"College of Education Alumni Updates" highlights career achievements by College of Education alumni.
- Nikki Birkbeck, a two-time College of Education alumna and currently a STEAM educator at Goodnoe Elementary School, was recently honored as Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year at the Keystone Awards of Excellence. A Penn State World Campus doctoral student, Birkbeck exemplifies leadership, innovation, and a deep commitment to student-centered learning.
- Megan Gallagher, also a two-time alumna, is a fifth-grade teacher at Forrestdale Middle School in the Rumson School District in New Jersey, where she also serves as a co-advisor for the National Junior Honor Society and coaches field hockey and softball. A dedicated educator with experience across general and special education, Gallagher was the alumni speaker for this semester’s Alumni Student Teacher Network Virtual Celebration. She will also run the 2025 New York City Marathon with Team for Kids, raising funds for New York Road Runners programs that promote lifelong fitness and academic growth for youth.
- José Julián Prieto and Annie Everett, doctoral alumni of Penn State’s Department of Education Policy Studies, recently co-authored a chapter in a new Routledge volume, “Critical Internationalization of Higher Education: From Internationalization Drift to Ethical Global Engagement.” Prieto recently began a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, while Everett is now an academic operations administrator at Stevenson University in Maryland.
Did you get a new job, celebrate a career milestone, get a promotion or award, recently retire, or have other career-related news to share? If so, we want to hear from you. Email us at edrelations@psu.edu with your name, information about your achievement, and the degree(s) you earned and year(s) of graduation from the Penn State College of Education.