Dr. Carol Wickstrom received the University Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award at the virtual Salute to Faculty Excellence ceremony.

Wickstrom joined the UNT faculty in 2000 after spending 20+ years as an elementary classroom teacher in Texas, Illinois, and Washington. Currently, she is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Administration in the College of Education.

During her time at UNT she has taught literacy courses to undergraduate and graduate students. Since 2003 Carol has been the Director of the North Star of Texas Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project. This is a vibrant network of teachers across the metroplex that provides professional development for teachers and administrators, as well as effective teaching in area classrooms.

One of Carol’s guilty pleasures is to learn about the lives and successes of her former students. For example, she recently learned that one of her former first grade students (1979) taught middle school with one of her former UNT preservice teachers (2003). One of her former second grade students (1982) was a speech writer for Hillary Clinton. Several of her former students are published authors and one is an Associate Dean at a local university. Knowing that her teaching has influenced other’s lives brings her great satisfaction.