Maryville University presented doctoral degrees to four educators from the Hazelwood School District in December 2010 – Sarah Briscoe, instructional specialist, Arrowpoint Elementary School; Bryan Hindrichs, assistant principal, Hazelwood Northwest Middle School; John Koeneker, instructional specialist, Jamestown Elementary School; and Wade Steinhoff, assistant principal, Hazelwood Central Middle School.
Several years ago, the district approached Maryville University to establish a partnership to provide a cohort program for staff desiring to earn advanced degrees in education that offered convenience in location and time. To that end, the Maryville classes are held within the district.
Briscoe has worked for HSD since 2003. She taught third and fifth grades and served as an assistant principal at Twillman Elementary School before working at Arrowpoint. She began her career in education working as a teacher assistant while in college, then joining St. Louis Public Schools.
She decided to pursue her doctorate after completing her master’s degree, and because of the influence of her grandfather.
“I can remember having long conversations with my grandfather, who is now 88 years old. He would always bring up the fact that he never really finished high school because he had to work. I watched him go to work every day for as long as I can remember,” Briscoe said.
“He retired when I started college. He always seemed regretful of the fact that he didn’t finish school. I vowed to take advantage of every opportunity I could with regard to education.”
Hindrichs has been an educator for 13 years. He taught history at Hazelwood Northwest Middle School for seven years. He credits his sister for his decision to teach, saying that “early on, she identified that I would be successful in education.”
He wanted to earn his doctorate as a challenge. “It was time to go back and pursue an advanced degree to keep current with my certification requirements. I looked around at the choices and heard great things about the Maryville cohort model. I was not disappointed,” Hindrichs said.
Koeneker has been with the district for seven years, starting as a teacher at Townsend Elementary School, working with fifth and sixth grades. He also taught sixth and seventh-grade math at Hazelwood Southeast Middle School.
“I felt it would enhance my ability to be a leader in my school,” Koeneker said of earning an advanced degree. He was influenced to become a teacher because of his mother, a high school English teacher, and his high school social studies teacher.
Steinhoff began his career in education 10 years ago when he joined HSD. He taught social studies and served as an assistant principal at Hazelwood East Middle School.
“I wanted to get better at what I do. I love my job and the experiences of this doctoral program have better prepared me to support my students and staff members,” Steinhoff saidd.
“My entire family placed a high priority on education, which is not a surprise since most of them are teachers. The biggest influence was my grandmother, a life-long educator.”
Each offered advice on considering an advanced degree in education.
“There is no possible way to continue to be a star educator if you are not educated and prepared for the innovative teaching and leadership skills that are a must for today’s world. With technology, data, state standards and society moving at such a fast pace, we have to keep up,” said Briscoe.
Hindrichs said to “make sure that you discuss the time commitment with your family first, and make sure that everyone, including yourself, is clear on what will be required of you.”
Koeneker said that those who are interested should “get it for the right reasons. Pursue a degree because you desire to enhance your ability to make a difference as an educator, not because you want more money, a different position or because someone else told you that you should.”
“The best advice I can give is to have a strong support system in place. My wife was extremely supportive of the time and financial commitments that we had to make for me to pursue this degree,” Steinhoff said.
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