OSU-Cascades Education

Meet Owen Rohde, an Elementary Education major with a minor in HDFS here at OSU-Cascades! 📚

Owen is set to graduate in 2027. He shared a bit about his career goals, why he chose our campus, his favorite memories, and his advice for future ed students:

Career goals:
"My career goals are to be either a schoolteacher or work in a children's ministry at a church."

Choosing OSU-Cascades:
"I transferred from COCC in Bend, I was between OSU Corvallis and OSU Cascades but liked the smaller class sizes and scale of the Bend campus. And I have lived in Central Oregon my whole life and love it here!"

Favorite OSU-Cascades memory:
"My favorite memory of being at OSU Cascades was the Friendsgiving me and the rest of my education cohort planned and spent time together outside of the classroom! Everyone made their own meals, and it was fun spending time with this crew."

Advice for future students:
"Do not be afraid when starting to step into the classroom. It will feel uncomfortable at first but when building relationships with the students you will understand why you're in this major and how rewarding of a career path it is."

👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

Meet Cheyne Galbreath, an Elementary Education major here at OSU-Cascades! 📚

Cheyne is set to graduate in Spring 2027. He shared a bit about his plans after graduation, his favorite memories on campus, and his advice for future ed students:

Plans after graduation:
"I am currently wanting to go straight into teaching, possibly at a substitute level while I figure out for sure where I want to end up. All I know for certain is that I want to stay in the education system."

Favorite OSU-Cascades memory:
"My favorite memory at OSU-Cascades so far was probably the countless nights I spent hanging out with my friends and roommate in the residence hall. It was such a great experience figuring who I am as a person and getting to go through that process with a lot of other people was really cool. While I am not close with many of those people anymore, I will always cherish those memories and moments we shared."

Advice for future students:
"The best advice I could give to future students coming into this program is try to have fun. Yes it is a stressful and hard program, but it can be so much fun. And fun can look different for a lot of people. Whether you have fun during practicum, spending time with the cohort, or making time to enjoy yourself. Just make sure to have some fun. It goes a long way for your stress management and enjoyment of the program."

👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

Meet Lily Castor, an Elementary Education major here at OSU-Cascades! 📚

Lily transferred to OSU-Cascades from Clackamas Community College and is expected to graduate in Spring 2027. We asked her to share her transfer journey, career goals, and favorite memories on campus:

Why did you choose OSU-Cascades?
"I knew to complete my bachelor's I wanted to go to OSU, and I was planning on going to the Corvallis location. But my CCC advisor recommended that I go to the Cascades location because Elementary Ed is focused here, whereas they focus more on Secondary Education in Corvallis. I am so happy that was the case; I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

How was your transfer experience?
"I wanted to save money by completing my Gen Ed courses at a community college, and doing that helped my education continue. My experience transferring to OSU was smooth sailing. I was very nervous about the transition because I knew mistakes could be made, but OSU was so helpful in every way. I had a resource for every problem or question I had."

What are your career goals?
"I aspire to have a teaching job lined up after graduation, and my career goal is to positively influence and greatly impact all my students' lives."

Favorite OSU-Cascades memory:
"My favorite memory at Cascades would be all the relationships I've made. Every single professor I've had in the ED program is incredible; you can tell they are here to help and support you, not just to help you learn. Being in the Ed program, I also have a cohort of 10 people I've been with for the past year and will continue to grow over the next year through graduation. This community we have at Cascades has supported and filled my cup drastically. Overall, they are such amazing people that I am lucky to get another year with."

👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

🎉 Congratulations to Jenni Conrad on her new publication in the Harvard Educational Review. Her co-authored article titled, Beyond Script and Counterscript: Exploring Teachers’ Facilitation of Student Discourse about Slavery compares how two preservice teachers navigated discursive “third spaces” that emerged during discussions of slavery in ninth-grade global history classrooms.

We are especially excited to support COCC students from our local community as they seek to further their studies.

Students who complete the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer - Elementary Education (AAOT - Elem Ed) will begin at OSU-Cascades as Juniors in the Elementary Education program and will be eligible to earn their teaching license at the completion of the program, in just 2 years.

Interested students can learn more on this page
(https://osucascades.edu/academics/elementary-education/professional-teaching-program), and should reach to [email protected] with any questions.

Huge thanks to Rachel Schuetz for the photos!

Meet Cate, an associated faculty member who teaches coursework for the ESOL endorsement here at OSU-Cascades! 🍎

Cate has been teaching her whole life and brings incredible experience to our campus. We asked her to share a bit about her journey, her advice for new educators, and her connection to teaching:

What do you teach? "I teach the coursework for the ESOL endorsement; some of the classes are required for all teacher candidates."

What is your connection to education, and why did you choose to teach? "I’ve been a teacher ever since I can remember... my family teases me about when I was a child I tried to teach the family cat 'tricks.' I’ve taught the whole gambit, from preschool to graduate level courses. I started out teaching in a private school then worked for Bend-La Pine schools for 27 years where I taught kindergarten, first grade, worked as an ESOL teacher for grades K-12, was a literacy coach, ELL instructional coach and professional developer as well as the Title III Coordinator. I joined the OSU-Cascades faculty as a part-time instructor in the first year of the MAT program and have been teaching courses there ever since."

Fun fact: "I am 100% Oregonian... born and raised!"

Advice for new teachers: "Foster relationships and curiosity... when students know that you care and you give them something to wonder about, learning will flourish."

