College of Education honors eight future teachers for excellence
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019
MANHATTAN — Eight graduating seniors from Kansas State University's College of Education have been recognized with special honors from the college.
Earning the college's Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award for outstanding leadership and scholarship are four students; two students are receiving the Outstanding Future Teacher Award for their potential as future teachers; and two students earned the Kansas State Department of Education Teacher of Promise Award.
The award winners are all December 2019 bachelor's candidates:
• Margo Coltrane, secondary education, Andover, College of Education Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. A K-State honors list student, Coltrane was a College of Education ambassador, a squad leader for EDCATS and a student member of the Kansas National Education Association. She also worked in the college's Catalyst Technology and Media Center. Coltrane served as Family Day chair and public relations chair of her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, and was a member of St. Isidore's FOCUS Women's Study. She received K-State's Foundation Plus Scholarship and was a finalist for the university's Nancy Kassebaum Scholarship. A 2015 graduate of Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in Wichita, Coltrane is the daughter of Mike and Alice Coltrane, Andover.
• Caitlin Morgan, secondary education and English, Garnett, College of Education Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. Morgan served as secretary of the Kansas National Education Association; chair and political action chair of Polar Express/Read Across America; secretary of Kappa Delta Pi, the education honorary; and was a member of Chimes, the junior honorary. She participated in the KNEA Outreach to Teach in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and was a College of Education senator for the Student Governing Association. Her many scholarships include the K-State Legacy Scholarship for four years, Laura and Martin Turner Education Scholarship, Kansas Teacher Service Scholarship, and the Fern and Bernell Schneider Memorial Scholarship. As a state KNEA officer, she was underclassmen representative, KPAC student representative and Resolutions Committee student member. She also was a mentor for the UFM Community Learning Center's teen mentoring program. Morgan is the daughter of Dan and Amber Morgan, Liberal, both K-State alumni. She also is a 2015 graduate of Liberal High School, where she will begin her career as an English teacher in January 2020.
• Alyssa Kulp, elementary education, Leonardville, Kansas State Department of Education Teacher of Promise Award. Kulp was a squad leader of EDCATS and a member of the College of Education Council and Kappa Delta Pi, the education honorary. She also is a member of the Kansas National Education Association. The daughter of Scott and Jennifer Kulp, Leonardville, Kulp is a 2016 graduate of Riley County High School in Riley.
• Shawna Gower, secondary education, Overland Park, Kansas State Department of Education Teacher of Promise Award. Gower was a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and served as president of the sixth floor of Marlatt Hall in 2017. She was the recipient of the Skeen Education Scholarship in 2017 and 2018 and the Staples Teaching Scholarship in 2019. The daughter of Kurt and Kristin Meier, Prosper, Texas, Gower is a 2015 graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, Overland Park.
• Ashley Billings, secondary education, Salina, College of Education Outstanding Future Teacher Award. The daughter of Tom and Nicole Billings, Salina, Billings is a 2015 graduate of Salina South High School.
• Byron J. Lewis IV, elementary education, Topeka, College of Education Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. Lewis was president of Call Me MISTER, a mentor and facilitator for the Kansas Advanced Teacher Academy and squad leader of EDCATS. He also served as a modern languages ambassador and was a member of United Black Voices Gospel Choir. He was a recipient of the Call Me MISTER Scholarship, Kansas Teacher Service Scholarship, Joey Lee Garmon Undergraduate Multicultural Scholarship and an Education in Humanities Grant from the Jack J. Isgur Foundation. Lewis is the son of Byron and Marti Lewis, Topeka, and a 2013 graduate of Topeka High School.
• Adrianna Elliott, elementary education, Sunrise, Florida, College of Education Outstanding Future Teacher Award. Elliott was a member of the Kansas National Education Association and a student leader at Kramer Dining Center. She attended Drake University for one year where she was a member of the 2015-2016 golf team. The daughter of Brian and Lisa Elliott, Sunrise, Elliott is a 2015 graduate of Western High School in Davie, Florida.
• Rachael Duden, secondary education and mathematics, Lincoln, Nebraska, College of Education Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. Duden was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the education honorary; KNEA Aspiring Teachers; and a squad leader of EDCATS. A K-State honors list student, she also completed the University Honors Program and served on its Leadership Council. She presented "STEM of the Arts: Incorporating Art into STEM Fields" at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Fair; served as the undergraduate coordinator of Family STEAM Nights at local elementary schools with Sherrie Martinie, associate professor of curriculum and instruction; and was a National Science Foundation Robert Noyce/K-State math teacher scholar, presenting at the 2018 NSF Midwest Noyce Conference poster session. In addition, she served as a teaching assistant for Studio Algebra and was a paper grader for the mathematics department. Duden is the daughter of Diane Duden and the late Robert Duden and is a 2016 graduate of St. Pius X High School in Lincoln. She was a student teacher in Lincoln during the 2019 fall semester and will begin her teaching career at Manhattan High School's East Campus in January 2020.
