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2021 was another challenging year, but we have a lot to be grateful for as move ahead to 2022 and spring semester. Here are five of our top highlights from the ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ School of Education’s past year, as we look forward to positivity and new possibilities in the coming year.

COVID-19 will be top of mind for Laura-Elena Porras-Holguin when she graduates. The virus deeply impacted her family but also motivated her to finish her senior thesis and solidified her desire to pursue a master’s degree in public health. Porras-Holguin is a magna cum laude ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ graduate, who was also a Multicultural Leadership Scholar and research assistant for the Research Hub for Youth Organizing, both housed in the School of Education.

Michelle Lopez (MEdu’21) remembers sitting in her grandfather’s kitchen, surrounded by the smells of home cooking, and peppering him with questions about her family history. Lopez’s grandparents originated from the San Luis Valley, the oldest continuously inhabited area of Colorado. They moved their family to Denver seeking opportunities for their...

Lianna Nixon’s lens on the natural world is changing education and environmental activism Lianna Nixon is an environmental photographer and activist, but on Earth Day 2020 she was not thinking about marches or demonstrations. That day she found out whether she still had her spot on the world’s largest polar...

On Thursday, Dec. 2, the School of Education at ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ will host a special virtual gathering of Ed Talks, an intersectional exploration of place, identity, family, the body, romance and more. Inspired by TED Talks, ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ’s Ed Talks are short, engaging talks that address some of today’s most pressing issues in education and beyond, including various ways of working toward collective liberation.

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) selected School of Education PhD candidate Christopher Saldaña for the 2021–22 AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship in Education Research. This highly selective program, designed for members of racial and ethnic groups that are historically underrepresented in educational research, offers dissertation fellowships to graduate students and...

Colorado Springs teacher Kristen Sim first enrolled a ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ graduate certificate in Teacher Leadership last fall thinking she might get a master’s degree over time. Fast forward one year, one pandemic, six self-paced online courses, three capstones, and a network of new colleagues, and Sim is now the first graduate of the Teacher Leadership program.

On Sept. 17, over 100 faculty, staff, donors, and students and their families gathered virtually to honor scholarship and fellowship recipients and supporters at the 2021 School of Education Scholarship Celebration. Warmest congratulations to all our scholarship award recipients and to the supporters who make so much possible.

Teachers, informal educators, youth organizers, researchers and more gathered to reimagine climate change education for a more just and sustainable world through a series of free webinars and an in-person gathering at ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ in August and September. Watch the Climate Change Learning Series webinars, which uniquely focused on the role of justice, emotion and action.

Michelle Lopez’s Colorado roots run deep, and her family histories and culture have helped shape her work as a bilingual teacher. The lucha (or struggle) toward truth can sometimes feel overwhelming and daunting, but it can light the path toward unity and harmony. Completing this program represents a fight for...