Somerville Student Top Graduate in UMaine College
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Danielle Jonassen of Somerville has been selected as the top graduating senior in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. She will carry the college’s banner into UMaine’s Alfond Arena at the beginning of the university’s Saturday, May 12 commencement ceremony.
Jonassen, who will receive an education degree on Saturday, plans to move to Virginia after graduation. At UMaine, she is a member of the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi and the international honor society Phi Kappa Phi, from which she received the Marcus Urann Award for scholastic achievement in 2006. Jonassen also received special recognition for having an outstanding score on Praxis II, a standardized test for prospective teachers, the Presidential Academic Achievement Award from the College of Education and Human Development and a Top Scholar tuition award.
She shares credit for her UMaine success with others in the UMaine community, including an education professor.
“Prof. Jan Kristo sparked in me a passion for children’s literature,” Jonassen says. “She gave me the opportunity to explore this passion with an independent study on the art of picture books.”
Jonassen, who graduated from Erskine Academy in 2003, is married to Keith Jonassen. Her parents are Christopher and Valarie Johnson.