Featuring Dr. Carol Erwin, professor of family and consumer sciences (FCS).
Being in the right place at the right time is how Dr. Carol Erwin summed up her decision to start teaching at Wayne State College more than a decade ago. Erwin, a professor of family and consumer sciences (FCS) at Wayne State, is the inaugural subject of the new Faculty Spotlight Series.
Before starting at Wayne State in 2012, Erwin taught family and consumer sciences in grades 7-12 in Bassett, Stuart, Coleridge, Laurel, and Randolph, all in Nebraska. A former Wayne State student teacher made a casual comment to Erwin saying that she’d be a perfect fit for a teaching opening at Wayne State.
“I’m always looking for ‘the next thing’ in life that will challenge me, and that comment came at the perfect time,” said Erwin. “It got me thinking that being a college professor might be the next thing for me.”
A native of Prague, Neb., Erwin is certified in FCS by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS).
Erwin serves on the board for the AAFCS as a director-at-large, and she is the treasurer of AAFCS Nebraska affiliate. She also serves as the president of the Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers of Nebraska (FCSTN) and is the post-secondary representative to the Association for Career and Technical Education of Nebraska (ACTEN).
Erwin was recognized by FCSTN as the FCS Teacher of the Year in 2004 and 2013 and by the Association for Career and Technical Education as the Region V Teacher Educator of the Year where she was a national finalist in 2020. In 2023, she was selected as an ACTE NextLevel Fellow and successfully completed that leadership program. She has also presented at various conferences, and she is a member of the National Association of Teacher Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences (NATEFACS) and the Leading, Engaging, Advocating, Developing Family and Consumer Sciences Education (LEADFCS).
Erwin's teaching interests include online teaching and learning, nutrition and foods classes in FCS, and working with FCS teacher education students. Her research interests include adult education and lifelong learning.
While she’s proud of her accomplishments, she’s prouder of her students’ accomplishments.
In February 2024, Wayne State’s student chapter of AAFCS won first place in a national video and digital poster contest. The purpose of the contest was to create an original video or digital poster to deliver information about the value and impact of family and consumer sciences education for individuals, schools, and/or communities. The contest was open to FCS students (middle, secondary, post-secondary, or graduate level) and FCS professionals.
The video made by Wayne State FCS students was made available for FCS programs across the country to view and use for marketing purposes. To view the video, visit the FCS Educator Day PSA Contest website.
“That video is a perfect example of the well-rounded FCS program we have at Wayne State,” said Erwin. “The FCS program contains a variety of classes, and there are several academic minors across campus that complement a major in FCS. We definitely prepare our students for the workforce.”
Students from Erwin’s Content Area Methods and Assessment class from the Fall 2023 semester created lesson plans and course materials for various plant-based protein lessons that educators can use across Nebraska for grades 6-12. Each lesson fulfills the Nebraska Department of Education’s curriculum standards, and the lessons can be found on the NDE website.
Erwin earned her bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education (endorsement in Diversified Occupations and Coaching) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, her master’s degree in Education (Curriculum and Instruction) from Doane College, and her Ed.D. from the University of South Dakota.
Fun fact: “I’m NOT afraid of heights, so I’m stuck with putting up the Christmas lights. I can also throw things like grapes, popcorn, and tomatoes up into the air and catch them in my mouth!”