Three UC Students Honored with Prestigious Award for Their Work with Children

Three University of Cincinnati students are each receiving awards of $16,500 to apply toward their senior year of tuition, fees and living expenses, thanks to a UC alumna and long-time teacher who wanted to honor future teachers dedicated to serving young children. The UC  College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services selected Lauren Brady of Norwood, Ohio, Cristy Jaspers of Fort Thomas, Ky., and Avery Mefford of Greenhills, Ohio, for the 2007 Pearl M. Wright Award.

The award is from an endowment established by Kathryn E. Wright and is named in memory of her sister, Pearl. Both women graduated from UC in the 1920s and dedicated their own careers to teaching.  They shared a home in Clifton until Pearl M. Wright died in 1990 and Kathryn E. Wright died in 1996.

Since 1999, the award has honored UC students in early childhood education who show a special talent and dedication to teaching the youngest learners. The 2007 recipients were selected from a pool of 17 applicants. They are

Lauren Brady, Norwood, Ohio – A 22-year-old early childhood education major, Brady is entering her senior year and will also be working with second-graders as part of her student-teaching internship at Kilgour Elementary in Hyde Park this fall. Brady entered UC as an undecided major, like many other freshmen, and says she chose UC because scholarship money paid for her first two years of college. She says her community service requirement as part of her Cincinnatus Scholarship commitment led her into early childhood education, after she volunteered at Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Nursery School where her mother, Laurie Brady, is a preschool teacher.

“I discovered during my preschool practicum that I love teaching children how to read. It’s awesome to see them reach that ‘aha’ moment, when they’ve figured something out because of my direction. It’s really rewarding,” she says.

Brady says the Pearl M. Wright award, which she’ll apply toward college tuition, fees and other living expenses, will take the financial stress out of her senior year. “I won’t have to work as much and I won’t be as stressed out.”

She says she’s both honored and thankful to receive the award and says she thanks her mother for supporting her on her pathway to her career in education. “My mother always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do. She always made school an important part of my life.”

Cristy Jaspers, Fort Thomas, Ky. – The 21-year-old early childhood education major is entering her senior year at UC and will take classes as she does her student teaching experience at Monfort Heights Elementary School. Jaspers, a Newport Central Catholic High School graduate, UC Cincinnatus Scholarship recipient and UC Honors Scholar, says she initially chose UC because she got accepted into the interior design program, ranked number one in the nation. But after years of service with inner-city programs, working at homeless shelters and volunteering as a camp counselor at the Campbell County YMCA as well as the Special Olympics, she says she knew she was meant to be a teacher. She serves as co-president of the UC Student Council for Exceptional Children, housed in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH). That’s the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving education for the disabled and gifted.

Jaspers says the Pearl M. Wright Award will dramatically ease her financial worries during her most intense year of college. “I was hoping I wouldn’t need to work my senior year, since I’ll be spending a lot of time doing my teaching internship while at the same time taking classes at UC. On top of that, I really wanted to continue my service work, so this award will help me focus on my studies and help me improve as a teacher.

“It is such a confidence boost to receive the Pearl M. Wright Award,” she says. “It’s a real honor.”

Jaspers is considering pursuing a teaching career in the Cincinnati Public Schools, where she says she loved doing her practical teaching experience in preschool and kindergarten. She’s also exploring possibilities through Teach for America – a national corps of outstanding college graduates of all academic backgrounds who make a two-year commitment to teach in urban and rural public schools.

Avery Mefford, Greenhills, Ohio – This McAuley High School graduate and early childhood major says it was a special teacher’s encouragement during her own learning struggles that led her into education. “In fourth grade, I was a bad speller and had terrible reading abilities, but Mrs. Jones at Trinity Christian School used my artwork to help me use what I was good at to build my skills in reading,” she says.

The 21-year-old UC senior says she became interested in studying multicultural education after joining the Cincinnati Chinese Church when she was in high school. “I was playing with multicultural toys when I was three or four years old. They were brought back by friends of my parents who had made trips to China. Once I joined the Cincinnati Chinese Church, I also started taking Asian studies classes at Raymond Walters College while I was still in high school.” Mefford earned a certificate in Asian Studies from UC in 2006.

She has made numerous trips to China as a volunteer teacher for children at Chiang Dao Elementary School in Thailand and at other schools in northern Thailand that struggle under tight budgets while serving minority children. She says her church organizes the trips and collects school supplies along with recruiting the volunteers to teach.

Mefford says the Pearl M. Wright Award will provide for her senior year of tuition and also ease the financial burden of paying for school supplies that she plans to purchase during her internship teaching first grade at Cheviot Elementary. During her internship, she plans to set up a pen-pal program with the Cheviot students and the children she taught in Thailand.

“Like any teacher, I’m very passionate about children, but it takes more than love for them to grow and develop,” she says. “We need to focus on their strengths to help each child succeed.”

Mefford will graduate from UC next spring. Her husband, Greg, will graduate from UC in 2009 with dual degrees in electrical and computer engineering. “We first met in fifth grade and by sixth grade, we knew we wanted to marry each other,” she says. “From fifth grade on, we dated up until our marriage two years ago.”

The UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services celebrated a century of service in 2005. The college prepares students to work in diverse communities, provides continual professional development, and fosters educational leadership at the local, state, national and international levels.