COLLEGE PARK, MD (November, 2016) – Johanna Tigert, a fourth-year doctoral student in the College of Education’s Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, was recognized by the University of Maryland field hockey team as one of the university’s Most Valuable Professors.
Tigert was nominated for the award by Welma Luus, a senior studying early childhood special education who is a forward on the field hockey team and is taking Tigert’s Issues in the Education of English Language Learners course. The award was presented at the UMD field hockey game against Old Dominion University on Oct. 4.
“I really enjoy her class and I feel that she brings such a different perspective to the class,” Luus wrote of Tigert. “She really opened up my eyes to some new ways of looking at and working with ELL students.”
Tigert, who is in the department’s Applied Linguistics and Language Education program, is working on a dissertation about the language and literacy socialization of young heritage language learners, or students who grow up in homes where a language other than English is being spoken, but whose formal schooling is typically all in English and often develop stronger oral than literacy skills in their heritage language.
“I think the award shows the commitment UMD athletics has for ensuring that their student athletes excel in the classroom, as well as on the field,” Tigert said.
-end-
For more information on the College of Education, visit: www.education.umd.edu
or contact
Audrey Hill, Associate Director of Communications, at: audreyh@umd.edu
