'She really cares': Westmoreland County Community College professor honored with award

Westmoreland County Community College professor Stephanie Turin’s job entails more than teaching social work to the next generation of practitioners.

Turin came to the Hempfield college after 27 years of working medical social work jobs throughout Westmoreland County. She has worked at the college for 11 years, teaching the bulk of the school’s social work courses.

But Turin has taken the job a step further — leading a social work club that assists community groups such as Blackburn Center and Feeding the Spirit and taking her students on field trips to local social work agencies and higher education institutions.

With the help of Julie Zappone — the college’s paralegal program director — Turin launched a Career Closet to provide students in need with professional attire and founded the Student Advocacy Center, tailored to educate visitors on their legal rights.

“She’s not just a professor who comes in and teaches and leaves,” said social work student Jo Gongaware. “She does her best to apply her profession and her skillset to more than just the classroom. It’s a whole school effort.”

That’s why Gongaware nominated Turin for the college’s annual Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Teaching Award.

More than 150 students nominated 36 faculty members for the award. A faculty committee selected Turin for the honor in February.

“I work with the most amazing faculty ever,” said Turin, 58, of Greensburg.

“They all do amazing things every day, so for them to pick me was quite the honor. Every single one of them go above and beyond what they need to do in the classroom to get our students successful.”

Social worker turned professor

It was difficult for Turin to leave her career in social work. But seeing her students succeed in the field after graduation — opening their own agencies, earning doctorate degrees and writing books — reaffirms her decision.

“Being a social worker, the whole thing is helping others. But being a teacher, I can teach these 15 students to go out and help those people,” she said. “I still feel like I’m doing social work, because I’m doing it for my students and sending them out to help other people.”

Coming to the college last year from studying acting at a four-year institution, Gongaware was uncertain which career path to pursue.

“She just presented us with all the information that we needed,” Gongaware said.

“Having those ethical guidelines and principles really drove me toward social work, and it was her education and giving us that information that helped me come to that conclusion.”

Andrew Barnette — dean of the college’s School of Art, Humanities, Social Sciences and Public Service — has worked alongside Turin since her hiring.

“She carries the same enthusiasm from day one to today for her work,” Barnette said, “and her students recognize that and they’re very loyal to her.”

Community focus

Pulling on her connections to local social work agencies and higher education institutions, Turin pushes her students to pursue undergraduate research and masters degrees, Barnette said. And as college students have increasingly expressed interest in online courses across the past decade, Turin has not shied away from adapting.

“She’s constantly refining the curriculum, constantly thinking about her own teaching practice and how to do it better,” Barnette said.

Through the college’s social work club, Turin has led students in collecting and distributing winter clothing to Greensburg residents in need.

The club has partnered with the Blackburn Center in Greensburg, raising awareness for human trafficking through the Red Sand Project and supporting those impacted by gender-based violence through Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

The Student Advocacy Center annually hosts a Pardon Day for attendees to learn about applying for an expungement or governor’s pardon.

“She really cares about those things and helping people who need the help,” Barnette said. “It’s not just to teach it. That’s vital and she’s very good at it, but there’s so much more to it.”

This story is updated to reflect that Julia Zappone is not a former social work student.