MCC Professor and Student Win National Awards from The New York Times and the League for Innovation
Apr 24, 2006
A Middlesex County College professor and one of her students won national awards from The New York Times and the League for Innovation. Dr. Shirley Wachtel, professor of English, and student Brian Beavers were cited for their use of The Times in class.
Dr. Wachtel will receive a $2,000 award, and Mr. Beavers $250. They were two of the three winners nationally.
Faculty and students from colleges that are members of the League for Innovation were invited to apply for the 2006 Innovative Teaching and Learning Award, which was for those who have shown exceptional growth or creativity through the use of The New York Times. The awards were presented to faculty members who showed the most creativity and successful use of the paper in their classes and to the student who demonstrated in writing through creativity, organization and clarity how using The New York Times has helped to enhance the educational experience.
Dr. Wachtel used the newspaper in her English 122 course (Freshman Composition II – Writing About Survival). Her students were introduced to the idea of the human triumph of survival through both literary and journalistic perspectives. Dr. Wachtel was chosen for this award because of the distinctive way she connected the immediacy and poignancy of human survival stories, found every day in The New York Times, to literary works.
Mr. Beavers, a student in Dr. Wachtel’s course, selected articles from The Times that dealt with survival problems related to the environment, war, discrimination, oppression, society and personal challenge. He was chosen for this award because of how he demonstrated a better understanding of the human struggle through the use of The Times and, in turn, how the experience has made him become a better writer, speaker, thinker and humanitarian.
Dr. Wachtel is the author of four books: “The Story of Blima: A Holocaust Survivor (2005); “Charlie Wonder: Chef-Detective (2005); “The Eight Days of Hanukkah (2002); and “What Would I Be?” (1995). She is also collaborating with Middlesex Professor Helena Swanicke on “Spotlight on Reading,” a three-volume textbook.
The third award recipient is H. Elizabeth Smith, assistant professor of English at Bronx Community College.
