Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011
Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education, continues to grow in numbers and vigor, and that vitality was on display on April 10 when Rider’s KDP chapter, Alpha Beta Theta, inducted 103 new students into its ranks before a capacity audience in the Yvonne Theater at its annual initiation and installation of officers.
by Sean Ramsden
One hundred years after being established by the University of Illinois Education Club, Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education, continues to grow in numbers and vigor, and that vitality was on display on Sunday, April 10, when Rider’s KDP chapter, Alpha Beta Theta, inducted 103 new students into its ranks before a capacity audience in the Yvonne Theater at its annual initiation and installation of officers.
Current KDP co-presidents Dana Nissen and Laura Meyers welcomed the new inductees, and the family members, with Meyers explain how this year’s class is one of the Rider chapter’s largest ever, an impressive feat considering KDP’s standards. Students must be in good academic standing, with at least a 3.0 GPA, attend two meetings and two service events, and have completed at least 30 credit hours in the Education curriculum.
“If this year’s class is any indication of the future, the future looks very bright,” said Meyers, a senior.
Dr. Donald Steven, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, echoed that idea in his remarks. “These inductees provide real evidence of the scholarship demanded by our faculty and pursued by the students,” he said.
Rider’s Kappa Delta Pi chapter, introduced to the Lawrenceville campus in 2003, has steadily grown to be one of the most active and influential student organizations at the University. Not only does the society wield an active community service profile – KDP members raised $4,365 for Walk Now for Autism Speaks last fall and were a vital part of building Rider’s Relay for Life event – but members have also been active in becoming better teachers and teacher candidates.
“This winter, our students organized a highly successful professional development conference on campus that was totally student-run and student-led,” said Dr. Heather Casey, an assistant professor of Education who, along with Dr. Peter Hester, associate professor of Education, serves as a co-adviser to KDP. “It was one of the most professional events I’ve ever attended.”
This year, KDP students also sponsored a series of technology events for Education majors, in which they were acquainted with emerging teaching and professional technologies such as augmented reality and ePortfolios, and partnered with Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society, to give bags of gifts to underserved students from HomeFront just before Christmas.
You have brought honor to yourselves and to the people who have supported you,” said Dr. Sharon Sherman, dean of the School of Education, to the current KDP members and the new inductees. “You’re launching your tomorrow today.”
Chapter officers for the 2011-12 academic year will be:
Presidents: Christina Ferinde and Tracey Gould
Vice President: Chelsea Bradshaw
Secretary/Membership Chair: Sarah Sell
Treasurer: Geoffrey Greene
Public Relations: Christina Eugene
Historian: Michael DiBiasi
Service Chair: Nicole Becker