A Des Moines Area Community College nursing professor has received the Iowa Association for Career and Technical Education Postsecondary Educator of the Year award. Melody Bethards, nursing simulation coordinator at DMACC, has been a longtime advocate for advancing learning through simulation education. She has been a nursing faculty member at DMACC for the past 15 years. “Melody is involved at the national, state and local level of simulation education and has developed a premier simulation center at DMACC that encompasses interdisciplinary education and focuses on preparing health students for practice,” said Kendra Ericson, DMACC nursing director. Bethards was a founding member of the Des Moines Area Interprofessional Education Collaborative, a collaboration of health care disciplines from five Central Iowa universities and colleges representing health care disciplines including nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy and medical residences.