Kremen’s HEAL Program is Recognized for Outstanding Student Leadership

Sade Johnson, a student in Kremen’s Higher Education Administration and Leadership (HEAL) program, was recently recognized as an “Outstanding Graduate Student” by the California College Personnel Association (CCPA) as well as earning the “Graduate Student Honoree” award for recognition at the Division of Research and Graduate Studies (DRGS). Sade is expected to receive her M.A. in Spring 2023 with a 4.0 GPA.

During the course of the 30-semester unit program, HEAL students delve into curricula that examines policies, practices, theories, and current issues related to the postsecondary education pipeline. HEAL prepares emerging leaders for professional roles in academic affairs, making Sade a perfect representation of the program’s mission. Sade is a first-generation, system-impacted, low-income student-parent, who is also a wife and mother to two young children. She previously earned her B.A. in African American Studies with an emphasis on African American/Black Culture, Histories, and Society with a Minor in Mathematics from the University of California, Davis. 

Sade’s passion for higher education stemmed from her transition to parenthood while still being enrolled in college. She experienced many of the injustices the system perpetuates toward parenting students, an experience which caused her to courageously advocate for policies and practices rooted in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, leading to her current work as a graduate assistant for Project HOPE, a case management service that addresses the basic needs of Fresno State’s student population. Sade has also collaborated with the Michelson 20MM Foundation, serving on their Spark Basic Needs Grant Committee. The foundation is dedicated to supporting and investing in higher learning initiatives that seek to transform the lives of underrepresented students.

Sade is also a Graduate Equity Fellow, her fellowship experience includes serving on the planning committee for the inaugural Higher Education Student Affairs in the Central Valley (HESA-CV) Conference, an annual meeting that aims to establish local networking opportunities for graduate students. She also serves as Vice-chair for the Student Advisory Council (SAC) at a dual-immersion charter school.

Sade aspires to continue working in higher education, advocating for students who are underrepresented or who have been impacted by the system. She is especially passionate about helping student-parents, students of color, first-generation students, and those classified as low-income. Sade has a strong belief that everyone is entitled to an education, no matter what their circumstances. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development )

Demonstrating Innovation in the Classroom

Kathleen Giannandrea is an instructional coach at Rosy High School in the Sanger Unified School District, where she has now held a position for over 26 years. She performed a 5 year stint for the Fresno County Office of Education, working with AVID, a program which imparted upon her many useful teaching skills. Giannandrea was fortunate to have multiple pathways which continuously brought her back to Fresno State. 

She transferred from College of The Sequoias with her associates degree before eventually earning her bachelor’s and obtaining her teaching credentials from Fresno State in 1994. After completing her work with the Fresno County Office of Education and returning to her teaching position at Rosy High School, Giannandrea discovered that her department was offering support for instructors who wanted to pursue master’s degrees. Fresno State had partnered with Giannandrea’s distinct, in the hopes of helping elementary, junior high, and High School teachers complete their higher education goals. The program allowed professors to travel to the office on campus and provide instruction there instead of forcing the busy teachers to commute all the way to Fresno State. In 2018, Giannandrea graduated with her master’s degree in education, with a reading language arts focus, after studying with the cohort for two and a half years. She was one of only seven High School teachers who were able to successfully complete the program. 

While pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Fresno State, Giannandrea was a full time employee at the Visalia Times Delta working 38 to 40 hours a week in a newspaper system while also commuting to Fresno on the daily. Struggling to balance all areas of her life, Giannandrea learned that if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to make it work. Her only remaining parent had passed shortly before she transferred from College of The Sequoias to Fresno State and she unfortunately was not able to navigate the financial aid system in place at the time, so instead, she paid out of pocket for her entire education. Giannandrea remembers the constant sleepless nights she would experience while working toward her first degree. She did not have the traditional college experience in the sense that she didn’t live in the dorms or attend student parties, something that Giannandrea is grateful for since she believes it fit her personality and allowed her to focus more on her studies. 

