Student and faculty awards presented at Graduate Commencement
Three special awards were presented during the May 20 Graduate Commencement ceremony. Two student awards were given to master’s degree recipients in McDaniel’s Reading Specialist: Literacy Leadership and Deaf Education programs, while a faculty award was presented to an online adjunct lecturer in the School Librarianship program.
Two top graduate student awards were given to master’s degree recipients in McDaniel College’s Reading Specialist: Literacy Leadership and Deaf Education programs during the May 20 Graduate Commencement ceremony. In addition, the Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence was presented to an online adjunct lecturer in the School Librarianship program.
The Joan Develin Coley Award for Excellence in Education
Tyson Emily Kania-Lloyd is the recipient of the Joan Develin Coley Award for Excellence in Education
Created in 2001 by two alumni to honor the presidency of Dr. Joan Develin Coley, the eighth president of the college. It is awarded annually either to an undergraduate or graduate student in literacy education who, in the opinion of the reading education faculty, has achieved the best record in the study of literacy theory and practice.
The 2023 recipient of the Joan Develin Coley Award for Excellence in Education was Tyson Emily Kania-Lloyd, who received a master’s degree in Reading Specialist: Literacy Leadership.
She graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and also earned a Master of Arts in Teaching in the areas of elementary education and child development from Tufts University in 2006.
She is currently an English as a second language teacher (ESL) at Harper’s Choice Middle School in Columbia, Maryland, where she is the teacher development liaison and the adviser of the National Junior Honor Society.
Previously, she taught first grade, ESL, and reading recovery in North Carolina. She achieved National Board Certification as an early childhood generalist.
Katelyn M. Miller is the recipient of the B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award.
The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award
Established in 2011 to honor to the memory of B. Jill Brooks Hodge, who received a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Master of Education in 1981, by friends, family, and sorority sisters of Delta Sigma Kappa in honor of the significant impact she had on her students, family, and friends as a person of acceptance, humility, education and compassion. This award is designated for professional development, is presented annually to a graduate student who has demonstrated academic excellence, and who is preferably majoring in Deaf Education.
Katelyn M. Miller of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is the 2023 recipient of The B. Jill Brooks Hodge Professional Development Award. She earned a master’s degree in Deaf Education.
Miller graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in spring 2021. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and had three minors in Science, Language Arts, and American Sign Language Studies.
During her student-teaching experience, she worked in Milwaukee Public Schools.
She is a proud graduate of the Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WSD) in Delavan, Wisconsin, where she has taught since the fall of 2021. She is a passionate role model for Deaf children and works to empower her students to become leaders in the future.
Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence
Established in 2018 through the generosity of Dr. Barbara P. Shelton ’70 and Dr. Gordon B. Shelton ’68, this award recognizes an outstanding adjunct faculty member at the graduate or undergraduate level whose teaching demonstrates a commitment to excellence and genuine care for their students.
Jan Nies M.S. '94, is the recipient of the Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
The recipient of the 2023 Shelton Adjunct Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence is Senior Adjunct Instructor Jan Nies M.S. ’94, who has taught in the School Librarianship master’s program since 2012. She holds a B.A. from Wheaton College and an M.S. in School Library Media from McDaniel College. Since earning her master’s in 1994, she has worked as a library media specialist in Carroll County Public Schools.
She is a member of the Maryland Association of School Librarians and has previously been a member of the Carroll County Teacher Advisory Council. She has also received a Team Excellence Award from the Maryland Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
In 2005, she established the school media center in Parr’s Ridge Elementary, which was recognized with the Mae I. Graham Award for Exemplary Library Media Programs in 2010. She earned an Outstanding Teacher Award from the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
She is known for sharing a zest for learning with her graduate students and creating a positive and welcoming culture for all. In her decade at McDaniel, she has taught hundreds of school librarians who went on to share a passion for reading and learning with their own students.
She teaches courses like School Library Leadership, Literature for Children, and Professional Portfolio, and provides mentorship in the program’s practicum. Her students benefit from her precise, thoughtful feedback and the connections she encourages in her virtual classroom.
