Alumni Spotlights :: 2007

Paul Jones Sager (‘64)

Paul Jones Sager graduated from BYU in 1964 and started his first teaching assignment in a fifth grade classroom in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After two years of teaching he attended graduate school at Washington State University and earned his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in children’s literature. He then moved to Ukiah, California, where he taught fifth and sixth grades. He was offered a position as a principal, but declined because he felt he could reach students on a more personal level by remaining a teacher. “I loved working with the Native American children in Ukiah in the late 1960s. They had modest financial means, but were extremely enthusiastic learners and would often exceed everyone’s expectations,” Sager recalled.

Sager’s next move was to Washington State, where he taught fifth grade in the Mukilteo School District for the next 20 years.

Sager said he always tried to improve the lives of his students. For example, he introduced new math teaching concepts to his district. While teaching fifth grade he started a project launching helium balloons with messages attached to them. The balloons traveled for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles, and Sager was able to teach his students about wind direction and flow at different altitudes and to explore ways the wind affects weather and travel. The students would attempt to predict how far the balloons would go and then would record on a map their final destinations.. Sager was the first in his district to introduce building and launching model rockets as part of the study of aerodynamics.

For the last seven years of his teaching career, Sager was an elementary school librarian in the Mukilteo School District. As a librarian he was able to create

enthusiasm for reading and motivate his students to increase their reading time. “Instilling in students a love of reading was one of the most important teaching successes I had,” said Sager. He taught a total of 33 years, retiring in June of 1997.

Sager recalled that his experiences at BYU in the college of education taught him important teaching techniques, including the use of children’s literature and methods for curriculum planning. He also gained a love for teaching as well as a desire to connect with students who seem difficult to reach.

To new teachers Sager advised, “Always show your students that you care. When I was a teacher, at Christmas time I would write a letter to each student detailing their attributes and the things I could see they would attain if they persisted in their education. I have found those letters meant more than I realized.” The grandfather of one of Sager’s students wrote a newspaper article describing how important Sager’s Christmas letter had been to his grandchild.

Sager’s son Edward, who had been one of his father’s math students, recalled meeting a 30-year-old woman who had attended the school where Sager taught. After almost 20 years she recalled feeling left out because she hadn’t been in Mr. Sager’s class. She said, “All the kids thought he was the ‘coolest teacher’ in the fifth grade.” Edward said of his father, “He was one of the most giving teachers I have ever known. I do not have sufficient room to write about the many things I remember about my father’s teaching and his caring acts towards his students. He made a difference in their lives.”

December 2007

Pamela  Aoyagi

After 20 years of being an elementary school teacher, Pamela Aoyagi is one of the ten teachers, administrators and volunteer selected for the 2007 Huntsman Award for Excellence in their profession due to their creativity and dedication to their students and education in general. “I have been employed by the Murray School District as a first grade teacher for the past 15 years,” Aoyagi said. “Prior to that, I spent several years at home raising our two boys. Before marrying, I taught first grade in the Granite School District for five years.”

Aoyagi loves teaching children to read. “It opens up the world for them and gives them a sense of empowerment when they can read a book and enjoy learning themselves,” Aoyagi said. “First graders are enthusiastic about learning and are very honest.”

During her time at BYU, Aoyagi had exceptional instructors who were passionate about what they were teaching. “Their enthusiasm, along with a wonderful supervising teacher during my student teaching experience, really set the tone for my own passion for the profession. There is nothing that can replace a dedicated, committed, enthusiastic teacher,” she said.

Born in England, Aoyagi immigrated to the United States and has lived the majority of her life in Utah. She also lived in Wisconsin and in Japan. She is married to Western Aoyagi, also a BYU graduate. Aoyagi enjoys activities with her family. She also likes to read and watch her students participate in after school events such as soccer, baseball, and dance.

November 2007

Jannine Bowcut

When Jannine Bowcut was 13 years old, her family moved to Provo, Utah, into a ward that bordered on the BYU campus. “ Growing up in the shadow of the Y was a great blessing,” she recalls. She remembers her ward as a rich, primordial soup of knowledge and education. Many members of her ward served in bishoprics and stake presidencies on campus. She rubbed shoulders with administrators and professors of education, religion, physics, English, drama, and music, from whom she learned much. “I took it for granted then, but now I realize what a unique blessing it was.”

“When I graduated from Provo High School in 1969, my dad offered me a choice: He would pay half on a new car or he would pay half of my BYU tuition.”  At first Bowcut thought that the right choice was obvious—the CAR!  She thought she could have both by working full time while going to college. It didn’t seem to matter that the car was a bright mustard-gold Datsun.

