Kappa Delta Epsilon (KDE) Honor Society‘s creed is, “To love, respect, understand, and guide the student for a life of unfolding possibilities is the task of the teacher; to give aid, counsel, and support to fellow teachers and to all agencies promoting the love of truth, beauty, and goodness is the privilege of the teacher.”  The Gamma Zeta Chapter of KDE is housed at Centenary University and is one of the largest and most active honor societies on campus.

In the true spirit of KDE’s creed, during the Fall semester of 2019, members of KDE wanted to think of ways they could use their funds to enhance the Centenary campus and the pre-service teachers’ experiences. Many ideas were generated and members Carly Palmer ’20, Haneen Haddad ’20, Brendon Leon-Rossi ’20, Sydney Watkins ’20, and Jeremy Nurnberger ’21, along with faculty advisor, Dr. Lexis McCoy and Department Chair, Dr. Timothy Frederiks, agreed that a classroom that replicates the classroom setting in which they are going to teach would be a wonderful addition to the stellar Education Department at Centenary.

The students decided to replicate a classroom environment as a teaching laboratory for future educators and called it a “clinical classroom.”  KDE acquired a space for the classroom, secured funding, designed the layout, and ordered materials. As the materials were arriving, Covid 19 struck so the project was put on hold.

Fast forward through a pandemic and then issues with securing a location: in the spring of 2022, Natalie Kelson ’24, KDE’s immediate past president, advocated to the campus administration, with the help of Dean Robert Battistini and Advisor Lexis McCoy, to allow KDE to set up the clinical classroom in a space that was, easily accessible and the clinical classroom was set up in Littell 102.  The administration was excited about the idea and the faculty and student body welcomed this innovative project. Dr. Bill Carpluk even built the furniture!

Current KDE Leaders, Shelby Garno ’24, Zachary Orr ’24, Puja Shah ’24, Danielle Savarin ’24, Maya Wikki ’24, Sabrina Paupaw ’25, and Isabella Dutta ’24 are excited to keep the clinical classroom functioning as they maintain it. They are excited to work in conjunction with Taylor Memorial Library to curate book collections and think of the endless opportunities this project brings.

The clinical classroom is a space that will change and grow as students filter through KDE’s leadership, but it will be a priority to support our education students at Centenary so they can practice as teachers in this clinical environment.

For more information about the clinical classroom, contact Faculty Advisor, Dr. Lexis McCoy at Lexis.McCoy@CentenaryUniversity.edu