CNU graduates named meritorious teacher candidates

News Release - July 20, 2006

Public's contact for publication:
Marsha Sprague
Director, Master of Arts in Teaching program
(757) 594-7388

Media contact:
Karen L. Gill
Office of Communications and Public Relations
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — Six graduates from Christopher Newport University’s Master of Arts in Teaching program have been named Meritorious New Teacher Candidates.

The designation from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Teachers Project recognizes graduates who are tops in the nation on measures of effective teaching, including verbal skills and mastery of their subject matter, and who complete with distinction their state-approved preparation program and 400 hours of supervised clinical experience.

The CNU students who earned this distinction this year are: Julia Allred (elementary), Becky Chappell (elementary), Nicole Crayton (elementary), Peter Mercier (music), Valerie Smith (English) and Brooke Woodward (elementary). The graduates are current Newport News residents. Crayton's hometown is Hampton, and Chappell's hometown is Fredericksburg.

This special designation was launched in 2004 by Mid-Atlantic Regional Teachers Project, a close collaboration between state departments of education, schools of education, and educational organizations housed at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The designation allows graduates to be granted full licensure from the other participating states, which include Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Luter School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.

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