The success of our program relies on dedicated associated faculty members like Cate, and we appreciate the time she spends working with our students.

👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

Huge congrats to the amazing people representing our Teacher Ed program! 🎉

First, a massive shoutout to MAT student Jaebird (Jae) Brown for winning the College of Education's Emerging Visionary Student Award! This honors their incredible work breaking down barriers to equity in education and expanding access for students and families. Well deserved, Jae! 👏

We also want to celebrate Camille, who took home the inaugural Administrative Support and Excellence Award! Thank you for your endless dedication to our students, the college, and our community. ✨

We’d also like to recognize some incredible Cascades-affiliated recipients who couldn't be at the ceremony! Huge congratulations to Amber Linn, who won the External Partner award for her fantastic work hosting our students in her classroom during the field-based math course.

And a big shoutout to Melinda and the ALK-8 Team for taking home the Faculty Research and Scholarship Award! 🏆

Please join us in congratulating Jae, Camille, Amber, and Melinda on these amazing achievements! 🎉

Meet Sarah Kamasz, who currently teaches 3rd grade at Lava Ridge! 🍎
Sarah brings decades of experience to her classroom every day. She has been at Lava Ridge for 25 years, and prior to that, she taught for 6 years at LaPine Middle School. Over the years, she has also taught 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade language arts, 7th/8th grade electives, and multiple blended classes. We asked her to share a bit about her journey, her advice for new educators, and why she chose to become a Cooperating Teacher:

Why did you want to teach? "I have wanted to be a teacher ever since 1st grade. My first-grade teacher was Mrs. Chamberlain (Lawrence), and I always aspired to be just like her. I am still in contact with her and her husband, and I traveled and visited with her last summer."

Fun fact: "I love to travel and have been to over 23 states and 15 different countries. I have one son who is a junior at Mountain View High School and a French Bulldog named MaddyBlu."

Advice for new teachers: "Advice I would give to new teachers would be that building relationships, setting expectations and routines, and classroom management are the building blocks to teaching. Work hard to learn and grow in those areas. Be kind to yourself. Teaching is a challenging but rewarding career."

Why did you choose to become a Cooperating Teacher? "I chose to become a Cooperating Teacher for several reasons. The first is that I enjoy mentoring those wanting to enter a career that I have so much passion and dedication for. I chose to partner with OSU Cascades because I believe in the philosophy of a teamwork approach between the Teacher Candidate and the Cooperating Teacher. I also chose to become a Cooperating Teacher because I believe I have a great deal of experience to offer, but even more so a Teacher Candidate provides opportunities for me to continue expanding my knowledge from them as well as to continue to refine my own teaching practices."

The success of our program relies on partnerships with Cooperating Teachers like her, and we appreciate the time she spends working with our students.
👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

Meet Sarah Kamasz, who currently teaches 3rd grade at Lava Ridge!🍎
Sarah brings decades of experience to her classroom every day. She has been at Lava Ridge for 25 years, and prior to that, she taught for 6 years at LaPine Middle School. Over the years, she has also taught 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade language arts, 7th/8th grade electives, and multiple blended classes. We asked her to share a bit about her journey, her advice for new educators, and why she chose to become a Cooperating Teacher:

Why did you want to teach? "I have wanted to be a teacher ever since 1st grade. My first-grade teacher was Mrs. Chamberlain (Lawrence), and I always aspired to be just like her. I am still in contact with her and her husband, and I traveled and visited with her last summer."

Fun fact: "I love to travel and have been to over 23 states and 15 different countries. I have one son who is a junior at Mountain View High School and a French Bulldog named MaddyBlu."

Advice for new teachers: "Advice I would give to new teachers would be that building relationships, setting expectations and routines, and classroom management are the building blocks to teaching. Work hard to learn and grow in those areas. Be kind to yourself. Teaching is a challenging but rewarding career."

Why did you choose to become a Cooperating Teacher? "I chose to become a Cooperating Teacher for several reasons. The first is that I enjoy mentoring those wanting to enter a career that I have so much passion and dedication for. I chose to partner with OSU Cascades because I believe in the philosophy of a teamwork approach between the Teacher Candidate and the Cooperating Teacher. I also chose to become a Cooperating Teacher because I believe I have a great deal of experience to offer, but even more so a Teacher Candidate provides opportunities for me to continue expanding my knowledge from them as well as to continue to refine my own teaching practices."

The success of our program relies on partnerships with Cooperating Teachers like her, and we appreciate the time she spends working with our students.

👉 Learn more about our teacher education program through the link in our bio!

Mark your calendars for an upcoming Research Talk! 📢

Dr. Jenni Conrad (Assistant Professor, Master of Arts in Teaching and B.S./B.A in Elementary Education) will be presenting: "Democratic Discourse and Justice in Social Studies Education."

Here is what Dr. Conrad has to share about her presentation:

"This research is about dialogue in social studies classrooms, and how teachers can help students learn and practice justice-oriented community engagement around charged social issues. I will showcase the challenges and opportunities of this work, how powerful social studies learning is currently threatened - and urgently needed- on multiple fronts, and how all of us can be advocates. One of the things some folks might find surprising is that students play an important role in the degree of justice-oriented learning and discussions, and that teacher neutrality is not always beneficial for student discourse or inquiry."

🗓️ When: Tuesday, March 31st
⏰ Time: 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM
📍 Where: OBSN 207 or via Zoom

Students from all courses and research teams are encouraged to attend. You are welcome to bring your lunch! 🥪