Giannandrea’s journey toward her master’s degree is even more vivid in her mind and came with its share of lessons, as well. One of the first things she learned is that expectations and beliefs held by professors in higher education are much different than those harbored by K-12th public education professionals. Giannandrea began learning about critical literacy concepts while also being taught inventive, research-based methods to capture the attention of students and encourage them to read and write in a real-world context. After coming back to Rosy High school, she found that it was exceptionally difficult to implement her learning since many of the faculty members were still so entrenched in the traditional methods of teaching that had been used since the late 1800’s. Giannandrea was slowly able to meld what she learned during her master’s program with her in-class curriculum, demonstrating new and innovative teaching methods to her other coworkers. Another lesson that Giannandrea learned is that research remains vital even after one has completed their education. She is currently the department chair and a full-time instructional coach for the English Language Arts department at Rosy High School. Giannandrea is part of a professional learning community where she asks what goals or learning outcomes parents have for their children and then researches ways to help her students connect more with their coursework. She participated in a project based on youth participatory action research where she helped students learn how to become competent researchers, both in the classroom and in their personal lives. 

Over the years, Giannandrea has won numerous awards and medals for her academic achievements, both as a student and as an educator, but the accomplishment which she is most proud of is her ability to aid other educators, something that her master’s degree helped come to fruition. Thanks to Fresno State and their creation of a remote master’s cohort program, Giannandrea was able to obtain a wealth of leadership experience which helped to prepare her for her position as an instructional leader. She learned the importance of documenting change, as well as how to develop systems to support student learning. Having mentors in the master’s program also benefited Giannandrea tremendously, since there were many instances when she came across a situation where she was uncertain how to proceed. She was fortunate to stay in touch with her professors, since whenever she encountered a predicament, Giannandrea would simply email them and receive a solution by the end of the day. Giannandrea is forever grateful for the relationships she built with her colleagues and the immense support she continues to receive from Fresno State. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)

Honing One’s Craft: A Commitment to Education

In the fall of 2002, Jesus Renteria arrived at Fresno State after enrolling in a bachelor’s program for English education, with a double major in Chicano Latino studies. Renteria graduated in 2006 and then one year later, in 2007, obtained his teaching credentials. While at Fresno State, Renteria learned many valuable lessons such as how to communicate effectively and speak up for himself when he was confused about a project or an assignment. He learned to advocate for his own education and to make sure his academic needs were met. 

Something Renteria is most proud of is the fact that he was able to start teaching immediately after earning his credentials. He began instruction for the Hanford school district in 2007 and is now in his fifteenth year of teaching. Adapting to the role of a teacher has afforded Renteria many leadership opportunities such as being the ELD lead for the Reading Intervention program. He has also learned to work with several specific bodies of students and has adapted to the common core standards, being able to successfully apply them in his classroom. 

Fresno State aided Renteria in many ways along his journey, one of the biggest influences being the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project. He would constantly get emails to attend workshops that helped writers with their craft. In 2016, Renteria began regularly attending some of these workshops, something that helped him grow and flourish as a teacher. Once he became more involved, Renteria was invited to attend the San Joaquin Valley Writing Summer Institute. After completing the course in 2018, Renteria became part of the Writing Project at Fresno State and was able to connect with other educators from all over the country. He has been able to collaborate with them on different strategies for how to work with ELD students and also brainstorm varying methods to help students cope with the pandemic, inventing new ways to ease the transition to online learning. The Writing Project helped Renteria learn how to teach English in a way that is more accessible to students and more engaging, helping build his confidence as he gradually pursues more online workshops and Zoom book study programs. He is grateful for all the assistance the Kremen school has given to him and how they continue to support teachers of color, especially those who are first generation. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)

Instilling Independence and Autonomy in the Next Generation

Shail Lopez-Ortiz is the current director of the Wayfinders program at the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. Her journey to Fresno State is a long and tumultuous one. In 1994, Ortiz and her husband moved to the United States from Johannesburg, South Africa. She had just completed her bachelor’s degree at the time she got married, and naturally, wanted to continue her education in the U.S. so her goal was to move to another large city that would provide her with the academic opportunities she needed. She was hoping that they would be able to secure a home in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco, but instead, her husband found a job in Fresno. She was very disappointed because at the time, the Central Valley offered little in the way of metropolitan amenities and consisted mostly of dust and farming land. Upon hearing that Fresno offered a university, Ortiz felt a beacon of hope ignite her, excited at the prospect of continuing her studies. 

