Drs. Elizabeth Ducy and Jennifer Mahdavi received a U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Grant of over $1 million for the next five years. The Seawolf to Education Specialist Project (SeEds) aims to increase the number of diverse (e.g., race, ethnicity, culture, language, and disability status) fully credentialed special education teachers with the knowledge and skills to serve children and youth with disabilities.

This grant will support a combined format, virtual and in-person, 3-week NEH summer institute for 25 secondary English teachers from across the country. The institute will be held for 2 weeks on SSU's campus and includes field trips to various locations in Northern California. Participants will learn alongside literary scholars, teacher-artists, naturalists, and media literacy scholars. The institute will guide participants through an in-depth inquiry into the human/nature dichotomy and connections through climate futurism.

SSU will train 15 students as "Reading Rescue Tutors". These students will be tutoring elementary-aged children in local elementary schools. Tutors will enroll in EDUC 295 and receive 1 unit credit for 45 hours of in-person tutoring. They will also be paid for the 10 hours of tutor training. This project is being support by the Benedict Silverman Foundation (BSF) who will provide funding for faculty time, tutor training, travel/mileage, supplies, etc.

The aim of this project is to pilot a restorative practices intervention for teachers and families. It will focus on training and mentoring transitional kindergarten/kindergarten classroom teachers and families at University at La Fiesta in Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD) in restorative practices.

To meet the need of the ever-increasing need for teachers in California public schools, particularly in the areas of bilingual education, special education, and STEM education, SSU has partnered with Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) and Santa Rosa City Schools (SRCS) to prepare teacher candidates in the North Bay Teacher Residency Program (NBTRP).