Old Main on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. (J. Nguyen/Creative Commons)
CANYON, TX – Doraelia Johnston, a senior education major from Floydada, was formally welcomed into her profession in a new tradition launched Tuesday at West Texas A&M University (WT).
Fifty-seven WT students newly admitted into the University’s educator preparation program were celebrated at a new pinning ceremony in Legacy Hall at the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the Canyon campus.
Pinning ceremonies, such as those in the nursing profession, symbolize the occasion when students are formally welcomed into their chosen professor, said Dr. Betty Coneway, head of WT’s Department of Education in the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences.
“The hope is that this event will elevate the teaching profession and validate the students’ decision to enter an increasingly demanding field,” said Coneway, who also serves as WT’s Geneva Schaeffer Professor of Education and Social Sciences.
WT opened in 1910 as West Texas State Normal College, a school that trained teachers. Today, about 75 percent of all teachers and administrators throughout the Panhandle region have at least one degree or certificate from WT.
