Fifth Generation Aggie Celina Larsen Honored as CEHS Valedictorian

Celina Larsen has been named valedictorian for the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services Class of 2024.

Larsen is a double major in elementary education from the School of Teacher Education and Leadership (TEAL) and special education birth to five from the Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Department (SPERC). Although recognition from CEHS faculty, USU advisers and mentor teachers abounds, Larsen is perhaps most known for her huge heart, optimistic outlook and sincere desire to educate young children.

“From the first time I met her, Celina lit up the room with her smile and unwavering dedication to becoming the best teacher there is,” says Laura Parrish, Larsen’s academic adviser in SPERC. “I admire her disposition for hard work and positive outlook. She is very well deserving of being the CEHS valedictorian.”

To say that Larsen, a Cache Valley native, is an Aggie would be an understatement. On her father’s side, she joins five generations of Aggies. Her father graduated from Utah State in business information systems and his father graduated in mechanical engineering. The next two generations of grandfathers on the family tree boast degrees in veterinary medicine and education. Of her parents and their combined 14 siblings, 11 are graduates of USU.

Larsen recalls that even her first memory is specific to the Aggie world: riding on her father’s shoulders on their way home from a girls’ gymnastics meet on the Logan campus. In fact, as a first-year student participating in orientation, Larsen was surprised to discover that the staff was teaching the incoming students The Scotsman. “People don’t know this song?” she wondered incredulously. “I’ve been singing it since I was born.”

Although Larsen always knew she wanted to work with children, she didn’t know in what capacity until she was in high school.

“I had the opportunity to take the TEAL 1010 concurrent enrollment class and I realized, ‘I love this,’” Larsen says. “Then I did peer tutoring the last trimester of my senior year and I realized I love special education, too. But then I couldn’t decide.”

During her first year at USU she came face-to-face with a major decision (pun intended). Which course of study should she choose? A conversation with Parrish opened her eyes to the possibility of pursuing a double major.

“She told me it was only an extra year to do both majors. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ I thought. ‘I can do both?’ I’m super indecisive, so that’s how I ended up doing a double major,” she says. “Then, when I started working at ASSERT and got into all the other classrooms, I knew I’d made the right choice for me.”

Tom Higbee, director of the ASSERT program (short for Autism Support Services: Education, Research, and Training) and department head of SPERC, concurs.

“I had the privilege of having Celina in one of my undergraduate courses and as one of my student employees in the ASSERT autism program,” he says. “She excelled both as a student and as an ASSERT instructor.”

Because Larsen was completing requirements for two majors, she spent much more time being mentored in early childhood classrooms than is typical. She ultimately participated in seven practicum experiences, four of which were completed on the USU campus: the ASSERT autism classroom (where she was concurrently employed), the Up to 3 classroom, the Child Development Labs, and the Literacy Clinic.

In these practicum experiences, Larsen’s discovered the importance of meeting all children where they are and working from there. Their progress, she says, “really depends on the child. They all make strides — you just have to figure out what growth looks like for that child. Sometimes it takes a minute to find out exactly what they can do.”

Steven Camicia, department head of Teacher Education and Leadership in CEHS, praises Larsen’s dedication to her students’ education, wherever they are on the path: “Celina is committed to excellence in educational settings and to meeting her students’ needs.”

Larsen recognizes the impact of those many hours in the classroom.

“Even though the practicums were hard because of the time I had to allot to them, I know I’m a much better educator because of them,” Larsen said. “I got to see a lot of different teaching styles and types of classrooms, which really helped me figure out who I am as an educator. And I have so much more experience now as I go out into the field.”

She also spent a semester working full-time as a student teacher, part of the time in a second-grade classroom to complete the requirements for her elementary education major and part of the time in a special education preschool for her special education major.

Since completing her graduation requirements in December, Larsen has been employed as a substitute teacher in both Logan City and Cache County school districts, where she works in classrooms ranging from pre-k to high school.

“I like to stay in the elementary ages because that’s where I’m going to be,” she says. “It’s been exciting to see some of the students I had. The oldest are in 3rd grade now, and it’s been really good to see their growth.”

In fall 2024, Larsen will join the faculty at Thomas Edison Charter School South, in Nibley, Utah, as the newest kindergarten teacher.

“Kindergarten is my happy place,” she says. “I had a practicum in a kindergarten and worked with a magnificent teacher who taught me so much. Now I’m going into my own elementary classroom, but my special ed background is going to equip me to help the children who don’t quite qualify for special ed, but who have some specific needs.”

For Larsen, it’s the best of both worlds.

“It can be hard sometimes, being a teacher, because things are so crazy,” Larsen says. “But the amazing thing for me is that every time I see a light come on in a child’s eyes when they learn a new concept — especially a child who is struggling — it always just gives me a little spark. And that spark really makes the hard days worth it.”