Education Guide 10.18.26 - Flipbook - Page 7
| Sunday, October 18, 2026
struggles were propelled her to consider
a career in special education, following in
her mother’s footsteps. She first hopes
to work as a general education teacher
and then transition to special education
to help students needing extra support.
Ultimately, she hopes to serve the board
of education as a supervisor in her district.
“Being in this experience, especially
with the internship over the summer, I just
feel confident that I can help kids,” she
says. “I just want kids to be themselves
and be able to learn and reach their highest potential.”
Stephen A.L. Shockley, a fifth-year
senior from Salisbury, is pursuing a music
education degree and added a special
education minor. He had an individualized
education plan (IEP) himself and credits
an assessment course with enabling him
to review his plan from his childhood
and learn more about himself. During
his internship, he worked with students
with severe needs and generated greater
engagement by supporting them with
music.
Edie Young, a sophomore studying
elementary education, added a special education minor in the hopes of
becoming a special education teacher
of first or fifth grade and running an
English resource room in her hometown,
Washington, D.C. With autism and learning disabilities herself, Young aims to
create a welcoming and safe classroom
environment, just as she experienced
growing up. She was inspired by her
high school teacher Catherine Dorsey,
with whom she hopes to work during her
upcoming winter internship.
“With the right tools and support, I
can help them grow their English because
I know a lot of kids are just afraid.
Sometimes kids worry that they’re going
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to be judged,” she explains. “But as my
mom has always said, ‘It’s just like a road,
and we’re all on different paths to get to
the same destination,’ and I want to be
able to provide them support so they
can grow their English skills and become
knowledgeable readers and writers.”
Just as the need for specialized
teachers is growing, so is the demand for
professionals with specialized skills, most
notably those that incorporate the use
of technology. With the demand greater
than ever, efforts to meet this need have
led to the creation of new online degree
programs at the University of Maryland
Global Campus (UMGC).
This fall, UMGC added a Master of
Science in homeland security leadership
and a Master of Science in public safety
leadership in the school of IT and cybersecurity. This spring, the university will
also introduce a Master of Science in
applied artificial intelligence and Bachelor
of Science in extended reality, both in the
school of integrated professional studies.
Angie Besendeorfer Martin, Ed.D.,
UMGC’s chief learner experience and
success officer, explains that these fields
Specialized Programs,
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