Paul Downs

Paul Downs, graduate student in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education, says that the most important tools for an educator are love and motivation.  “One can love the students and love to educate, yet not feel motivated to do so, and their love will not benefit the students,” Downs explained in a recent interview.  “One can be motivated to help the students and be motivated to educate, yet not feel love for the kids or the love to be in education, and their motivation will not benefit the students.  Don’t lose the love and motivation, and the students won’t lose you.”

It is Downs’ love and motivation for his work that will lead him to Washington, D.C. in late August to participate in a poster presentation at the American Psychological Convention.  Downs’ presentation is entitled “Examination of Parent Influence on Student Academic Self-Efficacy and Student Academic Achievement with Navajo American Indians.”  It examines the relationship between Navajo parents and students in six areas.  These include parent perceptions of their own ability to help their students academically, parent perceptions of their students academic ability, parent perceptions of support provided to their children, students’ academic self-efficacy, students’ perceptions of support provided by their parents, and academic achievement as measured by student GPA, attendance, and SAT-9 scores.   

“We also examined differences that existed between students in reported self-efficacy, perceptions of support provided, and academic achievement based upon whether their parents participated in the study or not,” Downs said.

“Examination of Parent Influence on Student Academic Self-Efficacy and Student Academic Achievement with Navajo American Indians” will be Downs’ dissertation subject as he seeks a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology.  Downs, who was born and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California, says that he formed a special bond with the Navajo people during his two years of research. “I have grown to love the students, and care about their future,” Downs said.  “It’s important to me because I believe that one of the best ways for the Navajo students to gain a balance between their cultural heritage and their educational pursuits is through more active involvement of their parents and families in their education.  In this day and age, I believe it is extremely important for  all parents and families to play a more active role in their students’ educational lives.” 

Crediting the success of his research to his professors’ example of love and motivation for the work, Downs hopes that his efforts will inspire McKay faculty to afford future students the opportunity to work with families in the Navajo Nation.  “A good portion of my enjoyment and learning in the past few years has come from this experience,” Downs explained.  “One thing I learned is how much easier and fun a dissertation can be if you work with professors who enjoy your topic about as much as you do.”

Currently, Downs is waiting to start his Psychology internship at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California in September.  His wife, Tiffany, and their two children moved to Southern California early in the summer to be closer to family.  In the future, Downs hopes to become a licensed Psychologist and “help as many people as I can with the gifts and talents I believe God has blessed me with. “

Downs loves to surf and wakeboard, play volleyball and basketball, and go to Disneyland and Sea World.  He also enjoys the beach and building sand castles with his kids.

Rick Griffin

Rick Griffin, a student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations, has been showcasing his talents cross-town and earning high accolades for his performance.

Griffin is currently earning his PhD from BYU with an emphasis in Constitutional Law and Educational Law.  He also works as a full-time professor of political science at Utah Valley State College.  Every year UVSC hands out its "Wolverine Achievement Awards" in which students and faculty members nominate colleagues to be recognized for various accomplishments.  "And the award for UVSC's 2004-05 'Educator of the Year' goes to...Rick Griffin!"

"I was honored to have been given the award from the student body and from my colleagues," Griffin said in a recent telephone interview.

Griffin, who shares his teaching talents at BYU as adjunct professor of American Heritage, modestly attributes his success as an educator to the examples of his associates at the McKay School of Education.  He describes his time at BYU as "very positive."

"I've greatly enjoyed my time at BYU both as a student and as adjunct faculty on campus," Griffin said.  "I think it's a unique and wonderful institution."

Griffin did not have an acceptance speech prepared, but he did offer some award-winning advice for future and current educators. "The most important tool for an educator is the Spirit of the Lord to assist students in developing their critical thinking and writing skills."

Originally from Minnesota, Griffin and his wife, Benita, are enjoying their time in Utah with their 2-year-old son Jacob Scott.  Griffin uses his free time outside of the classroom watching and playing baseball and football.  He is an avid fan of both the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings.   

Suzanne Plowman

Suzanne Plowman, a third-year graduate student earning her PhD in Counseling Psychology, will be one of four students in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education representing the McKay School of Education this August at the American Psychological Association Convention in Washington, D.C.

"In one of my classes a semester or two ago, one of my assignments was to submit work to a conference so that we may or may not present," Plowman explained.  "APA, I think, is the premiere conference for psychologists to go to, so I submitted an abstract from my dissertation to the Division of Clinical Psychology.  I figured they wouldn't ever call me, and then I got an email saying they had accepted my paper."

