July 30, 2007 :: No. 13

Five Cal State Fullerton graduates who recently earned their master’s degrees in education have been named recipients of the 2007 Edwin Carr Fellow Award.

One student from each of the five departments in the College of Education is chosen for the award. Students are selected based on meritorious achievement throughout the master’s program and are deemed individuals who will make outstanding contributions to the field of education, noted Claire Cavallaro, dean of the College of Education.

College of Education faculty members make recommendations to the dean about graduating master’s students considered for the award. The recipients also serve on the Edwin Carr College of Education Advisory Board to the college.

The award is named in honor of the late Edwin Carr, emeritus professor of education and economics, who exemplified exceptional service to his departments and to the institution.

The award recipients are:
• Magdalena Villalba, Educational Leadership
Villalba teaches at Sonora High School in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District and is dedicated to teaching English-language learners. At the La Habra school, she oversees a learning lab for second-language learners. The Brea resident pursued her master’s degree to explore other facets of education, in order to continue to fuel her passion to make a difference in students’ lives. Her work in the educational leadership program has been on the correlation between English language instruction and assessment in preparing students for the California Standards Test in language arts.

• Michellene Kulick, Elementary and Bilingual Education
Kulick is a teacher in the Anaheim City School District, where she is recognized for her leadership in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE). She has served on numerous schoolwide and districtwide
committees, including the District Social Studies Text Adoption Committee, Discipline Committee, School Site Council and Leadership Team. She plans to continue her professional development in the areas of English language development and gifted and talented education and is interested in conducting research in the area of gifted learners and parent involvement. Kulick lives in Lake Forest and is considering pursuing a doctorate.

• Merri Jo Hooven, Reading
Hooven serves as the coordinator of the School Readiness Program for the Irvine Unified School District. In this role, the Irvine resident provides leadership for the interdisciplinary team that implements the school readiness program for parents and children, spearheads district outreach efforts to promote school readiness through linkages with collaborative partners and community agencies, and promotes best teaching practices through review of current research. She also serves on the Early Literacy School Readiness Coordinator Advisory Committee and is a member of the city of Irvine Strategic Planning Advisory Committee.

• Julia R. Hodges, Secondary Education
Hodges is an eighth-grade English language arts teacher at Chemawa Middle School in the Riverside Unified School District. While a master’s student, she juggled being the language arts department chair, interdisciplinary team leader, GATE site coordinator, District Assessment Committee member and academic pentathlon head coach. Her innovative and successful use of technology in the classroom has presented her with many opportunities, including representing her school and district at technology meetings. Hodges, who lives in Riverside, also participated in the National Writing Project and gained insight on how to effectively implement different types of writing into the classroom.

• Barbara Sandoval, Special Education
Sandoval is in her eighth year of teaching kindergarten at Raymond Temple Elementary in the Centralia School District. She has worked with students in grades K-6 in a program designed to provide individual education for students with special needs. For her thesis, she surveyed more than 100 kindergarten teachers about their knowledge and impact of writing standards used in Orange County classrooms. She has been a member of the School Site Council and assists administrators with decisions regarding spending and instruction. She also helps coordinate GATE students as peer tutors. This year, the Fountain Valley resident has six students with special needs in her classroom.

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