Veterinary technician educators honored

The Association of Veterinary Technician Educators handed out three awards during its biennial symposium, held July 30-Aug. 2 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Jordan Schrupp, a lecturer at North Dakota State University’s Veterinary Technology Program, received the AVTE/Wiley Blackwell New Teacher Award. She is a certified veterinary technician who joined the NDSU faculty in July 2013. Schrupp received her bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State’s veterinary technology program in 2003.

Twenty students wrote letters of recommendation, saying she is a hardworking instructor who “incorporated games, reviews, jello models of brains and hearts, stories and assignments” into her teaching. Schrupp commutes more than 130 miles each day between Fargo and her home in a small Minnesota lake community.

The Penn Foster Veterinary Team Members were awarded the AVTE/Merial Award for Excellence in Team Teaching. Penn Foster College’s Veterinary Technician Distance Education Program is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The team members are Dr. Jim Hurrell, Dr. Amanda Teter, Kathy Ruane, Ann Barr, Vicki McLain, Lauren Levish, and Megan Leonard. The AVTE recognized the team for exemplary collaboration and teamwork and for effectively demonstrating creativity and vision in the development of innovative learning opportunities for veterinary technology students.

Kathleen Ogborn, an associate professor in the Veterinary Science Department at State University of New York-Delhi, was honored with the AVTE/Elsevier Award for Teaching Excellence. Ogborn has taught at SUNY Delhi since 1999. She has developed and taught courses that range from clinical nutrition to clinical techniques to small animal care. In each of these courses, Ogborn has self-published laboratory manuals and workbooks to enhance student learning.

Ogborn also incorporates online resources that enhance the classroom experience, including video recordings of her lectures and laboratory demonstrations, a game-based learning site, and Web-based, interactive content featuring practicing veterinary professionals handling real cases at an animal hospital.