However, what seemed to be the obvious choice changed after prayer, a rereading of her patriarchal blessing, and counsel from her bishop. She came to realize that choosing BYU tuition was really the only choice. ”Looking back I am so thankful I gave up on the immediate gratification in exchange for such a rich, rewarding experience. I loved all my classes at BYU. I am amazed at the strong footings [a BYU education] provided for continued growth. Even with the ever-swinging pendulum of educational philosophies, the things I learned in the College of Education are the things I still build on. What a blessing.”

Bowcut, then Jannine Campbell, started at BYU in 1969; she graduated in elementary education with a minor in special education in 1976. During her BYU years she took off time to serve a mission in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where she first met Elder Bowcut. After her mission she met him again at BYU. Their friendship evolved into romance, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

Bowcut postponed her teaching career to start a family. Three children and seven years later, in 1983, she accepted a teaching position in an elementary school in the Uinta County School District #1 in Evanston, Wyoming. This fall she will begin her 25th year of teaching in that district.

“Whether teaching at home, in my ward callings, or my third graders, my BYU experience laid the foundation to help me be a light unto all I meet. It has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was worth a lot more than a mustard-colored Datsun—which, by the way, got me to and from BYU in style.”

October 2007

Robert Frank Devine

Robert F. Devine recently shared his excitement about helping teachers and administrators succeed. “I have a passion for supporting teachers and administrators to problem solve how to better help students succeed,” he stated. “The opportunities to touch the future through the lives of young people through the knowledge of their eternal value is very motivating for me.”

As a graduate of BYU, Devine feels his experience at the McKay School provided a base for his career. “My experiences at BYU shaped my attitude and philosophy regarding education and young people.

Devine is currently the executive director of secondary education in the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District. He oversees all staff and operations involved with students between grades 7 and 12 in seven schools. He also oversees the district athletic activities programs, and the directors of special education and professional-technical education. All together, 18 building administrators and over 330 teachers in both alternative and regular education settings are under his charge. Prior to his current assignment, Devine was a small district superintendent for three years, a high school principal for seven years, an assistant principal for five years, and a teacher/coach for 9 years. He also served as a consultant for Idaho State University and is a Nationally Certified Trainer for Effective Schools.

For the remainder of his career, Devine plans to continue contributing to education by paving the way for others to succeed. He is also thinking of pursuing a doctorate degree and then teaching in higher education.

Originally from Oak Harbor, Washington, Devine has lived the past 11 years in Rigby, Idaho. He has been married for 28 years to the former Marilyn Richardson. The Devines are the parents of three sons and two daughters. Robert Devine enjoys fishing, golfing, playing basketball, “snipe hunting” with his children, and being involved with Rotary International.

September 2007

Ty Scott Robinson

Ty Scott Robinson, a graduate of the McKay school of education, is one of ten teachers to receive the 2007 Huntsman award. Robinson currently teaches geology, earth system science, and AP environmental science and is the department chair of the Science Department at Provo High. In addition he is the President of Utah Science Teacher’s Association (USTA) and an adjunct professor teaching concurrent enrollment geology and environmental science at UVSC.

Robinson has been associated with the public school system for 20 years. “I taught ten years at Spanish Fork Junior High and three years at BYU as an adjunct professor in the David O. McKay School of education,” he said. I just finished my seventh year at Provo High School as an educator.”

Robinson enjoys teaching because it allows him to expand his work within the field of science. “I love being a scientist,” he stated. “I truly enjoy sharing what I have learned with my students. I really like to involve them in current scientific issues and with my research. I like to be involved in theirs as well.” For Robinson, it is truly amazing to see students become turned on to science and learning. “Watching the achievement and intellectual growth of my students is the greatest reward of teaching,” he said. “I enjoy teenagers, and I enjoy the friendships [with] them.”

Robinson also indicated that a desire to make a difference in the lives of students is the most important part of a teacher’s responsibility.  “A teacher who is very enthused and knowledgeable about his/her subject area is vital towards the success of the student,” he stated.

As an education student at BYU, Robinson learned the basic skills of being an effective classroom teacher from Hugh Baird, Marvin Tolman, Rich Tolman, and many others who made positive contributions towards his career. “The greatest impact on my teaching career came from my association with the professors of geology at BYU. To the entire geology department, I owe a great dept of gratitude.”

Robinson plans to continue teaching for ten more years, then get a PhD in either education or geology and go into politics. “In politics I would like to give my support to public education and its educators and would like to make positive changes in helping public education.”

