Whitworth University School of Education

Alumni Achievements

L. Denice Randle, '07

Major: Education

Current Position: Randle earned her master's degree in education from Pacific Lutheran University in 2008. She is currently a TRIO Upward Bound teacher and program coordinator through Making a Difference in Community, a nonprofit in Tacoma, Wash. She teaches and writes college-level curriculum, provides personal mentoring, and counsels students on how to navigate college institutions. She manages a caseload of roughly 40 first-generation, high-need high school students at Henry Foss High School.

Why Whitworth? "I initially learned about Whitworth through the Act Six Leadership and Scholarship Initiative. Whitworth was the first university I had the opportunity to visit. I knew immediately it would provide me not only a college degree, but also a heightened sense of spiritual renewal. I recognized Whitworth as the university where I would be nurtured academically, spiritually and relationally."

Whitworth Activities: Worked as an R.A., served ASWU as the senior class coordinator, was a member of the Black Student Union, participated in the Exceptional Praise gospel choir, and worked in the admissions office.

Quote: "Whitworth helped me succeed in my current field by setting high academic standards and modeling excellent teaching strategies. I was challenged as a student, and I gravitated toward the way teachers supported me while still holding me accountable. I strive to provide these same experiences for my own students in order for them to reap the rewards of being challenged yet supported through being stretched personally and academically."

Influential Whitworth Professors: "Several professors nurtured my career choice and provided me the mentorship and scaffolding needed to be confident in my natural and blossoming abilities. Professors Doug Sugano, Leonard Oakland, Jerry Sittser and Margo Long pushed me and provided the encouragement I needed to pursue my dreams despite the challenges. I grew confident in my gifts because they believed in my possibilities."

Career Goals: "My long-term goals are to work in leadership as a multicultural director in higher education and/or at the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as a writer and evaluator of rigorous and culturally relevant PK-12 curriculum."

Here's what some other recent Whitworth graduates are doing with their education degrees:

Carly Dorsey Roberts, '08, is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology & Special Education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Ariana Augustinas, '10, completed her intercultural field experience in Taiwan and is teaching at an international school in China.

Andrea Naccarato, '08, completed a master's degree in leadership and administration and is the assistant principal at Hayden Meadows Elementary, in Hayden, Idaho.

Ashley Bivin, '11, teaches fifth grade at Midland International Elementary in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Amy Watts, '10, is a fourth-grade teacher at Hidden Creek Elementary, in Redmond, Wash. She recently gave a presentation at the 2011 Future Educators Association's National Conference, in Atlanta, about her first year of teaching.

Joseph Andrews, '07, teaches in the Moses Lake School District.

Kim (Philpott) Allen, '06, is an advanced-learning consultant for Seattle Public Schools.

Sarah Douglas, '09, teaches English as a foreign language at Moscow Economic School, a private school in Russia.

Sheburra Moore, '06, earned a master's degree in literacy; she teaches at a low-income school in Las Vegas.

Lindsey Wayman, '11, is teaching at an international school in Shenzhen, China.

Jessica Shawley, '03, was recognized this year as Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year for the Northwest region.