First Students Complete Online Master's In Physical Education

May 22, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - May 11 was a historic day for Western Kentucky University’s Department of Physical Education and Recreation as its first cohort of students graduated from the Online Master’s of Science in Physical Education-Teacher Education Option degree program.

The students began the online program in August 2005 and took two or three courses each term to complete the 33-hour curriculum. Their program culminated in an assessment activity where groups of students worked in teams applying their learning to address a real-life situation they will likely face as physical education/health educators.

Dr. Randy Deere, professor of Physical Education and Recreation, created the online program in 2004 to meet the needs of the department’s graduates.

“Many of our students are teacher/coaches who have after school and evening professional responsibilities and are not able to travel to campus for the traditional evening classes,” he said. “We believe the online teaching/learning strategy affords those students an opportunity to continue their education while meeting their personal and professional responsibilities.”

Students in the first cohort were Timothy Butler of Leitchfield; Jeremy Childress of Bowling Green; Ashley Geralds and Julie Nuckols, both of Tompkinsville; Leslie Girdley of Bardstown; Lance Hamilton, Corey Haynes, Grant Landrum, Jason Lemily and Thomas Muse, all of  Glasgow; Michael McClintic and Justin Vessels, both of Brownsville; Kyle Pierce of Bee Spring.

In his remarks at the graduate’s celebration dinner, Dr. John Bonaguro, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, praised Dr. Deere’s creativity in demonstrating WKU’s commitment to the professional preparation of teachers by developing this innovative program. 

The Online MSPE program is administered by WKU’s Division of Extended Learning and Outreach as a cohort program. Students from surrounding states joined Kentucky teachers in the second cohort progressing through the program. Applicants are being accepted for the third cohort scheduled to begin in Fall 2007. 

For information on the program, contact Dr. Randy Deere, WKU Department of Physical Education and Recreation, by e-mail at randy.deere@wku.edu or Laura Ricke, Cohort Programs Director, at (270) 745-2481 or by e-mail at laura.ricke@wku.edu.   

Photo caption: The first cohort of students completed WKU’s Online Master’s of Science in Physical Education-Teacher Education Option degree program on May 11. From left are Dr. Thad Crews, Physical Education and Recreation department dead; Corey Haynes of Glasgow; Julie Nuckols of Tompkinsville; Jeremy Childress of Bowling Green; Timothy Butler of Leitchfield; Lance Hamilton of Glasgow; Ashley Geralds of Tompkinsville; Kyle Pierce of Bee Spring; Thomas Muse of Glasgow; Jason Lemily of Glasgow; Justin Vessels of Brownsville; and Dr. Randy Deere, professor of Physical Education and Recreation. (Not pictured: Leslie Girdley of Bardstown; Grant Landrum of Glasgow; and Michael McClintic of Brownsville.)
               
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Laura Ricke at (270) 745-2481.