Scott Terning: "Terning in the Right Direction"

Fresh off graduating from high school in the mid-1990s, continuing his education at some institute of higher education was definitely in Scott Terning’s plans. But he had no idea what type of degree and career that education would eventually lead to.

“And, honestly, I wasn’t too concerned about decisions of that magnitude at the time,” Terning said. “I just wanted to play football.”

So did about a half-dozen of his friends and classmates from the Dassel/Cokato, MN high school, located about 275 southwest of Crookston. So, figuring there was strength in numbers, they all headed northwest to attend school and play football at the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC).

“Without them to hang around with, I would have been pretty hesitant to venture way up there to UMC,” Terning said.

So, with the football part of the equation figured out, all Terning had to do was pick a major. “Like a lot of people that age, I wasn’t exactly focused,” he recalled. “I played around with some natural resources classes and businesses classes, but one thing I had always thought would be fun to do was work with children.”

So he met with his adviser, Soo-Yin Lim-Thompson, who happens to teach in UMC’s Early Childhood Education program. She told Terning to give a child development class a try, which he did. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Soo-Yin approached me and said I had a gift, and that I should extend my knowledge in that area, pursue it, and see where it would take me,” Terning recalled. “So I took a full load of early childhood classes the following semester.”

Since earning a bachelor’s degree in 1999 from UMC in Early Childhood Education Management, Terning’s “gift” has taken him to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where he earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, to teaching Head Start at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, and to Bismarck, ND, where he is currently an Infant/Toddler Enrichment Program (ITEP) specialist with Lutheran Social Services. He’s also done adjunct faculty lecturing at UND, Mayville State University and the University of Mary in Bismarck, and he’s fast becoming a highly sought early childhood trainer and consultant.

ITEP’s history dates back almost a decade, Terning said, when the Minnesota-based Bush Foundation approached the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services about the foundation funding a program that would expand childcare resources throughout the state. “There had been nothing like this before,” Terning said. “When we started, childcare services were seen as baby-sitting and daycare but little more. The program has worked to change and expand that. We’re making big strides in brain research during the first three years of life, development, attachment, and the important roles of parents, childcare professionals and the whole community.”

Terning spends most of his time providing technical assistance to the 12 ITEP specialists serving different regions across North Dakota. A typical scenario might involve a specialist who has just completed a training session where a childcare provider had a question about brain development that the trainer did not know how to properly answer. “So the trainer would call me seeking more information on the topic that I would either have or, if not, find for the trainer to pass along,” he explained. “Then, he or she is that much more prepared for the next training session.”

Terning also conducts and promotes infant/toddler training in addition to managing the ITEP website (http://www.nd4childcare.org/), a skill he attributes directly to his experience with UMC’s integrated technology.

In the past year alone, Terning has traveled to New York, Washington, D.C., Portland, OR, and San Diego, CA, to pursue training and other professional development opportunities. He can’t think of a field that offers more such opportunities to brainstorm and conduct research with so many leading minds.

“I’ve had chances to sit at a table with the very people who I read about in my textbooks at UMC, the very people whose practices I was putting into practice at the Early Childhood Center,” Terning said. “It’s an empowering event for me, but also for the program I work for and the communities we serve.”

Scott Terning '99 has combined an interest in the outdoors with a passion for teaching.  The result has been a rewarding career in early childhood education.  Above: Terning (center back) at work with a group of early childhood educators attending a three-day training session he conducted at Dvis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona.

The ties that bind

If not for a last-minute staffing issue at ITEP, Terning would have been back at UMC for a few days this summer, working on an early childhood education professional development video with Tom Sondreal in UMC’s Media Services. Terning is not one to shy away from tapping into the resources available to him at UMC.

“UMC is the first place I think of when projects like the video are given to me,” he said. “The way I see it, you always go back to your ties, and I will always see UMC as the foundation for my career.”

While laying that foundation at UMC, Terning was captain of the football team, a student senator and a tutor before graduating with high distinction.

“It was an amazing experience for me at UMC,” he said, adding that young people from the Dassel/Cokato area continue to choose UMC. “I don’t think I could recommend UMC higher.”

Between mentioning Lim-Thompson repeatedly for her influence on him, Terning also cites former UMC football coach Scott Oliver for motivating him not just on the field but in the classroom as well. “He didn’t use his voice to push you; he just somehow knew how to motivate you, and it carried over into my classes,” Terning said. “I don’t know what I would have done without that.”

He also mentions faculty members Jerry Knutson and Steve Shirley as favorites.

“They were so approachable and as a student I appreciated that,” Terning said. “Oftentimes you’ll come across faculty and they’re so hard to approach you don’t even know if you’re allowed to approach them. At UMC, I never felt that apprehension.”

He keeps in touch with many of his former UMC instructors, exchanging everything from professional knowledge to photos of a recent trip. With Lim-Thompson, he feels he’s reached a level where he can not only seek her advice, he can give it as well.

“To feel like her colleague now and not so much as her student is pretty exciting,” he said.

Hot commodity

In addition to his position with ITEP, Terning’s consulting and training “on the side” is really taking off. He’s conducted workshops across the Dakotas and Minnesota, and soon will be embarking on his “first big-shot gig,” a five-day training session for 85 early childhood staff in Tucson, AZ. That fact that his services are in such high demand is exciting, he said, and he won’t pretend that the extra money isn’t nice.

Since Terning isn’t advertising his services, word-of-mouth seems to be the biggest factor in his more hectic schedule of late. “What seems to be happening is that I’ll wrap up a session on fatherhood involvement or something like that, and afterwards someone will approach me and ask if I could speak at their upcoming staff development day,” he said. “People must find something in what I say that resonates or clicks with them, because word isn’t just out, it’s exploded. Things are snowballing, but in a good way.”

If his side job keeps growing at its current pace, Terning, 26, said he might have to at least consider making it “a full-time gig.” If he can find the time, he also has ambitions to earn his doctorate and write a book. And did he forget to mention that he “absolutely loves” teaching college students?

“I definitely want to pass on the knowledge I’ve gained,” he said. “I’m not that old, and when I walk into a classroom I look a lot like the students and they feel they can relate to me. I think I can relate to them, too. It works to both of our advantages because I know what they want, but I also know what they need.

“When I got to UMC I didn’t know what I wanted or what I needed, either,” Terning continued. “I just needed a little nudge in the right direction.”

Written by:
Mike Christopherson, Assistant Director of Service Learning, UMC