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Thompson

Kathy Thompson, a clinical associate professor in the University of Georgia’s College of Education, has received the 2013 Gulf-South Summit Award for Outstanding Practitioner Contributions to Service-Learning in Higher Education.

Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities. Through service-learning, young people—from kindergarteners to college students—use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems.

Over the past eight years, Thompson has incorporated service-learning into the middle-school education program through four courses at the graduate and undergraduate level, including her “Theory and Practice of Service-Learning in P-12 Settings” class. She is also the service-learning coordinator for the COE’s Office of School Engagement and a professor-in-residence for Hilsman Middle School’s professional development school collaboration with Clarke County Schools. In addition, she is the lead faculty member for the UGA Office of Service-Learning’s P-12 initiatives, which include providing professional development to teachers interested in service-learning.

Thompson has served on the Georgia Department of Education’s Learn & Serve Advisory Board, as a grant reviewer for Georgia Learn & Serve, and has led service-learning leadership institutes for Georgia Learn & Serve Title I schools.

Thompson has received more than $70,000 in grant support over the past decade as co-principal investigator for research and outreach relating to service-learning. She also serves as the principal investigator and program officer for the state in the Improving Teacher Quality program, a multi-million dollar initiative funded by the United States Department of Education.

The award was presented at the summit’s annual meeting on Feb. 28 in Louisville, Ky.