacher Lauren Cantril shared a visual display of “L.I.N.K.S.: Literacy Integrating Kids and Soldiers”.
In addition to Alderman-Oler and Cantril, preservice teachers Elizabeth Hardie, Kristen Eck, Jacquelyn Ballew and Colby Heckathorne also attended the convocation.