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WIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction Chair Sara Simonson and Mary Huffman. Huffman earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in curriculum and instruction in 2001 and 2008, respectively.
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WIU College of Education and Human Services Associate Dean Katrina Daytner and Patrick Twomey. Twomey earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education (1997), master's degree in educational leadership (1999), education specialist degree (Ed.S) in educational leadership (2004) and educational doctorate in educational leadership (2009), all at Western.
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Caryl Stern earned her master's degree in Western's college student personnel program in 1979. Currently, she serves as the president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
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College of Education and Human Services Alumni Recognized at Alumni and Scholarship Celebration at WIU

April 21, 2016

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MACOMB, IL — Two Western Illinois University alumni were honored as College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Distinguished Alumni last weekend, and one alumna was recognized with a COEHS Lifetime Achievement Award. Mary Huffman (Mount Pleasant, SC), Patrick Twomey (Macomb, IL) and Caryl Stern (New York, NY) were honored during the COEHS Alumni and Scholarship Celebration on WIU's Macomb campus.

Mary Huffman

Huffman teaches fifth grade at Charles Pinckney Elementary in Mount Pleasant (SC). She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the WIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 2001 and 2008, respectively. Last October, Huffman was recognized as the National History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (New York, NY).

For her national award, Huffman received $10,000 at an award ceremony in New York (NY) and was presented with the award by Robin Roberts, one of the co-hosts of "Good Morning America."

According to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website, "Huffman uses hands-on lessons to help her students 'become active American citizens who make positive changes in the future.'" Examples of the lessons include having her students create care packages, write letters to U.S. troops and participate in veteran's week celebrations by inviting soldiers into the classroom. She also designed an interactive unit that includes a WWII draft simulation. In addition, each week, Huffman dresses up in clothing from the era being studied, which enables her students to see and interact with historic artifacts.

Huffman was nominated by WIU Department of Curriculum and Instruction Chair Sara Simonson.

Patrick Twomey

Twomey is the superintendent of schools for Macomb (IL) Community Unit District #185. He earned his bachelor's degree in elementary education (1997), master's degree in educational leadership (1999), education specialist degree (Ed.S) in educational leadership (2004) and educational doctorate in educational leadership (2009), all at Western.

Twomey serves on the COEHS Advisory Board. He has contributed back to Western by establishing a partnership between WIU's curriculum and instruction department and the "Read 100" program, which serves struggling readers at Lincoln Elementary School. He also has served as a program partner in Western's redesign and implementation of its educational leadership program for superintendents.

Prior to his position of superintendent for the Macomb school district, he served as the superintendent for Havana (IL) School District #126, as well as the principal and assistant principal at Macomb High School and the assistant principal at Ingersoll Middle School (Canton, IL). In addition, he has served as an adjunct instructor in COEHS's educational leadership department.

Twomey was nominated by COEHS Associate Dean Katrina Daytner.

Caryl Stern

Stern earned her master's degree in Western's college student personnel program in 1979. Currently, she serves as the president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. She joined the U.S. Fund in 2006 and has traveled to more than 30 countries in support of UNICEF's mission. She has spearheaded the organization's efforts to help UNICEF help children affected by disasters across the globe, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 East Africa drought and the recent Ebola crisis. She is author of the book, "I Believe in ZERO: Learning from the World's Children."

Prior to joining the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Stern served as the CEO and senior associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League, the founding director of the Anti-Defamation League's A World of Difference Institute and as the dean of students at Polytechnic University.

For more information, contact Dana Moon, COEHS director of development, marketing and community relations, at (309) 298-1690 or via email at DM-Moon@wiu.edu.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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