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University of Wyoming

McMurry gift supports annex remodeling

     Bolstered by a $250,000 gift from the McMurry Foundation of Casper, the University of Wyoming recently dedicated a new classroom honoring former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Judy Catchpole.

     The naming of the new classroom is part of the College of Education's $3.8 million classroom building renovation project. The project will add nine new classrooms, including mathematics and science laboratories; a seminar room and two student lounges.

     Catchpole, Wyoming's two-term superintendent of public instruction from 1995-2003, is now an educational consultant. As the chief executive officer of the State Department of Education, she oversaw public education in Wyoming. A graduate of Cody High School and UW, she served on the Natrona County school board as chairman and vice chairman of the Wyoming School Board Association.

     She served on numerous other state, regional and national education organizations and many boards. Prior to being elected to her state position, Catchpole worked as a pre-school director and music teacher, an elementary teacher, early childhood education teacher training consultant, writer and author of pubic school curriculum guides and supervisor of student-teacher and new career opportunity teacher aides.

     When completed, more than 90 percent of the college of education's instruction will take place in the new Education Classroom Building, adjacent to the existing College of Education facility. Plans are being developed for an entrance and a covered walkway connecting the Education Classroom and the College of Education, landscaping, and the site work needed to transform a parking lot into accessible curbs and sidewalks.

     Three classrooms are now completed and are being used this spring semester. Each is equipped with state of the art technology that future teachers will utilize in their school settings, says Pat McClurg, dean of the College of Education. She says each teaching station includes a computer, document camera, a ceiling-mounted projector with video and sound capability and an interactive wall-mounted white board that interfaces with the computer.

     "Phase two of the project will begin this summer and includes the completion of the second floor renovation with additional classrooms and a student area, which will serve as the cultural hub of the college, providing a comfortable gathering place for students to meet, have informal study groups and receive important announcements," McClurg says.

     Funding for the renovation comes from a combination of UW and private sources.

     "Private gifts will play a pivotal role in creating this inviting teaching and learning environment where state of the art teaching can occur," McClurg adds. "The Education Classroom Building project will have a long-lasting impact on our education programs by providing an environment where best practices can be modeled and that will attract and retain high quality students and faculty."

     In 1998, Mick and Susie McMurry created the McMurry Foundation, a philanthropic foundation to have a "significant and beneficial impact" on the communities within Wyoming. The foundation in 2003 contributed $2 million to UW to support a conference center within a planned 15-acre plaza on Grand Ave. that also will feature a hotel and retail area near campus. The McMurrys also provided a key $1.6 million donation toward construction of the Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC), a technology-oriented business incubator to be built at UW.

     For more information about the College of Education Classroom Building, call Sally Sutherland, College of Education director of development, at (307) 766-2088 or e-mail sallys@uwyo.edu.