Article by Janine Bowen | College of Education News
Cyndi Edgington, Ph.D., a teaching assistant professor of STEM education at the NC State College of Education, believes that building positive relationships with students is one of the most important aspects of her job. She will take that belief one step further through her new role as a Park Faculty Scholar for the Park Scholarships Class of 2023.
“I believe my life is improved when I am able to connect with others. Serving as a Park Faculty Scholar will give me an opportunity to connect with students and their families, faculty, and community members that I wouldn’t otherwise have,” she said.
Two Park Faculty Scholars are chosen each year to work with an incoming class of Park Scholarships recipients. Their four main responsibilities involve monitoring and guiding class enrichment activities, providing scholars with an overview of group responsibilities, advising students on academic issues, and providing communication to Park Scholarships administrators about class activities and individual students.
Park Faculty Scholars are chosen based on their deep involvement in their disciplinary activities, their ability to connect students to people and opportunities on and off the NC State campus, and their ability to create an open and positive environment where each student feels valued.
“I feel extremely honored to be selected as a Park Faculty Scholar,” Edgington said. “The Park Faculty Scholars that have served before me are some of the best researchers and teachers our university has to offer. To be considered among that group of people is humbling, and I can only hope I can live up to the high standards they have set.”
The Park Scholarships program brings exceptional students to NC State based on their outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Edgington said she is looking forward to seeing what the incoming class of Park Scholars will accomplish as well as what they will be able to teach her.
“Teaching and learning is a symbiotic relationship. I learn just as much from my students as they do from me,” she said. “As I engage with the Park Scholarships program and the scholars, I know that I will continue to develop my own scholarship, character, service, and leadership.”
This article was originally published by the College of Education.