Award Winners

Dr. Tanner is a professor at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois. Dr. Tanner received the 2023 Post-secondary award from NCBEA at the NBEA conference in Kansas City in April.

In addition to serving as president, Colleen has also served as NCBEA Secretary, NCBEA Michigan Membership Director, and NBEA President.

Jennifer Schultz

Jennifer Schultz started her business education career by earning her business education degree from Indiana State University and teaching at Chesterton High School. She currently teaches business education at Ben Davis High School. She teaches courses that include accounting, Spirit shop, Computer Applications, Business Math and Personal Finance. In addition, she is an active Business professional of America Advisor.

Jennifer is involved in numerous professional organizations and has received numerous forms of recognition for her teaching accomplishments. Professional involvement includes membership in Indiana Business Education Association, North Central Business Education Association, and National Business Education Association. In addition to these memberships, she has served in numerous roles within these organizations, including Indiana Business Education Association President and national Business Education Association Conference Hospitality Chair. Jennifer has been recognized as the Indiana Teacher of The Year and Ben Davis High School Teacher of the year. She has numerous presentations on personal finance, information technology, project-based learning, and accounting regionally and nationally.

One of her letters of support noted, “Jen Schultz is a teacher that ensures every single student in her class receives the attention and education deserved.” Another letter of support noted, “Jen puts her heart and soul into teaching with a passion and enthusiasm that is hard to be matched. In the crazy year that we have had, Jen continues to be a bright, shining star.” Lastly, a recommender stated, “Mrs. Schultz is an exemplary leader, teacher, and mentor in the Business Education community across the state of Indiana.”

Please congratulate the 2021 NCBEA Outstanding Contributions to Business Education by a Secondary Business Teacher, Jennifer Schultz from Ben Davis High School, Indiana

Submitted by Debbie Stanislawski

Brandan Oates

Brandan Oates started his business education career by earning his business education degree from Illinois State University and teaching at Kingsley Junior high School. He teaches courses that Computer Applications, Keyboarding, and BELT (Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Training). In addition, as part of BELT he has implemented the Cav Cash Store as a school-based enterprise, and he is the co-adviser for the STEM Club at his school.

Brandan is involved in numerous professional organizations and is currently advancing his practice through completing a master’s degree. Professional involvement includes membership in Illinois Business Education Association, North Central Business Education Association, and National Business Education Association. In addition to these memberships, he has served in numerous roles within these organizations, including student representative for the Illinois Business Education Association and member of the Early Career Committee and Committee to Advance Public Education. His cumulative research project for his master’s program is focused on analyzing how the incorporation of the Cav Cash Store (i.e. school store) into the 8th Grade BELT course influences student engagement.
One of his letters of support noted, “Mr. Oates has established himself as a force for business education in our learning community.” Another letter of support talked about Brandan’s leadership within the school implementing a Global Cardboard Challenge with his students and leading his students to develop a token economy through the Cav Cash Store as part of the PBIS support system in the school. The recommender also stated “Mr. Oates has united his colleagues district-wide during P.L.C. and hosted P.L.Cs in his classroom”
Please congratulate Brandan Oates, Kingsley Junior High School, as the 2021 NCBEA Emerging Professional Award recipient.

Submitted by Debbie Stanislawski

Molly J. Wickam

Congratulations to Molly J. Wickam as the NCBEA Administrator/Supervisor of Business Education Award Recipient. One of the students Ms. Wickam mentors stated, “Molly’s passion for education and student development drives her success. Her high level of emotional intelligence and awareness of student needs enables her to preemptively address potential points of confusion with students and ensure course content has a lasting impact on students in their path to becoming educators.”

Molly J. Wickam is a Program Director and Associate Professor of Education & Business/Leadership at Bethel University, St. Paul, MN. She is the Director of Bethel University’s Master of Arts in Teaching, an initial licensure teacher preparation program for students earning the Business grades 5-12 license and several other licenses. In her role as director, she is responsible for hiring and supervising faculty and a placement coordinator, overseeing curriculum development, accreditation, and working with internal departments such as admissions, marketing, and student success. In addition to directing the program, she teaches the field experience course, is the edTPA coordinator, supervises the business teacher candidates during their student teaching, and is a master’s thesis advisor. She serves on the Executive Board of the Association for Business Teaching and Research and is the journal editor for that association’s journal, the Journal of Business Education. She earned her MBA at Northern Illinois University, her teaching credential at National University, and her Ph.D. in Work and Human Resource Education at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She researches undergraduate and graduate business education, specifically business capstones, service-learning, and innovation.

One of Molly Wickam’s former students stated, “I found very early that I had a lot to learn about curriculum design, classroom management and standards. Molly was a key player in not only teaching us, but more importantly, bringing it all together.”

Finally, one of Ms. Wickam’s colleagues included this message in the recommendation they wrote: “Just as Molly's contributions to students merges with the community, her community and professional contributions have risen to the national level. In 2016, she was chosen to participate in the Advancing Education Technology in Teacher Preparation Summit at the White House. In 2017, her dissertation on service learning won the 2017 Outstanding Doctoral Research in Business Education Award. For the past few years, Molly has been serving as a reviewer for and the editor of the Journal of Business Teaching and Research and as a reviewer for the Journal of Management Education as well as serving as a board and committee member for the National Business Education Association. She engages in the academic conversations regarding business, career, and technical education through national presentations and publications.”

In summary, Molly Wickam's vitae illustrates a pattern of commitment and contribution in promoting business, career, and technical education and enhancing the success of future business, career, and technical educators at the student, community, and national level.

Submitted by Tina Trumbower

Britt Knutson Platt

Britt Knutson Platt has been teaching the past 4.5 years at Oakwood High School in Ohio. Annually she teaches nine different courses in Business and Computer Science to grades 7-12. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Teacher Education in 2010 from Illinois State University.

Karin M. Stultz

Karin M. Stultz has been teaching the past 26 years at Northern Michigan University at the ranks of Lecturer, Instructor, and Assistant Professor. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Office Administration and her Master of Arts Degree in Education from Northern Michigan University.