CUW Alumni Receive Teaching Awards

Two Concordia University Wisconsin alumni are among this year’s Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (WACTE) award recipients.

Sherie Amling (’95) received this year’s WACTE Pre-Service Educator Award, given to an outstanding educator who has demonstrated a sustained pattern of mentoring pre-service educators for at least five years.

Emily Quinlan (’13) received the Early Career Educator Award, presented to an outstanding educator within the first three years of her or his professional career. 

Amling is a first-grade teacher at Donges Bay Elementary School in the Mequon-Thiensville School District.

For the past 15 years, she has served as a mentor by opening her classroom doors to an ongoing pen-pal project with pre-service language arts students. She also hosted numerous Concordia students in one- to two-week-long teaching experiences in the writing/reading workshop format, providing them with the opportunity to plan and implement lessons.

“Sherie has been an outstanding and long-term supporter of Concordia’s pre-service teachers,” said Dr. Michael Uden, dean of Concordia’s School of Education. “Her feedback and evaluations have been invaluable to student growth in the profession, and her impact has been very broad and deeply impactful.”

Quinlan is in her third year as a special education teacher at Northern Ozaukee Elementary School.

In her first two years of her career, Quinlan revamped the elementary school special education program to align with 21^st century best practices. During this time she also enrolled in graduate school to further her own knowledge and skills.

“She uses technology-rich instructional approaches and assistive technology to help all children learn, and she freely shares her knowledge with others,” said Uden. “She is a proactive and life-long learner who is willing to try new strategies and approaches to help her students succeed.” 

Quinlan and Amling will be presented with their awards on Sunday, March 13, during a tea reception.