After decades in education, moments of doubt can still creep in. Dr. Mary Jo Melvin, a proud alum and long-time faculty member at PennWest Edinboro, was having one of those moments recently, wondering if she should retire. Then, a student handed her a card. Inside, a message that brought her to tears: “Every now and then in life, you meet someone who makes you believe in yourself and become the person that you were meant to be. And for me, Dr. Melvin, that person was you.” In that instant, her purpose was powerfully reaffirmed. “Yes, this is why I'm here and this is why I do what I do each and every day,” she reflected.

That deep, personal connection is the hallmark of Dr. Melvin’s career and what she sees as the foundation of the new School of Education at PennWest. A two-time graduate of Edinboro herself, she has been shaping young minds since 1990 and is the namesake of the Mary Jo Melvin Literacy Center on campus. She views the new, unified School of Education as a “launch pad for change,” a way to harness the incredible wealth of faculty knowledge across all three campuses to offer students more than ever before.

Dr. Melvin believes that creating a distinct School of Education gives students a stronger sense of identity and belonging. “They know they're part of the School of Education. There's ownership there,” she says, “and I think when there's ownership, you buy into that and the results are tenfold.” This sense of community, combined with early outreach programs like Rural Teach and micro-credentialing partnerships with high schools, is creating a powerful pipeline of future educators who are excited and prepared.

For Dr. Melvin, the mission is simple yet profound. Her message to the hundreds of teachers she speaks to—many of them her former students—is always the same: “When you go into a classroom, be present. Don’t just show up… and make relationships because those relationships are what you will carry with you the rest of your life.” It’s a philosophy she has lived by for decades, and it’s one that students at PennWest experience every day through dedicated faculty who are committed not just to teaching, but to transforming lives.