Former RC professor receives education award
June 25, 2015
Salem - A former Roanoke College education professor was honored Wednesday at a conference that he helped to direct for 14 years.
Dr. Timothy Reynolds, a 5th grade teacher and former associate professor at Roanoke, received the Margaret Sue Copenhaver Contribution to Education award during a luncheon marking the conclusion of an annual three-day training program for teachers and administrators.
The Margaret Sue Copenhaver Institute for Teaching and Learning, held June 22-24 at Roanoke, is named for Copenhaver, a retired teacher from Richmond who demonstrated a passion for teaching. The Institute, which opened in 2000, is funded by an endowed gift from Copenhaver's sister, Helen Hanes. Administrators of the Institute select a recipient for the Copenhaver Award who they believe exemplifies the late teacher's commitment to education.
Reynolds was an associate professor of education at Roanoke for 14 years, before leaving last year to teach 5th grade at the American School in Switzerland. This fall, he will teach 5th grade at Skagerak International School in Norway. Reynolds did not attend the luncheon, but he addressed the crowd via video.
"It is our moral obligation to the future to stand for students," he said.
Reynolds has spent his career in the classroom. He worked as a teacher in Roanoke City Schools, U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Germany, Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Munich International School in Germany. He was co-director of the Institute from its beginning.
"Who else has contributed to the Copenhaver vision?" said Jeanette Warwick, a member of the Institute's steering committee, about Reynolds. "He's always been a teacher."
She noted that Reynolds even taught 5th grade classes in Munich, Germany, while on sabbatical in 2008. Reynolds has a bachelor's degree from James Madison University and a master's and doctorate from the University of Virginia.
Approximately 150 educators attended this year's Institute, which offered workshops and discussions based on the theme, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind.