Story: Phillip Tutor | Photo: Betsy Compton
Professor has a ‘soft spot’ in her heart for students
Upon hearing that she鈥檇 won the聽鈥檚 most prestigious faculty award, Dr.聽Amanda Pendergrass聽walked to the lectern and addressed the commencement crowd.
Her first words focused on people she holds dear.
Her students.
鈥淚 am absolutely honored that I get to be a part of your special day where you all are being honored and you took the time out to honor me,鈥� she said.
Pendergrass, an associate professor of early childhood education, received the William E. Gilbert Award . Given annually by the student body, the Gilbert Award recognizes outstanding teaching and excellence in undergraduate classroom instruction.
鈥淭hey keep that award super secret, and I was completely mind blown,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thought I was going to fall off the stage. I had no idea.鈥�
Originally from Birmingham, Pendergrass joined the faculty of UWA鈥檚 Julia Tutwiler College of Education in 2013 after a 10-year stint as a first-, second- and third-grade teacher in Hoover City Schools. She also worked for a year in Okayama, Japan, teaching English in five different nursery schools — using lessons based on shared reading and math games — and counseling Japanese nursery school teachers.
Fourteen hours and nearly 7,000 miles separate Livingston鈥檚 campus from Japan, but Pendergrass鈥� experience in foreign classrooms changed the arc of her career. It鈥檚 central to her professional story. Before going to Asia, she was adamant that she preferred teaching the youngest children. 鈥淟ittle people are where it’s at,鈥� she remembered thinking. But instructing nursery school teachers and college professors in Japan sparked a thought: What about teaching adults? What if the Japanese educators who were telling her she should earn a Ph.D. and seek a tenure-track teaching position were right?
What if fate delivered her to a college classroom?
鈥淭hey planted the seed,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I got home, I thought, well, what the heck? I love going to school. I’ll go back and I’ll work on a Ph.D. — not because I ever thought I would leave the classroom, but it was just a personal challenge for me.鈥�
Life then moved fast. Pendergrass enrolled in graduate school at the University of baby直播 in Birmingham. She met her future husband, whose job grounded him in Demopolis. She earned her doctoral degree, joined her husband in Marengo County, fought urges to remain in elementary school classrooms, joined UWA鈥檚 faculty, and started a family.
Beforehand, Pendergrass never envisioned leaving Birmingham or the first-grade classroom. Teaching future teachers at UWA wasn鈥檛 part of the plan, until it was.
鈥淲hen I got that job, that was like God telling me, 鈥楾his is the right move for you,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淓verything is falling into place.鈥�
UWA鈥檚 renowned history as a training school for teachers is embedded in Pendergrass鈥� appreciation for the university鈥檚 College of Education. Though she admits missing her former elementary school classrooms, she admires how UWA鈥檚 education faculty sets clear expectations for students and guides them through difficulties that occasionally appear.
鈥淚 tell them straight up: 鈥楾his semester is not going to be easy. There will be times when you are going to cry, but that is because it’s a lot of work,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淏ut that’s what teaching is, setting those clear expectations. I feel like our department does a great job.鈥�
Because it鈥檚 selected by a committee of select UWA undergraduates, the Gilbert Award winner is recognized not only for the technical aspects of teaching, but also for how he or she connects with students. 鈥淚t is not lost on me, absolutely,鈥� Pendergrass said, given that teaching awards in most K-12 school systems are often picked by administrators.
The Gilbert Award is, by design, different.
鈥淭hese students are in there with me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 pour my heart and soul out, but whatever it is that I give in the classroom, they noticed. I have a soft spot in my heart for all of these students, and they know that I treat them just like my own kids.鈥