CSUSB College of Education honors outstanding graduate students

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.- The College of Education has named graduate students, Carly Chavez and Claudia Esqueda-Plascencia, the 2014 Outstanding Graduates at California State University, San Bernardino.

Chavez has spent a considerable amount of time in the classroom getting her bachelor’s in biology, two master’s degrees in education and educational administration, a single subject life science credential, a certificate of eligibility for the administrative credential, and, most recently, her doctorate in educational leadership. While going through the rigor of academia, Chavez has also been a teacher in Fontana for the past 12 years.

“Throughout her career, she has demonstrated integrity and an assiduous work ethic, along with an internal drive and passion to seek improvement for student success,” said Donna Schnorr, co-director of the doctorate in educational leadership at CSUSB.

It was this passion that drove Chavez to defend her doctorate in educational leadership at CSUSB last December, when she addressed service-learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among urban middle school students.

As a science educator, Chavez teaches biology, anatomy, physiology, and subjects in Advancement Via Individualistic Determination, which is a college-readiness system designed to increase school-wide learning, performance and the number of students who eventually go on to graduate from a four-year university.

Schnorr also recognizes Chavez’s reputation as a “well-respected, dedicated and enthusiastic leader, who believes that each student deserves a right to an equitable and high quality education.”

Chavez’s heart for students is clear and she has shown it through her diverse leadership roles. She is the science department chair at FontanaHigh School, a member of the AVID leadership team, the Professional Learning Communities and of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. She is also the co-coordinator of Link Crew, a freshman mentoring and transitioning program.

Chavez has a desire to “influence the lives and learning of numerous students through innovative and results-oriented management,” says Schnorr, and as the College of Education’s outstanding student, she is being honored for doing just that.

Esqueda-Plascencia is not only an exceptional student, sporting a 3.95 GPA in the M.S. in counseling program, but she is also an active member of the learning community around her.

“She not only wants to get her degree, but she is genuinely interested in learning and developing her thinking skills, and has used the academic resources to this end,” said Lorraine Hedtke, program coordinator and associate professor of the counseling and guidance department of educational psychology and counseling.

Her participation in the CSUSB social justice series, Friday narrative seminars and newly created Sunday narratives, confirms that she has “really taken advantage of the university learning community,” Said Hedtke.

In addition to receiving her master’s in counseling, Esqueda-Plascencia also earned her pupil personnel services credential, which allows her to specialize in school counseling, school social work, school psychology, and school child welfare and attendance services.

During her third year as a graduate student she was also elected president of the Educational Counseling and Graduate Student Association, where she planned numerous workshops for students who wanted to improve their knowledge and readiness to graduate and become competent counselors.

As president of the ECGSA she also spearheaded its annual service project, where they solicited hygiene items to give to children in the Inland Empire foster care system. The drive was beyond successful as more that 15,000 hygiene items were donated by the university and the greater San Bernardino community.

Greater than all the accolades and awards, and perhaps most important, Esqueda-Plascencia is recognized by Hedtke as being a woman who “is thoughtful and humble and lives and works with an admirable ethic to put others first.”

Commencement for all graduates receiving their master’s or doctor of education degree will be held on Friday, June 13, at 6:45 p.m. in CSUSB’s Coussoulis Arena.

All of the ceremonies at Cal State San Bernardino’s Coussoulis Arena will be streamed online on the Creative Media Services live webcast page.

For more information about the June 2014 graduations, visit the CSUSB Commencement website.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.