Robinson was born in Provo, grew up in Sevier County, and graduated from South Sevier High School in 1977. He and his wife, Jamie, are the parents of six and grandparents of two. Robinson enjoys baseball, anything associated with geology, cooking, being with his family and being a member of the LDS Church.

August 2007

Gary Seastrand

“Growing up in Orem when it was just a farming community with many orchards and lots of space is quite a different experience than it is now,” Gary Seastrand stated. After graduating from Orem High, Seastrand served a mission in Argentina and returned to BYU afterwards. In 1976, he graduated with his bachelor's in elementary education. In 1979, he received a master's in education from BYU and a doctorate from University of Utah in 1992. His wife Denise also graduated from Orem high, and they are the parents of five boys.

His father was an administrator for Alpine School District and set the bar very high in regards to public service. Following his father’s footstep, Seastrand serves as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services and Schools for Alpine School District. His interests are drawn to processes that enhance student learning and teaching.

“One of the great blessings in working in education is clearly the marvelous friendships and associations that come from people who want to make a difference,” Seastrand said. “Educators choose this career because they recognize that through their day to day efforts, the world is a better place and the future is guided and shaped.  It is a personal pleasure to come to work each day and know that my colleagues are all working hard to change lives.”

Sharing his feelings about his experience with the McKay School, he said: The McKay School of Education has been a great source of knowledge and strength to me in my professional and personal life.  The combination of secular and spiritual knowledge has enabled me to view my life's work as a calling from Heaven.  The lessons learned at the McKay School of Education have served me well throughout my career.  I look at the McKay School of Education as a light on a hill.

Going by his experience gathered from the McKay School and from the years of service in education, Seastrand said, “The most important tool for an educator is one that seems to be innate--that of a positive attitude.  When an educator remains positive, there is a greater likelihood that there will be constant learning, a stronger sense of dedication, a healthier commitment to students' learning and development, and a respect and love for others.  Give me a faculty and staff with a positive attitude and we will change the world and have fun doing it."

July 2007

Everett Kelepolo

Born in Hawaii, Everett Kelepolo, principal of Springville Junior High School, lived all over the United States until 11 years ago when he settled in Spanish Fork, Utah. Prior to becoming a principal, Kelepolo coached wrestling and track. He was also head coach at Spanish Fork High School from 1995 to1999.

After graduating from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1991, he obtained a master’s degree in teaching from the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona in 1999. In 2000 Kelepolo was accepted into the Leadership Preparation Program at BYU and graduated a year latter. Currently he is working on his doctorate in the Executive Educational Leadership Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

For his doctorate research, Kelepolo is creating an academy to help education practitioners better understand No Child Left Behind. “No Child Left Behind is a great program,” Kelepolo said. “Unfortunately, a lot of education practitioners do not fully understand its concept. It is a tremendous opportunity for me to be involved in No Child Left Behind and help others better understand it.”

Kelepolo enjoys working with and being an advocate for children. He wants to be an instrument in making a positive difference in children’s lives. “When asked what they teach, most teachers say math, English, science, literature and so forth,” Kelepolo explained. “We don’t teach math or English, we teach children. This is the only way we can make a difference in their lives and make it rewarding.”

Kelepolo has received many awards in his career, including Middle School Principal of the Year by the Utah Association of Secondary School Principals in 2007, Sportsmanship Award of the Year by the Wasatch Front Football Official Association in 1999, and Most Respected Teacher Award by the Spanish Fork High School student body in 1997.

Outside of work and school, Kelepolo enjoys wrestling, playing the guitar, and singing with his family.

June 2007

Sam Ray

As the only one from his family with a college degree, Sam Ray, Provo High School principal, has learned first hand from his siblings what it means to go through life without a college degree. As a result, he is dedicated to ensuring that all his students make it through high school and go on to college.

After his mission in London, Ray joined the military and was sent to Germany, where he served for three years after his training. Upon his return, Ray was stationed in New Mexico, where he served six months. After graduating with a degree in technical education from BYU, Ray moved to Twentynine Palms, California, where he taught for two years.

In 1993Ray was accepted into the Leadership Preparation program (LPP) at BYU. He also worked as an intern principal in the Granite School District. “My experience in the LLP helped me learn how to teach in a more authentic way,” he said. “It helped me understand that the most important thing for an educator is caring about the kids and nothing else.” After completing his LLP in 1994, he was made assistant principal at Provo High School.

In 2000 Ray became principal of Farrer Middle School. At the middle school Ray’s biggest challenge was working with poor students as well as students with language barriers. Despite the setbacks, Ray and his team of teachers conducted research to help them find effective ways to help their students learn.

