Education partnership celebrates first master’s graduates

‘We’re building stronger educators and, ultimately, a stronger Grand Forks community,’ Laura Link says

Family, friends and educators filled the Memorial Union’s Henry Family Ballroom last week to celebrate the soon-to-graduate first cohort of the UND-Grand Forks Public Schools Teaching & Leadership master’s program partnership.

With UND students playing festive music and colorful balloon pillars framing the stage, the crowd was ready to cheer five semesters of hard work with dinner, speeches and a research showcase.

“Our PK-12 teachers deserve our very best,” said UND Associate Professor Laura Link, director and lead designer of the unique 30-credit program, as well as the new Mastery Learning Graduate Certificate. “They deserve the spotlight and a night dedicated to them. I feel like teachers so often give and give and give, yet so little is given back to them in terms of reward and honor.

“Joel (Schleicher) and I are so happy to lift them up. These educators are doing heroic work every single day, and we’re just happy to serve and recognize them for all their accomplishments.”

Confidence grows with new knowledge

Schleicher, clinical assistant professor with UND Teaching & Learning, led the cohort as student advisor and liaison between Grand Forks Public Schools and UND. He also taught multiple courses in the program and guided the students in their research and scholarly projects.

“I’m so incredibly proud of this group,” Schleicher said, adding just how far they had come since Day One.

“On that very first day of class — after we talked about their problems of practice and what their scholarly projects might address — I remember seeing some faces turn white and getting that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Schleicher said. “It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m in the wrong spot.’ But as they put their research into action in their classrooms and in their schools, their confidence level just kept growing.”

Added Link: “Leadership is not in a title. It comes from wherever you are. It’s about taking people where they need to go — not necessarily where they want to go — and that’s what teachers do every day.”

Stronger educators, stronger community

In her opening remarks, Link lauded the 14 graduate students — representative of GFPS educators in early childhood, elementary, middle and high schools — for their achievement in joining a small but very important group of North Dakotans. Less than 7% of the state population has earned a master’s degree, she explained.

“But more important, these teacher-leaders have earned and equipped themselves with additional skills so they can transfer that back to our community, to our schools and to our students,” Link said. “Tonight represents more than just the near completion of a degree to us. It symbolizes the power of collaboration between PK-12 schools and higher education. We’re building stronger educators and, ultimately, a stronger Grand Forks community.”

Students win with education partnership

Grand Forks Public Schools Superintendent Terry Brenner, who instructed the first course in the master’s program, echoed that sentiment as he shared how the graduate students at first “showed their vulnerability.”

“Some of them thought they didn’t belong, but they proved week after week after week that they do belong,” Brenner said. “They are learners, they are researchers, they are scholars. And then to bring all that knowledge they’ve learned and put it into practice, what a gift that is for our students.”

And that working knowledge already is permeating throughout schools districtwide.

“Each one of them is going to help build our teacher leadership bench,” Brenner said. “Some of them are aspiring principals and potentially could be candidates for two principal positions that are open right now.”

In addition, the district also will have special education coordinator openings, as well as positions for teacher-leaders and department leaders.

“All of these teachers being honored tonight will bring their skills and that special blend of practitioner and researcher back to the school district,” Brenner said. “It’s just a privilege to watch the evening unfold tonight. It’s hard not to get emotional. I’m just really proud.”

Throughout the evening, more kind words were shared by Provost Eric Link, College of Education & Human Development Shelbie Witte and CEHD Associate Dean of Research & Faculty Development Rob Stupnisky.

Here is just some of what they had to say:

Provost Link: “What this partnership means for Grand Forks is that we have a community that values the educational experience itself and that we have a system of values that calls for a great educational experience for every single student we teach. Whether it’s in the Pre-K classroom to the college classroom and beyond, we want those learning opportunities to be prevalent, to be powerful, to be ubiquitous and to be life-changing. And that’s the work we are celebrating here tonight. Through this partnership and on your good work and your thought, we have forged an alliance that speaks to those values for our community. I do believe that a community that is rich in educational excellence is a community that is poised for success and growth.”

Dean Witte: “(When UND and GFPS leaders came together with these graduate students) what followed wasn’t a program off the shelf. It was a co-created leadership pipeline that blends real-world challenges with a university’s expertise and insight grounded in the day-to-day realities of the challenges facing North Dakota classrooms and schools. … Collaboration is transformative. It requires a shared ownership, mutual humility and a willingness to rethink where expertise lives when universities and school districts move beyond transactional relationships. We don’t just train leaders, we cultivate ecosystems of support that can weather any challenge. In the end, the future of education will not be built by UND or any other institution on its own. It will be built by all of you at the intersection where scholarship meets practice and where trust turns vision into action.”

Associate Dean Stupnisky: “The students here today are knee-deep in practitioner research, also known as teacher inquiry. And here’s what makes that research so valuable: It improves teaching and curriculum. They’re figuring out how students learn the best, how to differentiate instruction — which is really difficult — and how to integrate technology in our modern world. They’re talking about challenges in educational inequality, diving into things like achievement gaps and disciplinary differences and resource access. It’s research that’s actually changing schools and not just existing in an academic journal somewhere. Most important, it empowers professional growth. These educators are becoming changemakers. You’re not just doing research, you’re reimagining what education can be.”

And what about that real-world research?

The evening was capped by a special showcase in which all 14 teacher-leaders presented short summaries of their research. Among them were math teachers Emily Ismil and Luke Wurdock, who talked about mitigating teacher burnout and the effectiveness of giving students immediate one-on-one assignment feedback, respectively.

Both agreed the research and the master’s course were life-changing.

“Day to day, I saw an improvement in my teaching and an improvement in learner understanding,” said Valley Middle School’s Wurdock. “I also got a lot out of the community aspect of the program. It was great to be able to work closely with my peers and just to bounce ideas off each other.”

And this from Ismil of South Middle School: “Coming from a small town, I think it can feel isolating in such a large school district, where the district office people don’t know your name. But my confidence in my role and my place as a Grand Forks Public Schools educator has really grown. If there’s an issue in my school, I’m not afraid to stand up and address it. And those leadership skills have been really valuable.”

And yet another graduate student, Nicole Levenseller, summed up the night and experience perfectly: “This showcase may mark the end of our time as master’s students, but it’s only the beginning of our journey as leaders, innovators and changemakers. May the skills we have built and the knowledge we have gained continue to serve us and our community.”

>> Do you want to learn more about the program? Contact Laura Link, associate professor of UND’s Teaching & Leadership at laura.link@UND.edu or 701.777.5825.

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