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FLC Alice Admire Teaching Award winner to speak at Winter Commencement
Fort Lewis College Winter Commencement will take place on Saturday, December 17 at 10 a.m. in Whalen Gym. Around 200 Skyhawks will take that important and exciting walk across the stage and graduate.
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| Ms. Leslie Goldstein |
The Commencement Speaker will be Ms. Leslie Goldstein, a senior lecturer in the FLC Freshman Math Program and winner of the 2016-17 Alice Admire Outstanding Teaching Award.
After 13 years at Fort Lewis College, Ms. Goldstein has become well known as one of campus’ finest teachers. Her desire to see her students succeed has changed lives. She remembers one student who was pursuing a non-quantitative major due to her math anxiety. Through Ms. Goldstein’s efforts and those of other dedicated math faculty, this student turned a corner in her math education and started having mounting success. Ms. Goldstein later found out that the student had switched majors…to teaching math.
“That was wonderful for me to hear,” she says, “because here was somebody who her entire life had been struggling with math and it was keeping her out of the field she wanted. Finally, she was experiencing success and decided, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do.’”
She jokingly describes herself as “5’2’’ but extremely intimidating,” but her students see and appreciate her other qualities. One student described her in this way: “Two distinct avenues separate her from other professors. First and foremost, she genuinely loves teaching. It is apparent each and every day when she steps into a classroom that she loves her job, wants her students to achieve the goals they set for themselves, and supports them tirelessly on their own journeys. The second stems from the respect that she gives her students.”
For more information about Commencement, visit www.fortlewis.edu/graduation. The ceremony will be live streamed on YouTube at www.youtube.com/flcdurango.