The annual Siskin Circle of Scholars program has awarded undergraduate scholarships to UTC students Rachel M. Boyd and Sarah Rankin for their strong academic record and career aspirations to work with children with disabilities. Linda Rivers, a doctoral student, was awarded a Graduate Research Award.
Boyd, of Nashville, is a junior who is a double major in early childhood education and special education.
Rankin, of Chattanooga, is a junior who is majoring in early childhood education with an emphasis on early childhood special education.
Rivers, of Chattanooga, is a doctoral student in Learning and Leadership and the director of the Children’s Center at UTC. Rivers is studying the impact of a specific teaching strategy and its effect on preschool children with disabilities.
The Institute’s research center, the Siskin Center for Child and Family Research, strives to advance the fields of early childhood development and special education. Led by three doctoral-level researchers, including Dr. Robin McWilliam and Dr. Tom Buggey who hold faculty appointments at UTC, the center partners with higher education institutions on various research projects.
Since 1950, Siskin Children’s Institute has served children with special needs, such as autism, developmental delays and Down syndrome. The Institute achieves its mission in a comprehensive way: a quality preschool education where children with disabilities learn together with typically developing children; family support and community outreach programs; innovative research focusing on early childhood development and special education; and in 2009, developmental and behavioral pediatric health care. For more information about Siskin Children’s Institute, visit www.siskin.org.
