The 2006 Durstan R McDonald Teaching Award

Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest

Mikail McIntosh-Doty

Dedicated wordsmith and adept teacher, you have bolstered the writing and analytical skills of so many seminarians during your time with us.

Tutor in writing skills and later creator of the yearly General Ordination Examination preparatory class, you have been thorough and well informed in your teaching. You saw the need to remedy poor writing skills and assist those with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, as well as encourage those who had been out of school for decades and were unaccustomed to writing regularly in seminary classes. The importance of writing well and organizing thoughts orderly not only benefits seminarians during their studies but also prepares them to be effective teachers of parishioners in their future churches.

The General Ordination Examinations – long-time source of senior seminarian anxiety throughout the Episcopal seminaries – is less stressful at the Seminary of the Southwest these days thanks to your initiative. You created the GOE preparatory class – a voluntary, non-credit offering – to thoroughly prepare seniors for the exams.

Seminarian evaluations of the classes you offer are enthusiastically thankful. “Extraordinarily accessible” – “has the gift of critiquing without personal criticism” – “This class is a must!!” – “got some useful information even though I was an English teacher.” Above all, seminarians applaud your constant accessibility and deft one-on-one tutoring skills.

In appreciation of all that you have done, Mikail, we are pleased to present you with the 2006 Durstan R McDonald Award.

Dean-emeritus Dusty and Ruth McDonald with
McDonald Award recipient Mikail McIntosh-Doty