In 2004 Ray became Provo High School principal, a position in which he currently serves. With a total of 1875 students and about 75 teachers, Ray is once again working hard with a dedicated team and finding new ways to maximize the students’ learning experience.

“We came up with a program that helps us target all students at different levels, Ray said. “First we have the ‘fresh success’ program which focuses on all freshmen struggling with English, math, and the sciences. When they make it through their freshman year, those still struggling in different areas are registered into ‘soph. success,’ where they continue to get all the help they need.”

Students who do not do well in a classroom setting are registered into the Provo Academic Unified Studies Program (PAUS), where they learn hands on by actively participating in various activities outside the classroom.

For hobbies, Ray loves going out to the woods and the mountains. He also loves building houses and has built three. He hopes to build a cabin home where all of his children can return for a vacation some day.  Ray also loves to travel in his RV and go boating.

May 2007

Kerstine Hart

Kerstine Hart

Kerstine Hart (’02) believes that with enthusiasm and the correct application of knowledge, positive changes can happen.  This conviction, as well as Hart’s love for children, led her to a career in speech language pathology and to her current position of supervisor and graduate intern mentor for Nebo School District.

Hart was initially interested in the field because she had a son who struggled with speech and language as a child. She observed speech language pathologists who worked with him at Purdue University when her family was living in Indiana and Louisiana State University when they moved to Louisiana. When the family moved to Provo, she returned to BYU in search of additional ways to continue to help her son, eventually earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech language pathology.

As she continued her education in speech language pathology, Hart found her faculty mentors to be a source of inspiration.  Among her supporters were Bonnie Brinton, Dean of Graduate Studies for the university and professor in the Department of Communication Disorders; Martin Fujiki, Professor of Communication Disorders; and Ann Dorais, Hart’s mentor during an internship at Geneva Elementary in Orem. An article based on Hart’s masters’ thesis, titled, “The Relationship Between Social Behavior and Severity of Language Impairment,” coauthored by Drs. Brinton and Fujiki, was recently published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Hart began working for the Nebo School District when she graduated in 2002.  Her efforts there have helped children ranging from 3 to 18 years of age improve their communication skills.  During the four years she has spent at Nebo, she has found that the most rewarding aspect of her job is getting to know the children and helping them to become better communicators.

Hart also works for Tots Learning to Communicate (TLC), a Nebo District program created to help preschoolers improve their speech.  She combines her therapy with literacy skills, utilizing children’s picture books to target some phonological processes. 

She includes activities that target the specific phonemes the child is working to improve.  Hart also teaches parents how to work, play, and interact with their children to support the therapy.  “The method is so successful because we train the parents.  It’s not just about reading; it’s about being able to highlight concepts and sounds in the books.  The goal is to make speech and language fun.” 

Hart also loves spending time with her family.  Her husband, Craig, is a professor of Human Development in the School of Family Life, currently an associate dean for the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences.  The Harts have four children and one granddaughter.

April 2007

Robert Mendenhall

Dr. Robert Mendenhall

When McKay School Distinguished Alumnus Robert Mendenhall began his undergraduate studies at BYU, he thought he was headed for law school; then a job offer during his senior year resulted in a major change of plans.  Today, having earned his doctorate from BYU in 2003 in Instructional Psychology and Technology and serving in varied professional capacities, he is the president and CEO of Western Governors University and an advocate of its online, competency-based education methods.

Dr. Mendenhall’s interest in computer teaching began when he accepted a position at BYU’s Computer Teaching Resource Center.  “I was fascinated by computer teaching,” he recalls.  “I did a lot of research and found that it allows students to learn at their own pace and access material as they need it.  I thought, ‘This is the way to learn.’”

In 1980, Mendenhall founded Wicat Systems, Inc., a company that provided computer-based training for corporations and K-12 students.  Wicat later merged with Jostens Learning Corporation, where Dr. Mendenhall served as executive vice president.

From 1994 to 1997, Mendenhall was general manager of IBM’s K-12 education division, where he oversaw everything that IBM sold to K-12 schools.  His work dealt primarily with a classroom system allowing students to work with computers for much of their instruction.

In 1999, Mendenhall became President and CEO of Western Governors University, which offers online degrees in business, information technology, K-12 teacher education, and health professions.  The university caters to working adults who have developed competency through workplace training, but need a degree to advance in their careers. WGU is innovative in that it measures student competency through various assessments instead of a number of credit hours: “Our system measures output rather than input.  Once you demonstrate that you have the knowledge and skills, you graduate,” Mendenhall explains.

