ESU, BEST Program honor graduates at reception

A program that helps the Butler County area grow its own supply of teachers will send 23 newly-minted educators to area school systems this fall. The BEST (short for Butler-Emporia from Students to Teachers) Program will recognize those graduates at a reception Friday, May 16 at Butler Community College in El Dorado.

The reception will take place at 4 p.m. in Building 1000, BCC’s Student Union.

BEST is an award-winning collaboration between Emporia State University and Butler Community College that turns placebound students into elementary school teachers. The program was developed in early 2004, when representatives from Butler and ESU met to devise a way that students in and around El Dorado could earn their teaching degrees without leaving their home areas.

Through BEST, students complete a two year Associate of Arts degree from Butler and then continue on the Butler campus to earn a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from ESU.

“Most of our graduates are going to schools in Butler and Sedgwick Counties,” said Merle Patterson, BEST coordinator.

This spring’s BEST graduates are: Tenae Alfaro, Robin Carleton, Amber Carlson, Valynn Christie, Julie Clark, Cathie Dauber, Sarah Dawson, Brad Drewek, Rachel Fehrenbacher, Joe Gehrer, Jennifer Goodwin, Natasha Hinz, Robin Lewis, Kara Manny, Mackenzie Matthies, Deidra Mitchener, Alisha Moss, Teresa Owen, Heather Parrott, Mary Tehrune, Mandy Toedman, Nicole Villegas and Amanda Wilson.

The BEST program was singled out for recognition at this winter’s American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) meeting in New Orleans, when it received the association’s Best Practice Award for collaboration with community colleges. The award recognized outstanding collaboration between teacher education programs and community colleges.

Last Updated May 14, 2008>