
Meet the Graduates
Lana Minshew — Ph.D. in Education: Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies
Lana Minshew turned her tassel during the May 2019 commencement ceremony and is currently a postdoctoral research associate with CIPhER — the Center for Innovative Pharmacy Education & Research — at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her research interests include design-based research, science education, collaboration, student learning and student discourse in science.
Ronda Taylor Bullock — Ph.D. in Education: Policy, Leadership and Improvement
Bullock and “we are” pursue “anti-racist” education, which goes beyond teaching about the benefits of multiculturalism or about the harms of racial bias. “Anti-racist” education is aimed at helping people identify racial bias or prejudicial behaviors and then provides tools for standing up to both interpersonal and systemic racism.
Laura Wenzel — Master of Arts in Teaching
As an undergraduate, Wenzel earned a B.A. in Asian Studies-Chinese and double minored in Education and Social and Economic Justice, and served as president of HYPE (Helping Youth by Providing Enrichment) — a program sponsored by the Campus Y that provides social, cultural and educational experiences for K-5 students at underserved community centers throughout the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area — where she led more than 200 college-aged tutors. After graduating in 2018, she was awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study Chinese in Dalian, China, during summer 2018.
As an M.A.T. student, she completed her student teaching E.K. Poe Elementary School in Durham.
Wenzell received the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award and will teach English at an elementary school in Taiwan from August 2019 to July 2020.
Jason Straus — M.A. in Educational Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship
Straus enrolled in the Master’s in Educational Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (MEITE) program to develop new tools to help students better understand themselves. He is an inaugural Moise A. Khayrallah Innovation Fellow.
Through the program, he’s created an online mindfulness course for teenagers to not only help them understand the changes happening in their bodies but also the changes happening in their brains — giving them tools to increase their emotional intelligence and succeed during challenging times in their lives. He’s currently working with members of his MEITE cohort to develop an augmented reality app that teaches teenagers about how their everyday choices impact the environment.
Jacklyn Googins — Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Family Studies
That realization led Googins to found Best Buddies Brews, an organization that provides individuals with disabilities a platform to develop and showcase marketable skills, build friendships and engage with community members.
“Interpersonal interactions can be so meaningful,” Googins said. “I’ve seen the walls come down between people. I’ve seen people begin to realize this simple, but world-changing truth, that we’re all more alike than we are different.”
After graduation, Googins will pursue a master’s degree in occupational therapy.