After reviewing Fresno State’s degree catalog and speaking with several academic advisors, Ortiz discovered that the university offered several degrees that she was interested in. With the help of college faculty, she was able to successfully enroll in a master’s program. The biggest lesson that Ortiz learned at Fresno State is that if you are willing to put in the hard work, if you show a positive attitude and have a good work ethic, then doors will automatically open up for you. Ortiz remembers that as an immigrant freshly transposed in American society, she did have to work exceptionally hard to learn the culture and the way that Americans conducted themselves, but having a positive attitude and a good personality paid off exceptionally well. She remembers several instructors coming up to her and offering internships and job opportunities in her field the first couple of semesters while she was at Fresno State. 

Ortiz’s journey since graduating has been very momentous and propelled by her goal-driven personality. Right after graduation, one of Ortiz’s instructors approached her, offering her a job at the Rehabilitation Counseling Evaluation Center, an organization that no longer exists at Fresno State. Within a few months of working, Ortiz was instantly promoted to the director of the program. Through that position, she was able to secure several contracts with Fresno County that allowed her program to start working with individuals on welfare. The name of the program became “Welfare to work”. Ortiz explains how certain parts of the program survived and are now being run by specific individuals almost twenty years later, something she is very proud of. Because of the leadership experience she garnered, Ortiz became a business owner shortly after and has been running multiple businesses for the past fifteen years. Concurrently, for the last nine years, Ortiz has also been running the Wayfinders program at Fresno State, a pilot-program that has been running on a four million dollar grant. They are the only program on a CSU campus that serves their specific clientele, however, Ortiz is leading a movement to inspire all CSU campuses to adopt a program similar to hers. 

Since starting her journey at Fresno State, Ortiz realized her passion for working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. After obtaining her Rehabilitation Counseling master’s degree, she never thought that she would be leading a program dedicated to helping the developmentally challenged live normal, healthy lives in society. Ortiz recommends Fresno State as the perfect college for those looking to find one-on-one help in a small, personal setting that focuses on their strengths and passions. Fresno State has offered Ortiz numerous opportunities throughout her career and continues to support the work she does to this day. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)

From Hardship to Leadership: A Story of Success

Felipe Mercado is currently the coordinator for Clinical Practice as well as a professor in residence at the Madera Unified School District. One of the things that Mercado thinks about time and time again, is how accidental his ending up at Fresno State was. While in high school, Mercado was classified as homeless and went to juvenile hall multiple times, before dropping out of school altogether for approximately three years. When he arrived at community college, he had the drive to learn, but still struggled as a student. Two and a half years into his general education degree, he got called into the student counselors office and asked if he had ever considered transferring his credits to a four-year university. In the back of his mind he had always considered the option but never felt that he had the skills or potential to be accepted at a university. This accidental experience of trying to be a good student is what led him to enroll in Fresno State, after he realized he had all the qualifications they were looking for. 

One of the most valuable lessons Mercado learned while at Fresno State was to look inside himself, at who he truly was as a person. When he initially arrived as a student, he realized that he harbored a lot of biases and insecurities, such as “I don’t think my industry is going to like me”, or “I don’t think I’ll fit in with these groups of people”. After studying for a semester or so, however, Mercado realized that he needed connections and relationships to thrive. Once he put his biases aside, he began to become more open with people, and slowly started to build those connections he was looking for. 

Mercado’s first major accomplishment since immersing himself with the Fresno State community was graduating with his Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and eventually, Doctorate degree. During his Master’s program, Mercado struggled to support his child using Section Eight housing since he had not been able to build a credit score at the time. After graduating with his Master’s, his life improved drastically, as he was able to obtain health insurance and start building a credit score. He went into social work for quite a while after graduating, and during that time, his brother was murdered at gunpoint. This tragic life experience encouraged him to make something more of his life, and so he went back to school to attain his Doctorate, applying the wisdom and life experiences he had accumulated toward his education. Since attaining his third degree, he has filled the role as counselor, vice-principal, principal and now coordinator. He is grateful that Fresno State has provided him with a platform to grow and feels that his position as a coordinator has really helped him mentor students and allow them to reach their full potential. 

Fresno State has helped Mercado obtain his current position by providing immense support and providing him with individuals who were there for him every step of the way. Whenever he needed assistance with research or creating a difficult project, there was always a staff member available to help guide the process. He feels that Kremen and Fresno State in general helped uncover his true passions and brought out his excitement through the world of education. He doesn’t feel that he would have formed his level of advocacy and expertise without their continuous support. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)

Teaching Through the Power of Nature

The education and guidance of young children are two things which Stephen Bock, director of the Scout Island Outdoor Education Center and current lecturer at Fresno State, has always been passionate about. Even as a youth, he knew that he wanted to teach elementary-aged children, but at the time, such a career endeavor was frowned upon for individuals of his gender, as men did not typically obtain positions working in child-centered classroom settings. Bock’s journey in education was fraught with many difficulties and setbacks as he struggled to pursue the path he set out upon. 

