Dr. Mark Norris and student Nina Ferry

“My professors in the education and history programs at Grace have helped me to see the true integration of faith and learning, which is something many Christian colleges fail to achieve, and I will take that away with me as I move forward into whatever the Lord has planned for me after college,” says Nina Ferry, a Grace College student who received the Dennis Beadles Outstanding Future Social Studies Educator Award at the Indiana Council for the Social Studies (ICSS) Conference for the state of Indiana recently.  “I owe much of my passion for learning and teaching to the people that have modeled and poured their passions of teaching and learning into me,” she added.

Ferry, of Lockport, Ill., was the sole recipient of the award presented during the annual conference held in Indianapolis. The award recognizes and honors Dennis Beadles as a Social Studies Educator and former member of the Indiana Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors.

Ferry was nominated by Dr. Mark Norris, in collaboration with the education department advisors. Norris is a current member of the ICSS Board of Directors, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Grace College, and is also Ferry’s advisor.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said Ferry. “My professors, the opportunities that my time at Grace has offered me, and the passion the Lord has put in me to learn and teach is really what helps me to move forward in my career both educationally and professionally.”

Ferry is currently pursuing a triple major in Social Studies Education, Special Education, and History at Grace College and will pursue both grad school and teaching options when she graduates.