Her presentation titled, "Self-Esteem as a Predictor of Treatment Outcome Among Women with Eating Disorders," will document Plowman's work at Orem's Center for Change, a clinic that treats people with eating disorders. 

"Most [people] who get eating disorders don't really recover," Plowman said.  "Approximately one-third recover and one-third doesn't change.  One thing that has been consistent [in eating disorder research] is those individuals with good self-esteem generally are the ones who get better."

The purpose of Plowman's research is to see if there is a way to predict which patients will do better with treatment and which will be more difficult to treat based on self-esteem tests. 

"At the Center for Change they do numerous tests [when people check in]," Plowman said.  "One of them is the Multi-Dimensional Self-Esteem Inventory.  We thought, 'What if we look at that and see if we can tell from the results of pre- and post-treatment which [patients] had high enough self-esteem that we could guess that they would do well with their eating disorder treatment."

Plowman's research is the first of its kind in the U.S.  Her work has involved 325 existing and past patients.  She studied women who suffer from bulimia as well as anorexia.

Plowman still needs to analyze the results of her study before the conference in August.  As she proceeds Plowman will be looking to see which elements of self-esteem predict good outcome.  Then she will begin researching ways to raise levels of those self-esteem elements during the treatment of patients.

Born and raised in Pacific Palisades, CA, Plowman now lives in Highland, Utah with her husband, Ken, and son, Preston.  Plowman also has three grown children.  She loves backpacking, hiking, fishing, and reading.  Plowman also likes to garden as long as she's not working in her own garden.  After finishing her doctoral program, Plowman would like to work at the Center for Change or at the BYU Counseling Center.

Plowman believes one of the most important tools for an educator is empathy.  "Kids come to you with all sorts of issues and struggles," Plowman said.  "If you can't understand where they're coming from, they don't feel that you love them.  They have to at least respect you, in order to learn."

Dawn Sheen

A teacher, an author, a mentor, a missionary; Dawn Sheen has already taken on many titles in her life.  Currently she has the title of student as she pursues her EDS at BYU in School Psychology. And though Dawn has many titles, whatever she does, she does it with passion.

“For me it’s having a passion for what you are doing—regardless of what you are doing,” Sheen said.  After graduating from Utah State majoring in French and Secondary Education, Sheen was a teacher for four years. “I had so many students come to me who were struggling and stressed and I didn’t feel I had the tools to help them,” said Sheen. After this teaching experience Sheen decided that she wanted to work as a school psychologist and school counselor.  She came to BYU because it has a degree that encompasses both.

In April, Sheen and her advisor, Melissa Allen Heath of the Counseling Psychology and Special Education Department, had a book published that they have been working on since January 2004. It is entitled, School-Based Crisis Intervention.  Sheen is excited about the book and hopes that it will help teachers and other personnel know how to better aid students during traumatic experiences. 

She notes that there is not always a school psychologist available to the teachers, and they need to know what they can say that will not cross boundaries but can help the child. “This book is to help them [teachers] know what to say and what to do,” said Sheen. 

In the future Sheen hopes this book can be used in training undergraduate students who are becoming teachers.  Meanwhile, Sheen is working with groups of students and individuals at both Joaquin Elementary and Amelia Earhart Elementary. When she graduates, Sheen hopes that she can find a job that integrates both counseling and psychology.

Sheen continues to bring passion into all of her work. After all, as she explains, “The kids can tell if you hate what you are doing.” 

Paul Scholes

“BYU seems really big,” said Paul Scholes, a first year master’s student getting his EDS in School Psychology in the McKay School of Education. Scholes headed off to Provo seeking a change after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Utah State in 2003. 

Scholes has always loved working with youth and has participated in many mentoring programs such as PALs at Utah State, Sunshine Solutions in West Jordan, and Youth and Families with Promise in Ephraim, the town where his family continues to lives.

From his experiences with youth, Scholes has learned, “You can’t change them, or change who they are.  You can only do so much because parents are the greatest influence; you have to keep this in mind and not get frustrated, but think, I’ll do what I can.”

Recently Scholes participated in a trip to Blanding to perform assessment tests on students in the San Juan School District.  Scholes is writing his thesis on the conclusions of the tests that were conducted there. Though this keeps him busy, when Paul has free time he likes indulging in nineteenth century literature and playing the piano.

In the future Scholes would like to work as a school psychologist in a secondary school outside of Utah.  His motivation is the kids he works with. “It’s rewarding when kids open up—it’s simple but a big thing when they show affection for you. It helps you keep a positive attitude,” Scholes said. 

