Movers & Shakers

U of I Coeur d’Alene’s continuing ed staffer receives statewide recognition

Gretchen Browning of University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene’s Upward Bound program received the TRIO-INSPIRE staff excellence award during the university’s First-Generation College Day celebration Nov. 8 in Moscow. 

Browning is a continuing education specialist for the Silver Valley Upward Bound program based at Wallace Jr./Sr. High School. Her work helps low-income and first-generation students enter college, graduate and continue contributing to their communities as professionals. 

Browning herself is a living example for the students she serves. She earned her degree in public health from Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in teaching from Idaho State University, giving Wallace students another example of a working professional pursuing continued education. 

Arielle Horan, director of the Silver Valley Upward Bound program, said Browning was nominated for the award because of her commitment to the students she serves. In addition to her role, Browning is also the Wallace seventh-grade girls basketball coach and is actively involved in district and community events as a volunteer and community member. 

“The biggest impact she makes is just investing time with the students she works with,” Horan said. “Upward Bound students are, by definition, low-income and/or first-generation, so there’s a lot of uncertainty with them in terms of what they’re going to do after they graduate. Gretchen takes the time to work with all of her students and work with them individually to make sure they have a plan. For some of our students, she may be the only adult in their life who has these types of conversations with them. Students love her because she genuinely cares about them, and that makes an enormous impact on their lives.”

U of I became an early adaptor of the Upward Bound program in 1968, and the Upward Bound program is one of six such programs offered through the university’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences known as TRIO Programs.

For more information, visit uidaho.edu/ed/departments/trio or contact Horan at 208-885-5648 or ahoran@uidaho.edu.

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