Tina Storer named recipient of 2009 International Education Award

Tina Storer, education and curriculum specialist for the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University, is the 2009 recipient of the International Education Award.

Storer coordinates the nationally acclaimed Annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute for K-12 Educators. The mission of the program is to provide elementary, middle and high school teachers with a foundation for teaching about Canada and to encourage increased curriculum connections to our northern neighbor.

“Storer has excelled at reaching out to the community outside the university as well as to other academic institutions,” said Doug Nord, executive director of WWU’s Center for International Studies, which bestows the award. “Her contributions are far-ranging and have crossed many academic disciplines. This award acknowledges Storer’s innovative and unassuming spirit and recognizes the diverse positive ways she has touched many programs and inspired many significant events during her years of service to Western.”

Storer, a native of Toronto, grew up in Livonia, Mich., and attended the University of Michigan before transferring to the University of Toronto. She earned her B.A. there and her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Ottawa. She taught English and English as a second language for more than 10 years in Ontario, Québec and Washington state. She was hired by the Center for Canadian-American Studies in November 2000 as an outreach coordinator for Canadian Studies, a position funded through a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

Since then, she has built a national profile for Canadian Studies through her outreach work with the National Council of the Social Studies, where she has served as co-chair of the International Visitors Task Force and has spearheaded a major outreach effort that showcased Canada at the annual conference in Houston in 2008. Storer specializes in developing curriculum resources on Canada for use by American K-12 teachers. Her Web site http://www.k12studycanada.org has become a primary gateway for teaching about Canada.

The International Education Award was established in 2008 to recognize outstanding efforts by members of the WWU community in expanding global awareness and international understanding on the campus and in the surrounding communities. Selections in past years have highlighted exceptional innovations in curriculum development, outreach to sister institutions, sustained contributions to international education, facilitation of study abroad activities and provision of services to international students and scholars.

For more information about this award, contact Doug Nord, executive director of WWU’s Center for International Studies, at (360) 650-3200 or doug.nord@wwu.edu.