After graduating from high school, Fresno State was Bock’s first choice for a university. He had received a scholarship based on his family’s income, however, the summer before he was scheduled to enroll, his father got a raise, causing the scholarship to be withdrawn. Instead, he ended up attending Reedley College for two years, getting his General ED classes out of the way. Once he received his Associates degree, he returned to Fresno State with the intention of obtaining his teaching credentials and pursuing a degree in child education. After meeting with an advisor, however, he became heavily discouraged. The guidance counselor explained to him that it was a bad idea to become a teacher since he was a man and also because he would not be able to support a family on his income. At the time, teachers made roughly $6,000 to $6,500 a year, a figure that would have put him in the poverty line. His counselor also explained that he would also have to get a secondary credential which would require additional coursework. 

Realizing his options were incredibly slim, Bock chose to instead pursue a degree in philosophy. During the time of his studies, Bock got married and soon found out his wife was pregnant. With a heavy heart, and only six units away from earning his degree, Bock dropped out of college and began working full time to support his growing family. 

Eventually, salaries for teachers became sustainable and they began hiring men to fill elementary education positions. Bock came back to Fresno State after hearing about these changes and finished up the six units he had previously not taken. Once those were out of the way, he started pursuing coursework under a program called Option Four which allowed him to work during the day while taking classes at night. After obtaining his teaching credentials through this method, Bock began teaching for the Selma Unified School District. Along the way, he heard about a program called the Central Valley Science Project, which was an organization collecting teams of teachers from various schools to learn about environmental education. Bock signed up for this program in the fall of 1992, along with one of his other colleges, a choice which opened many doors in the world of academia. Through this program, he met Dr. Marshall, an individual who would make a lasting impact on him and help him attain his current wealth of knowledge. After finishing the program, Dr. Marshall invited Bock back to give a series of presentations over the next couple of years. Eventually, Bock became one of the leaders of the Central Valley Science project, working alongside Dr. Marshall for nearly 19 years. His experience with the cohort demonstrated what teaching was all about and helped to aid Bock in his profession, as well as, easing his eventual transition to Fresno State. 

In 1996, Bock won the award of Fresno County Educator of the year, a massive accomplishment in such a short period of time. A year later, in 1997, he became recognized as California teacher of the year, a level of excellence that few people have ever achieved. Seeing these accomplishments, Jim Marshall decided that he wanted Bock to become involved in the professional development of other teachers since he provided such an intricate understanding of the theories of education. Bock soon found himself as an educator within the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State. 

Bock reflects upon some of the valuable lessons he learned at Fresno State, both as a student and later, as a professor. One of the most vital realizations Bock encountered was valuing the diversity of his students and appreciating what each of their unique backgrounds had to offer. He learned that when you value diversity, you learn more about the world around you, and accumulate knowledge on topics you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. In the current classes Bock teaches at Fresno State, he engages closely with his students, creating a welcoming atmosphere that encourages them to share openly and be proud when talking about their different lifestyles and backgrounds. 

As a result of Bock’s experiences with the Central Valley Science Project, and also thanks to his Masters in Science Education, he began to focus on educating students particularly in the field of environmental science. He was offered the opportunity to teach Science Method courses at Fresno State and eventually won 75 courses in the credential Program. Because of his successful teaching experience, Bock became the science coordinator for the County Office of Education, which gave him the opportunity to impact teachers throughout the county through professional development, and also with curriculum. This created a direct connection to his current position as the director of the Outdoor Education Center at Scout. 

The Scout Island Outdoor Education Center houses a program called “Walking Where They Lived” that allows children to understand the lives of the Yokuts Indians who lived on Scout Island for hundreds of years before the settlers arrived. So far, Bock has helped to build a recreation village that has two different types of structures, as well as salmon drying racks and an acorn greenery. They are planning to build more in the future with participation from Table Mountain Casino. We encourage children to become engaged by facilitating what it was like for the Native Americans who lived out here long ago. We have a number of artifacts that we are able to share with them, such as the remnants from a type of basketball game they would play and the cuttings of many different types of medicinal plants which they would use to create balms. Bock also explains to the children about how the Yokuts didn’t like the heat any more than we do so they would go up to the mountains in the summertime, build different structures out of the materials available up there, and then, when the weather cooled down, they would come down from the mountains and gather the acorns from Scout Island, thus having a sustainable food supply for the following year. The facility also has access to some traditional songs that the Yokuts would have sung and also some musical instruments that they might have played, which helps to give the students a sense of how to interact with the environment and how their lives were actually not that different from ours. 

