Leading Educators to Learn Leadership Through SVSU's Gerstacker Fellowship

Eleven outstanding Michigan educators have been selected for the fourth class of the Gerstacker Fellowship at Saginaw Valley State University. They will receive concentrated leadership training over a one-year period, including a trip to Asia to gain international leadership experience and examine leadership practices in other cultures.

Known as Gerstacker Fellows, the select participants will meet monthly on weekends, starting in August. SVSU faculty from various disciplines will instruct the Fellows on subjects dealing with leadership ethics, political problem solving, financial planning, human resource management and education with a global perspective.

Those selected for the fourth class of the Gerstacker Fellowship are:

• Joan Anderson, K-12 Language Arts coordinator for Bay City Public Schools
• Shannon Blasy, an art teacher and district consultant for Midland Public Schools
• Jeffery Budge, principal at Beaverton Middle School
• Michael Decker, principal at Jefferson Middle School in Midland
• Maryanne Moriconi, a special education teacher at Avondale High School in Auburn Hills
• Melleretha Moses-Johnson, assistant principal at the Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy
• Carol Lynne Neff, a social studies teacher at Midland High School
• Matthew Schmidt, assistant principal at Handy Middle School in Bay City
• Christine Schwerin, a special education teacher at Carrollton High School
• Deborah VanSumeren, principal at Linsday Elementary in Bay City
• Ann Vayre, a special education teacher at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw

The participants were selected based on past academic and service accomplishments, along with outside recommendations. They were nominated by a supervisor from their home school districts.

Funded by a gift from the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation in Midland, the program's capstone will be an international experience that introduces the Fellows to one or more of SVSU's sister universities in Japan, China or Taiwan. As a result of the endowment, there is no charge to program participants unless they elect to have the educational experience considered for graduate credit.

The Fellows were formally accepted into the program during a banquet at SVSU Thursday, May 28.