Lisa Mullins

Lisa Mullins is from Burley, Idaho and a 2004 graduate in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (ASLP) whose current work and study center on hearing impairment. Specifically, Mullins is working on her masters thesis, which entails testing the hearing of Special Olympic athletes.  With a grant from the Healthy Athletes organization, Lisa and Dr. McPherson, Chair of ASLP, will test the athlete’s hearing and then contact those that have a hearing impairment and offer them treatment.

As if her thesis was not enough to keep 22-year-old Lisa busy, she also has three speech and audiology clients.  She explains, “You are constantly learning and finding different ways of working with clients; it is a dynamic profession.”

Lisa began at BYU as a Neuro Pharmacology major, but was inspired to change to ASLP when she realized she wanted to be helping people like her grandmother, who, while Lisa was growing up, always had a difficult time speaking. 

Both of Lisa’s parents are educators and she enjoys the feeling teaching evokes. She comments, “Everyday you go to work you are helping someone.” 

Laura Jill Jennings

As a child, Laura Jill Jennings had a mild speech impairment.  After working with a speech pathologist to correct it, she decided that working with speech was something that she could see herself doing.  “Clients might think of you like a doctor,” said Laura Jill, now a first-year graduate student in Speech-Language Pathology.  “They think, ‘fix me,’ but [speech therapy] is a lot more involved.” 

Laura Jill has worked hard to acquire the needed patience and understanding to work with clients with speech impairment. She explains, “It’s up to the clinician to help the client have a good therapy session.”  After working with clients and being a student herself, Laura Jill’s philosophy is that an effective educator is one that can, “…take anything from a conversation and turn it into a learning moment.”  

As part of her work for her thesis, Laura Jill is working with Dr. Harris of the Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.  Currently she is helping to compile digital recordings onto a CD that will help test the hearing of Mandarin Chinese speakers. Though she does not speak Mandarin, Laura Jill is involved in many aspects of the project, including finding native Mandarin speakers to test the recordings.  She also works with four clients, some inside the BYU clinic and some privately.  

Though she loves her work, Laura Jill enjoys being outdoors as well.  She is training for a triathlon, and she also loves to cook. Ultimately, Laura Jill would like to work with children at the Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where she is scheduled to participate as an intern.

Sarah Stucki

“I wanted to be making smiles, not fixing smiles,” Sarah Stucki, a BYU senior, said of changing her plans from dental hygiene to Elementary Education.

The 20-year-old elementary education major from Alpine, Utah, has been participating in the Urban Education Cohort in which she will teach her final 4 weeks at a Title One school in Salt Lake City beginning the end of February.

Having taught 4 weeks at Edison Elementary School in Salt Lake City last fall, Sarah has fallen in love with diversity in the classroom. She hopes to eventually work at an inner-city school like the one where she is doing her senior practicum.

“With underprivileged children so many look and see what they don’t have, but they need to look and see all that they do have,” Stucki said.

The 21 first-graders in Sarah’s classroom at Edison, spoke eight different first languages. Sarah would try to construct multi-media lessons that would involve all of their senses.

“Despite and because of their language rift they learn so much from one another,” Sarah affirmed.

Sarah feels that her experience at BYU has been beneficial, most specifically in preparing her with the content needed to teach to her students.  She is especially grateful for the opportunity to get in the classroom with a mentor to help prepare her.

“When I am stressed I think about my passion, not just for teaching but for the children,” Stucki said. “You need to see them as who they will become, not who they are now or what they have been in the past.” 

Heather Carr

“You teach who you are,” says Heather Carr, a 22-year-old Elementary Education major from Lubbock Texas.

Fall semester Carr took part in the Urban Education Cohort in Salt Lake City as part of her senior practicum.  For 4 weeks Heather taught 21 first-graders at Edison, an inner-city elementary school.  She will spend 4 additional weeks in a different inner-city school in Salt Lake this semester.

Carr did not originally plan to be a teacher.  Both of her older sisters had gone that route, and she had a different one in mind.  But, after a spring term in Guadalajara helping at an orphanage, she saw the need for loving individuals who could genuinely care for children.

“Children need a stable person, someone who can be a support for them,” Carr explains.  She decided that she wants to be this support to her students. 

At Edison she had the opportunity: 92% of the children come from low-income families, and last year 27 students at the school were homeless.  Carr taught children from the Pacific Islands, Vietnam, Iraq, and Mexico.

Carr’s ultimate goal is to work at a refugee school, possibly one in Washington D.C.  Carr believes that the most important tools for an educator in any city are the heart and the spirit.

“Sometimes you can’t see the long term effects [on students you teach;] you have to really be in it for the kids,” Carr said. “You need to have the heart of a teacher in place and not let outside factors shut you down.”