Before Bock became the director of the Scout Island Outdoor Education Center, however, he was partnered with Jim Marshall on a project at Fresno State called the NASA program. The program was a partnership between the Kremen School of Education and Human Development and the NASA space corporation. The goal was to allow teachers to understand what NASA does by hosting demonstrations at Fresno State. NASA trainers and astronauts would come down and engage the teachers during a day-long study of some of the concepts they were learning about through space exploration. These were conducted multiple times during the year so that the teachers could see a variety of different perspectives on a number of different topics. During that time, Bock was also running an internship program in the Kremen School which was integrally tied to NASA. The interns themselves were travelling to Moffett Field and also to the Ames Research Center in the Bay area. Bock was also able to personally train for a simulated NASA mission, where he was the pilot of the space shuttle who navigated the crew successfully through the stages of the process. 

Looking back fondly on his career, Bock is grateful for all that Fresno State has done to aid him in his path, particularly the guidance that the Kremen School offered during his time as a student. He encourages current students to take advantage of all that Kremen has to offer, including their numerous programs that help aid future educators. He describes Kremen as a candle that will light their way as long as they continue to put in the effort to pursue it. With the knowledge offered by the university, these students will be able to develop a strong foundation to catapult them into their respective career fields. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)

Building Connections and Paving a Path to Opportunity

Guadalupe Arriaga grew up in the Central Valley, the rural, agricultural economy and the tight-knit community leaving a lasting impression on her childhood. She chose to study at Fresno State because she wanted to stay close to home throughout her college career and because it was an affordable, yet still attainable university for a first-generation student. Arriaga was fearful of moving away and after researching all of the programs and support networks Fresno State offered, she realized they would open the door to numerous opportunities for her. 

Remembering back to her freshman year of college, Arriaga reflects on some of the lessons she learned, one of which was staying on track with her degree plan in order to accelerate her time in classes. From the inception of her academic career, Arriaga’s goal was to obtain a degree and find a job as soon as possible. She was constantly looking for ways to connect with people, reaching out for help from academic counselors and searching out new opportunities that presented themselves. When first entering her classes, Arriaga was insecure with her writing skills and current knowledge, so she began to take advantage of the services offered by the tutoring center on a regular basis. Looking back, she realizes that she didn’t necessarily need all of these services, but it was having the security and reassurance that she was not alone in her journey. 

Arriaga explains how actively participating in projects and organizations on campus while taking a strong role in the direction of her learning helped her to stay on track. She explains how college is never the end of the road, since after graduating more challenges and obstacles presented themselves. However, with the valuable skills and lessons she learned at Fresno State, she was able to tackle them confidently. One of the accomplishments Arriaga is most proud of is the fact that she did not owe any loans after graduation and was able to avoid college debt entirely. She remembers working two to three jobs to cover tuition while still finding time to study and attend to her educational responsibilities. While at Fresno State, Arriaga was part of a program called Interact, which is a leadership program that helps with counseling and leading young adults. Toward the end of her undergraduate degree, Arriaga did begin to receive scholarships and grants which helped ease the burden of working full time. 

Currently, Arriaga is a teacher at Orange Center Elementary which belongs to a small, family-oriented district. Many parents send their children to this particular school because it is one they attended growing up and one where they made many fond memories on campus. Arriaga loves working with bilingual students and finding ways to implement Spanish in her classroom. She teaches the second grade and one of her greatest joys is seeing her students speaking in their native tongue and feeling comfortable being fluent in multiple languages. Arriaga is also part of several school committees, where she is able to offer input and help make decisions for the school. She has been featured multiple times on PBS where she talks about child education. Orange Center Elementary also hosts a variety of cultural events for their students, such as altar decorating and traditional potlucks. Arriaga is grateful for the work ethic and drive which Fresno State instilled in her. She was always busy and productive as a student at the university, two traits which remain consistent even in her lifestyle now. 

(Written by Audra Burwell, a Creative Writing student employed by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development .)