Fall Convocation 2020 will see the inaugural cohort of the Health and Physical Education Master of Education students graduate. Led by Elementary Education professors Doug Gleddie and Hayley Morrison and Secondary Education professor Lauren Sulz, the program is designed to allow teachers to pursue their master’s degree over two years through a combination of online courses and a two-week in-person component in each summer of the program.

David Lewkowich knows something about the stress teachers can experience when they start out in their chosen careers because he’s been there himself.

“When I worked as a high school teacher, I had a year of insomnia,” says Lewkowich, now a professor and researcher in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education.

Step into Jessica Maloughney’s (BEd’11) Grade 2 classroom at St. Patrick’s Community School in Red Deer, Alta., and you may be reminded of a six-year-old’s bedroom. Minecraft posters decorate the walls, Lego figurines are tucked around the classroom, and collections of Star Wars and Frozen books populate the bookshelf.