In addition to creating a new model of higher education, WGU is designed to increase access to education for those who would otherwise have difficulty obtaining it.  The majority of WGU students are underserved in some way, being either rural, low income, minority, or first-generation college students. 

Dr. Mendenhall hopes that the competency-based education methods used by WGU will be passed on through its K-12 teacher education students: “Our goal is to link competency to the development of classrooms,” he explains. “We want to ensure that teachers develop the best student learning for each individual.”

Dr. Mendenhall and his wife, Kathy, live in Salt Lake City.  They have seven children and two grandsons.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the main accreditor for teacher training, has for the first time approved accreditation for an online institution.  Western Governors University, a virtual institution, received accreditation from the council.  Receiving this specialized accreditation from a prestigious organization like the council [promotes] the university's teacher education program, even among students who are skeptical of the quality of online education.  -Dan Carnevale

To read more about virtual teacher training, go to http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=1685

March 2007

Kay Novak Healey

Kay Novak Healey

Kay Novak Healey (’68) believes strongly in the importance of communication.  For the past 23 years, she has endeavored to help children in public schools improve their communication skills.  Her efforts resulted in her recent selection by the Utah Speech Language and Hearing Association for the Rolland J. Van Hattum Award for School Clinician of 2006.

Her ambition to work with handicapped children was fostered at an early age.  As the daughter of a pioneer in special education, she quickly came to understand the positive impact such work could have in the lives of others.  Her mother had a commitment to helping school districts find students with handicaps and providing programs for them.  “Because [my mother] involved me in her work,” Healey recalled, “I was often around children with handicaps… I knew early on that I wanted to work with them.”

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from BYU, Healey decided to stay home and raise her four children.  Fifteen years later, she returned to school to earn her master’s degree from the University of Utah.  She said many teachers inspired her throughout her schooling. “I had good professors at BYU, Parley Newman and Gordon Low among many others, as well as my professors at Utah.”

Now, as a speech pathologist and supervisor, Healey is continuing to learn and help others with the knowledge she has gained.  She currently spends half of her time on her caseload and the other half working with new speech therapists. She is particularly concerned with the development of new ways to recruit therapists, since there is a nationwide shortage of speech pathologists in schools.

Healey has been involved with a district assistive alternative augmentative team to help non-verbal children.  They have worked at finding electronic devices to aid in communication; these devices range from simple, low-tech devices to high-tech dynamic display devices that allow users to choose items from a large selection of pictures.  Healey’s objective is to find methods that best allow each individual to build sentences and express his or her needs and wants.

As she works to improve each child’s abilities, Healey recognizes the value of making communication both functional and fun: “I want the kids to see the need to communicate well and have the desire to do so,” she explains, “The most important thing is caring for the children and being enthusiastic about your work.”

Healey’s other interests include learning foreign languages, reading, traveling, enjoying the outdoors with her husband, and spending time with her sixteen grandchildren.

February 2007

Leslie Butler

Leslie Butler

It was down to two days before school would begin and a replacement math teacher had yet to be found, so Leslie Butler ('91), an English teacher of 8 years, volunteered for the job.  “I had always liked math, so I figured I’d give it a try,” she said.  She began teaching while taking some math classes at the McKay School of Education, quickly adapting to fit the needs of her students; she has now been a math teacher at Millcreek Jr. High for 8 years.  It is this kind of versatility and devotion to teaching that would eventually win her the 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math Teaching — the country's highest honor in her field.

Butler is one of fifty math teachers nationwide to receive this honor. The award is given after an initial selection process at the state level and then recommendation by a panel of distinguished mathematicians and other educators. In addition to a $10,000 grant, Butler was awarded a trip to Washington, D.C., where she accepted a certificate and met with President George W. Bush.

It is hardly surprising to learn that as far back as she can recall, Butler has aspired to becoming a teacher: “When I was in a class at school or in church, I liked to think of different ways I would have taught the lesson,” she remembers.

Her love of teaching and of learning was magnified as she attended BYU.  When registering for classes, she would gather opinions from fellow students about the best professors, then sign up for classes with those recommended by friends. As a result, Butler can recall numerous BYU professors who inspired her in her educational pursuits: "I've always loved learning in general," she says, "and I've had so many great teachers." She is also grateful for the influence of favorite high school teacher Kim Burningham as well as friend Mary Jean Wolfe, who worked at her first school.

Now, after having been a teacher at Millcreek Jr. High for the past 13 years, Butler has certainly had a strong positive influence on her own students. Her success as an educator can be attributed not only to her personal love of learning, but also to her concern for her students as individuals: "The most important thing is to really care about the people you teach," she explains. "What I enjoy most about teaching is the kids."

January 2007