The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, met at Iowa School for the Deaf in September. At its annual recognition lunch, teacher elementary teacher Megan Jones and dormitory student life advisor Taryn Peterson received honors.
Faculty Excellence Award: Megan Jones
“Whenever I am looking for a mentor for a new teacher, someone to lead a team, be part of a school improvement committee, mentor a student teacher, or give feedback on a new program, Megan Jones is the one I call,” said Rebecca Gaw, who nominated Jones for the award.
“Megan graduated with a bachelors from the University of Nebraska Omaha in elementary education with a specialization in deaf education. Since then she has added a Masters from the University of Nebraska Omaha in learning disabilities. Megan began her career as a half-day itinerant teacher for Green Hills AEA and half-day classroom teacher at ISD. We knew we wanted her at ISD, so we offered her a full time elementary classroom teacher position the next school year. We’ve been lucky to have Megan at ISD for 13 years. Megan is a certified mentor teacher and has been working with first and second year teachers at ISD for five years. She was selected as the ISD lead for implementation of thee early literacy intervention. She is part of our professional development committee, our interview team, our literacy team, health committee and a boys’ club sponsor.
Outside of ISD Megan is busy as a wife and mother of two girls, age 12 & 9. She also teaches Sunday school and is the Sunday school superintendent at her church.”
Professional & Scientific Excellence: Taryn Peterson
“The hats that Taryn Peterson wears are many,” said Dolly Murray, dean of student life. “As the student life advisor in the dormitory program,Taryn not provides support and guidance for students residing in the dorms, she is also the person dorm staff can look to for direction and advice.”
Peterson works closely with residential counselors regarding their work with students and is the go-to person for tech-related challenges. She graduated from R.I.T. and later received a master’s in deaf education from McDaniel’s College.
She was hired in 2013 as a residential counselor, and became the student life advisor in 2016. Peterson is a member of the following committees; emergency operations planning, positive behavioral interventions and supports, communication and safety. She is an academic bowl team coach and assists with ISD summer camps, after school programs and activities.
“Recognizing all that Taryn is actively involved in, she never loses sight of the reason she is here – our
students… Taryn looks for opportunities that will expand our students’ horizons; ranging from providing trainings about computer and social media safety to taking students to the Community Bike Project where students learn how to build their own bikes.
Taryn’s an outside-of-the-box thinker and doer,” said Murray.
