• Oct. 20, 2016
     
    USC graduate named a PSU Outstanding Student Teacher

    Ollendyke Family Caitlyn Ollendyke, a 2012 Upper St. Clair High School graduate, was recently named a Fall 2015 Outstanding Student Teacher by The Pennsylvania State University College of Education Alumni Society.

    A 2016 Penn State graduate, Caitlyn studied childhood and early adolescence education, pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade option, with a minor in special education and certification in English as a second language.

    She completed her student teaching experience at Standing Stone Elementary School in the Huntingdon Area School District, located in central Pennsylvania. When Caitlyn wasn’t in the classroom, she volunteered with the CARE team, which provides backpacks containing food and clothing for disadvantaged families in the Huntingdon community. She also participated in parent-teacher conferences, staff meetings, after-school grade level meetings, Response to Intervention meetings and Professional Learning Communities meetings.

    “Ms. Ollendyke has qualities beyond those of a novice teacher,” Barbara Hartle, Caitlyn’s student teacher supervisor, said. “In my years as a supervisor I had never seen such complete and thorough lessons, use of effective teacher language to manage learning and behavior, outreach to parents, timely and thorough completion of assignments and genuine interest in each student and their progress.”

    Caitlyn is currently a second grade teacher at Park Forest Elementary School in State College. She plans to continue her education by enrolling in a master’s program at Penn State in the future.
     

     
    Photo:
    Bryan Ollendyke (brother), USCHS Class of 2002; Todd Ollendyke (father), retired USCHS teacher; Caitlyn Ollendyke, USCHS Class of 2012; and Cindy Ollendyke (mother), retired Peters Township teacher