Elizabeth Wing

Elizabeth Wing graduated from the Education Certificate/Master program in 1995. She is currently a 3rd-grade teacher at Carnation Elementary in Carnation, Washington. Wing has been teaching for sixteen years and has been nominated twice for teacher of the year. She is the 2018 Patsy Collins Award Winner for Excellence in Education, Environment, and Community; and the elementary school where she teaches recently earned recognition as One of Four “Green Ribbon Schools” in the State of Washington.

She didn’t consider becoming an educator until she had the unique experience of working alongside children at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. At that time, she began looking into graduate programs and Antioch University was the one progressive education program that focused on learning.

“It didn’t just focus on the institution of education and teaching,” Wing said, “it truly focused on how one becomes an invested lifelong learner.” Recently in 2016 Wing obtained another degree, graduating from the Global Field Program at Miami University with a Masters in Environmental Studies.

Wing’s learning experience at Antioch taught her to educate from a holistic perspective.

“My first month in graduate school introduced me to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence and Jane Nelson’s writings regarding the empowerment of student voice and advocacy through classroom meetings,” she said. “We studied and discussed the importance of teaching across the curriculum with cultural relevance in order to allow all students the opportunity to make authentic learning connections with their local and global communities. I remember studying inquiry and project-based learning.”  

Wing now uses that base knowledge to integrate the importance of place-based learning to promote environmental stewardship.

“This core philosophy that I value as an educator all began with my exposure to the progressive learning at Antioch,” Wing said. “I truly believe Antioch was light years ahead of other programs.”

She feels fortunate to have had a wonderful advisor, Nancy Murphy, during her time at Antioch. “Nancy was amazing and inspiring, and she believed in me when others did not,” said Wing. “She helped me see myself as a valuable educator with vision and potential.”