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** 2024 Commencement Updates **

School of Education Joins Honorary Society for Teachers

September 9, 2020

photo of Mary Earick

Mary Earick

Las Vegas, N.M. – The New Mexico Highlands University School of Education joined the Kappa Delta Pi honorary society for teachers.

Since 1911, Kappa Delta Pi has worked to foster excellence in education and promote fellowship among those dedicated to teaching.

“Teachers are foundational to a democratic and just society,” said Mary Earick, dean of the Highlands School of Education. “Our community leaders, activists and scholars began their work under the mentorship of their early childhood, elementary and high school teachers.

“The Highlands University School of Education is dedicated to acknowledging and promoting broadly its professionalism and expertise. The standards set by Kappa Delta Pi opens doors to scholarships, international networking and continued professional learning,” Earick said.

Erick said that she has additional goals for the Highlands School of Education joining Kappa Delta Pi.

“I want to acknowledge and make visible to our communities the complex skills and expertise needed to be an effective educator. There is no greater gift to society then that given by teachers who daily take each student where they are on any given day while nurturing, mentoring and challenging them to grow into their best selves,” Earick said.

Earick said Kappa Delta Pi is known for its long history of dedication to equity through diverse thinking, membership and interdisciplinary views of learning and teaching.

“For instance, Kappa Delta Pi accepted international members from Mexico in 1929 and appointed George Washington Carver as the 1947 KDP Laureate at a time when no other educational society would appoint an African American,” Earick said.

Earick said she hopes that people who read about the Highlands School of Education joining Kappa Delta Pi will take a moment to reflect on and appreciate those teachers that were part of who they are today.