June 24, 2004
Contact Shirley Frick at 796-3384 or smfrick@viterbo.edu
RECORD NUMBER OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AT VITERBO JULY 11-16
LA CROSSE, Wis. -- A record number of approximately 500 elementary and secondary school teachers will be on the Viterbo University campus July 11-16 fulfilling the final requirements to earn a Master of Arts in Education degree.
Commencement is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 16 in the La Crosse Center. Jerry Mills, a teacher, singer, songwriter, and educational trainer for educators, will give the keynote address at the ceremony. The presentations of research projects by the students will highlight the week.
“Viterbo has the largest professional development masters degree program for teachers in the country,” said Shirley Frick, director of graduate studies in education. Frick credits much of the program’s success to offering courses at many branch locations in Wisconsin and Iowa. “Teachers wanted the program, but they wanted us to bring the program to them.”
Frick said roughly two-thirds of the graduates are from Wisconsin and one-third from Iowa and many have never visited La Crosse before. “It will be a wonderful celebration,” Frick said. “It’s hard for them to leave.”