Maemester 2026

BOUNDARY CROSSINGS STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Preparing for a life of impact ✏️

Thanks to your generous support, 11 future educators stepped into classrooms this Maemester and discovered their calling. 🍎

Teacher candidate Autumn Robinson speaking with Showcase attendees.

The 19th annual Maemester Showcase Learning Fair celebrated students who completed Boundary Crossings — a three-week intensive course made possible through the C. Robert '63 and Sara '64 Maxfield Teacher Enhancement Fund. In partnership with mentor teachers in Marshall Public Schools, these students moved from theory to practice: designing lessons, leading classrooms, and experiencing firsthand what it truly means to be an educator.

Garrett Iobe taught first-grade students the wonders of nature and terranium-building through his lesson, "Michigan in a Jar: Growing Our Own Ecosystem."

Allie Mott introduced fourth-graders to the fundamentals of sustainability with her lesson, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Sustainability in Our Community Starts Today."

Autumn Robinson led sixth-grade students through a lesson in reading comprehension for her ELA course, "More Than a Book: Creativity, Character, and Community in Ghost by Jason Reynolds."

Wyatt Falardeau bridged his history and English studies to develop the sixth-grade lesson, "Improving Our Environment and Community Through Words and Imagery."

Aubrey Benn led students through the lesson, "A Guide to the Local Neighborhood Through the Eyes of Second Graders," where students mapped the places in Albion that mean something to them.

Aubrey's family came out to support her at the Showcase!

Associate Professor of Anthropology Allison Harnish and student Chelsea Ramdhan.

Child attendee connecting with Allison Harnish.

Mariana Ochoa taught the social studies lesson, "Shaping the Past: A Student-Curated American Civil War Museum" to eighth grade students, a hands-on exploration of the past and its influence on the present.

Emmanuel Rostro-Gonzalez created the lesson, "Real World issues Meet 11th-Grade Problem Solvers," to usher students through gaining their own understanding of current community and societal issues and actionable steps.

Lilly Zaskowski taught a lesson in lifecycles to kindergarten students titled, "Chicken Farm! Exploring What Plants and Animals Need to Survive."

Abigail Hoskey created the music course, "From Screen to Stage: Disney Around the Bandroom," for eighth grade students, where students learned and performed Disney classics from movies like "Aladdin."

Big smile from Misty Brooks, director of the Whitehouse Nature Center and greenhouse keeper.

Jeremy Romero combined creativity and scientific theory with his second-grade lesson, "Build Your Own Instruments: The Science of Sound."

Meghan Trewhella invited students to step out of their comfort zone with her lesson, "Spoken From the Heart: A 5th-grade Community Poetry Slam," concluding with a live poetry reading at Stirling Books & Brew.

Betty Okwako-Riekkola, associate professor of education and co-chair of the Albion College Department of Education, with Fritz Shurmur Center for Teacher Development liaison Karen Hoaglin.

Thank you!

Your investment in the Teacher Education Program at Albion College is shaping the next generation of teachers, and countless classrooms and communities for years to come. Thank you for making this work possible. 💜

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