UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State College of Education has named Alexandria Juliano as its student marshal for fall 2016. She will be recognized during the Penn State undergraduate commencement ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. Juliano has chosen Thomas P. Sherwood II, assistant professor of education, to escort her as the College's faculty marshal. Kathleen Shannon has served as her academic adviser.
"Being selected as the student marshal means that my semesters of busy schedules and time spent in office hours were all worth it,” said Juliano. “My mom taught me not to do anything with partial effort, so I like to think of this accomplishment as a way of honoring her. I am very thankful to be recognized."
Regarding her selection of Sherwood as the faculty marshal, Juliano said, "I selected Dr. Sherwood because he was a strong advocate during my early months of student teaching. Having him as my escort is a representation of how much students can achieve with the support of a dedicated and encouraging teacher."
Majoring in early childhood education with a minor in human development and family studies, Juliano currently is completing her teaching practicum in a second-grade classroom in the Shaler Area School District in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania. There, she trained in DIBELS assessment administration; updated and generated classroom resources/handouts to incorporate use of iPad technology; developed and taught an 11-lesson, cross-curricular unit on the 2016 presidential election; adapted daily lesson plans and assessments to meet the needs of a Chinese-speaking English-language learner; and volunteered to plan and implement a Parent Reading Night to enhance at-home reading practices.
Juliano also served as a preschool teacher for Allie Alligator Learning Center in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, from May 2015 through August 2016. There, she teamed with a co-teacher to prepare classroom materials for lessons within the Mother Goose curriculum; and consulted with roughly 20 students’ parents in person and on daily progress sheets.
From September to December 2015, Juliano was a third-grade pre-student teacher at Lewistown Elementary School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, where she worked with students with learning disabilities and instructed a class with highly diverse ability levels.
During her undergraduate studies at Penn State, Juliano received the President’s Freshman Award, and the President Sparks & Evan Pugh Scholar Junior Awards. She was nominated as a representative in the Penn State Civic Engagement Public Speaking Contest in Fall 2015 and placed among the top three percent of speakers at Penn State that semester.
Her interests include art, recreational running, and coaching high school girls’ tennis.
Juiliano's father, Paul Juliano; her brother, Mike; grandmother, Ann; and fiancé, Garrett, plan to attend the ceremony. After graduation, Juliano plans to teach in an elementary classroom close to her home in Pittsburgh; coach high school girls’ tennis; and continue to create and commission her artwork.