Speech instructor honored for outstanding teaching abilities
by Kary Lundquist, Staff Writer, THE CHRONICLE, 1985
SCS has average teachers, good teachers and now an outstanding teacher.
Assistant Professor Daun Kendig of the Speech Communications Department has been named Oustanding Young Teacher for 1985 by the Central States Speech Association.
"Around Thanksgiving last year, the Speech Communication Club on campus told me I was chosen as their nominee for the award," Kendig said. "I had until Christmas to get my application materials together."
Application materials included letters from superiors, letters from graduate school, evidence of teaching ability (such as syllabi) and letters from students, Kendig said.
"I got a lot of help from other members of my department with suggestions of what to send in. They have been very supportive," Kendig said.
There were seven people on the committee that reviewed the applications. The committee chose four Outstanding Young Teachers this year. The Central States Region includes Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
"I'm not sure what distinguished me from the other applicants," Kendig said. "But what I got from this award is a warm feeling in my heart and a wooden plaque. It made my mom and dad very proud, too."
Aside from her teaching duties at SCS, Kendig is also director of Performance of Literature Activities (PLA'yers). "We choose the topic-say a group show or chamber theatre-choose the pieces to be performed and then hold auditions," Kendig said.
"We're basically in charge of lighting, staging, working with the performers-everything. We try to help students do pieces that show off their strengths and downplay their weaknesses,- she said.
Kendig did her undergraduate work at Ohio University. She received her master's degree from the University of Illinois and currently is working on a doctoral degree.
"Since I have been putting in so much time working on my doctoral, I was not able to receive the award in person," Kendig said. The awards are presented at the Central States Speech Association's annual conference in Indianapolis.
"I was happy when the Speech Communications Club nominated me for this," Kendig said. "I guess I would have been happy with the nomination, even if I didn't win."