Derick Ludwiig, an elementary education major, received the Des Moines Area Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship awarded to one junior or senior in the School of Education. His award was based on his involvement on campus, why he wanted to be a teacher, and his career goals. The committee specifically mentioned his reference letters as being strong—Shout out to Sally Beisser and Bill Orcutt!

Ben Chadwick was recently honored as a finalist for Iowa Teacher of the Year. Ben, who is a member of our on-campus Leadership ‘14 cohort (Master of Science in Education Leadership) and a veteran attending Drake on the GI Bill, is one of our strongest aspiring administrators and has had quite a year. He recently had an article, “The effect of computer-aided design instruction on the spatial ability of high school students,” accepted for publication in the International Journal of Modern Engineering Research, and was honored at the Technology Association of Iowa’s Prometheus Awards for an innovative coding event (called the CTE Code Jam, in partnership with Principal Financial Group) that he designed for his classes. Ben’s clearly a rising star in the Iowa educational firmament, one who we expect to continue to hear a great deal from in the future.

—Catherine Gillespie, the Mary Collier Baker Professor and Associate Dean