Leah Stade, OTD, will be the recipient of the Emerging Educator Award at the Impact in Education Awards March 14. The award recognizes an emerging health science educator who demonstrates excellence, dedication and perseverance in teaching and education early in their career.
- Name: Leah Stade, OTD
- Title: Assistant professor in the Division of Occupational Therapy, UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, and academic fieldwork coordinator
- Joined UNMC: April 2020
- Hometown: Kearney, Nebraska
You are the recipient of the Emerging Educator Award. How has innovation played a part in your teaching career?
I sought out innovative ways to be part of occupational therapy education long before I started at UNMC. In developing occupational therapy education curricula, I often found myself wishing for a more useful resource. This sometimes meant creating one myself. I also continued learning through the health professions teaching and technology program and other educational opportunities. At UNMC, we are educating future OTs in unique ways and preparing our students to be innovative and creative in their search for best practices in our field and beyond.
Describe your proudest moment as an educator.
My students often make me proud. My favorite thing is to meet with them after they complete their long-term fieldwork placements and hear about how they are connecting didactic learning to real-world OT practice. I love seeing students overcome challenges to become OT practitioners who would make great fieldwork educators for future students. The “ah-ha” moments are the best, whether with my OTD learners or the ones I have at home.
What advice would you give other faculty members who want to have an impact in education?
Find your people: those who ask you the hard “why” and “how” questions, those who are willing to cheer on your unconventional ideas, those who have the skill sets you wish you had. Then bring them all together, support one another and impact those you educate. You never know if you will have an impact unless you try. Once you know you have made an impact, share that knowledge with others.
Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy on teaching?
A colleague once told me: We can’t keep teaching the way it has always been done because we are preparing learners for careers, professions and lessons that don’t exist yet. As an educator, one must always be a learner.