Tracie Crane ’03

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Tracie Crane ’03 celebrated her 15th anniversary with Jacobs Technology.  She is a Deputy Department Manager on the main engineering services contract at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  She helps supervise nearly 400 engineers, scientists, and technicians.

Congratulations, Tracie!

TAG DAY

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Thank-A-Giver Day (TAG Day) is on Monday, February 11. This day provides the IWU campus community with the opportunity to thank the donors who support Illinois Wesleyan. IWU celebrates each year in mid-February because it marks the symbolic point during the academic year – about 70% of the way through – when tuition dollars run out and support from alumni and friends, our endowment, and external grants kicks in for the remainder of the year.

Thank you to all donors who help make the IWU experience possible!

Emeritus Associate Professor of Economics Robert (Bob) Leekley

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Emeritus Associate Professor of Economics Robert (Bob) Leekley passed away on Tuesday, Jan.1. Prof. Leekley started teaching at Illinois Wesleyan in 1974, and from his first year to his 44th, his commitment to IWU and our students remained unchanged. His positive impact on generations of students and colleagues will not be forgotten. Read an obituary. A service will be held in the IWU Evelyn Chapel from 11-12 on Wednesday, January 9th.

John Camardella (’03)

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John Camardella
Photo by/Zach Miller

 

An article by Caroline Matas published in the Harvard News Gazette entitled “Religious Education Through New Eyes” describes the work of John Camardella ’03, a Prospect, IL high school social studies teacher who recently worked to completely redesign the curriculum of the world religions elective he has taught to high school seniors for the past 15 years.
According to the article, most high school religious courses teach a traditions-based model, with a unit on each of the major faiths’ “DERMS”: doctrines, ethics, rituals, myths, and symbols. Camardella had been using this method for years but was recently exposed to a  “life-changing” method of teaching religious studies he learned from Harvard Divinity School’s Religious Literacy Project (RLP).
Diane L. Moore, senior scholar and the founding director of the RLP at Harvard Divinity School, has pioneered the field of religious literacy. Rejecting “traditions-based” methods of teaching religion, she proposes that religion should be studied through the lens of cultural studies with the following maxims in mind: 1) religions are internally diverse, 2) religions evolve and change, and 3) religions are culturally embedded.
Moore asked Camardella to serve as an education fellow for the RLP and pilot its pedagogical materials in his classroom; he and the Prospect High School administrators jumped at the chance. Members of the RLP team flew out to visit Prospect over the course of the fall 2017 semester in order to help Camardella prepare to overhaul his curriculum.
While Camardella had the support of the RLP team and his principal, pioneering a change of this magnitude involved a leap of faith.
“There are around five or six people who teach religious studies courses in the Chicagoland area, but everyone else does the standard traditions-based teaching,” Camardella said. “I broke with all of them. We still talk all the time, but I broke with all of them to really put all my chips in this cultural studies basket. I’m pretty much betting my career on it.”
Through adapted materials from the RLP, Camardella had students read case studies that delved into religious groups’ understandings of climate change, gender, minority status, and violence and peace. At the end of each unit, students could pick one subtopic to read and would respond to essay questions about their chosen case study.
“So, we have student choice right away: What are you interested in?” Camardella said. “What you have is a way of assessing students in a healthy and authentic way, but you’re allowing kids to come at the study of religion based on their interests. And what we’ve seen is, kids are now hyper-interested in this because they have so much vested in it.”
Read the full article here.
Great work, John! I know your students are going to benefit greatly from this new method of teaching.

Patrick Spangler ’03 and Kelly Green ’04

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Patrick Spangler ’03 and Kelly Green ’04 had their third child, Greta Enright Spangler, on July 9, 2018. Congratulations on your tiny Titan!

Additionally, Patrick was also recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Public Interest Law Initiative (“PILI”). PILI supports pro bono and public service  programs for current law students and fellowship programs for recent law school graduates.  Patrick served as a PILI Fellow in 2005 and has continued an active pro bono practice, which has included representation of individuals in immigration asylum, family law, and criminal justice reform litigation. Congratulations, Patrick!

Megan Pietrucha, Psy.D. ’03

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In June 2018, Megan Pietrucha, Psy.D. ’03 was promoted to Director of Training of the Office of Placement and Training for The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago Campus. She was also promoted to Director of Training of the APA accredited Community Internship Consortium at TCSPP.

 

Congratulations, Megan!