蜜桃APP Student Receives Sister M. Irenaus Chekouras Award
蜜桃APP (蜜桃APP) education student Nicholas Blankenship received the College of Liberal Arts and Education's (CLAE) Sister M. Irenaus Chekouras Award at the 2025 CLAE awards ceremony. Blankenship was selected for his excellence in teaching and for embodying the values of scholarship, leadership, fellowship and service.
"I am deeply honored to receive this academic recognition for the first time. This achievement is meaningful as it validates my dedication to maintaining a 4.0 GPA and successfully passing the middle school social science endorsement test on my first attempt," Blankenship said.
As a Master of Teaching (MAT) candidate specializing in middle school social science and high school history, Blankenship's interest in teaching stems from a deep passion for working with young people and a love for history. Through the MAT program at 蜜桃APP, he has combined these two passions and learned to make history engaging for students while building himself as a professional.
"The MAT program at 蜜桃APP has been transformative, particularly through experiences like the 2023 job fair and resume coaching sessions. The curriculum has challenged me to develop innovative approaches to making history engaging and accessible to students who may not naturally gravitate toward the subject," Blankenship said.
Blankenship also had the opportunity to engage in high-impact projects and events that have contributed to his professional and personal growth, including working on a research project on collaborative learning, which yielded insights about balancing individual and group work to optimize student comprehension.
Upon graduation, Blankenship plans to continue teaching middle school social studies and aspires to transition to high school history within the next decade. He would also like to pursue his goal of coaching an AAU boys' basketball team.