Counseling Psychology and Special Education:
Winning research examines school wellness:
Devan Clayton, a fourth-year counseling psychology doctoral student and former junior high social studies teacher, won Top Poster for the school psychology division at the national conference of the American Psychological Association. Clayton, a former middle school teacher, did qualitative research examining students’ reactions to an in-school wellness center, finding that spending 20 minutes in the wellness center helped many students feel better—and, therefore, do better—in school. The research showed that students wanted their school to increase teacher buy-in to decrease the stigma around student use of the wellness center, including through adopting uniform wellness- center pass protocols across every classroom. “We found there are a lot of benefits, and people are really loving the center,” Clayton says.
Communication Disorders seeks belonging, online and off:
The Communication Disorders program (ComD) is taking BYU’s effort to “create a community of belonging . . . whose hearts are knit together in love” to social media with the creation of its own account focused on belonging. On Instagram, @byu.beincomd is the department’s belonging page, which seeks to build connections between students studying ComD and those considering a ComD major. The page has shared course sequence updates, help with applying for ComD majors, service opportunities, events, and many resource alerts, making students aware of campus resources for women students, student services, multicultural services, and more. The effort is “guided by our core values of belonging, becoming, collaboration, and kindness,” the page reads. “Let’s unite in creating a strong community where everyone belongs!”
Family lives and learns together:
The Beer family excels at togetherness—and at university learning. While their three children attended Tooele High School, Josie and Catham Beer worked at the school. Now the couple has joined their children, all BYU undergraduates, as graduate students in the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations (EdLF). “We are all very invested in each other’s success, and so it is helpful to have family members who listen and who can laugh together about our experiences,” Josie Beer said. The senior Beers joined the EdLF program after attending the department’s Aspiring Principals Academy. Now the whole family studies together. “It is a strange situation that we never thought we’d be in; however, it certainly gives us all something in common,” Josie says. “We are all very invested in each other’s success, and it is helpful to have family members who listen and who can laugh together about our experiences.”
Impactful professor heads back to Down Under:
After eight years of inspiring and preparing early-childhood educators, Corinna Peterken is returning home. Peterken taught at every level, preschool through high school, in her native Australia before earning graduate degrees and teaching at Australian universities. Her time at BYU will stand out, she says, for her connections with students and the role of faith in the university experience. “Being able to share the spiritual kind of ideas and questions and successes has been amazing,” she says. She cherishes sharing the impact of her mentorship, including one student who resolved a dilemma by asking herself, “What would Corinna do?” Peterken says, “That’s a special thing to hear. It’s not that it’s about me, but rather for her to have that kind of inspiration to go back and think, ‘What did I learn at BYU?’ It’s nice to know that something you do has a real-world benefit.”