Peer Mentor Rahima Wade Named John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning

NYLC congratulates National Service-Learning Exchange Peer Mentor Rahima Wade on being named a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning in the area of teacher education. The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University announced her award on July 27.

Wade, a faculty member in the Division of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Iowa, earned the distinction through a nationwide competition, one of 25 that the institute is hosting over three years. The program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, recognizes scholars from any discipline who've advanced the understanding or adoption of service-learning in kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms. For each of the competitions, scholars submit a single paper advancing service-learning.

Wade's paper, "Service-Learning for Multicultural Teaching Competency," provides a comprehensive analysis of the topic, accompanied by timely recommendations for the many teacher educators who are placing preservice teachers in schools and communities with diverse populations. In particular, Wade discusses the "essential elements for multicultural service-learning" that are necessary to ensure strong outcomes for both children and pre-service teachers.

For more than a decade, Wade has advanced service-learning in teacher education at the state and national levels, and has generated more than 40 publications on the subject. In the early 1990s, she was a consultant to the Iowa Department of Education, while serving as the project director for a Corporation for National and Community Service grant to integrate service-learning in the three largest teacher education institutions in Iowa. She also served as a project director for the National Service-Learning in Teacher Education Partnership from 1997 through 2000. For this project, Wade and six NSLTEP partners consulted with 49 teacher-education programs across the nation and made more than 60 conference presentations. She continues to present and consult on service-learning across the country and is a member of the planning committee for the International Center for Service-Learning in Teacher Education at Clemson University.

"Rahima has been a long-time advocate of service-learning, especially in the area of preservice teacher education," says Carole Klopp, Director of the National Service-Learning Exchange and NYLC's Professional Programs and Services department." She has unfailingly shared her service-learning insights with colleagues and those new to the practice through the Exchange. We have always known her to be a shining star and wholeheartedly congratulate her as the recipient of this honor! "