COMMUNIQUE ` - The University of Akron
COMMUNIQUE ` - The University of Akron COMMUNIQUE ` - The University of Akron
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION College COMMUNIQUE ` November 2010 Departmental Highlights Knight Grant Recognizes UA’s Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Akron will work to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of black male students with a $425,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. John E. Queener, a professor in the Department of Counseling, is a co-principal investigator on the grant. UA’s “Rising to the Occasion” program, part of the Office of Multicultural Development, will be strengthened with Knight Foundation support and will include: • Creating support systems by placing African-American male freshmen into small groups, taking courses and attending study groups and leadership exercises together; • Launching a “Rites of Passage” program to focus on self-esteem, identity, personal responsibility and professional development; • Conducting a climate study on African-American males to gain understanding of the campus experience, in order to help improve it; • Providing faculty workshops and symposiums on challenges facing African-American students. “Improving the retention and graduation rate of African-American males is a benefit to all, which translates into a more informed citizenry, a more educated and equipped workforce that better positions this nation to compete globally and to build stronger and stable families,” says Fedearia Nicholson, director of UA’s Office of Multicultural Development. Queener has also been spotlighted recently for his national conference work. He presented two papers at the Association of Black Psychologists National Conference held in Chicago. One detailed how mental health workers can collaborate with the black church to offer culturally relevant mental health services. The other discussed the relationship between black racial identity, acculturative stress and perceptions of racial climate among counseling students in the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Queener is the president of the Greater Cleveland-Akron Chapter of the Association of Black Psychology. Two students who attended the Black Male Summit held on campus this past April. -2-
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION College COMMUNIQUE ` November 2010 Departmental Highlights NIHF STEM Learners Reach Out to El Salvadorian Students FACULTY The partnership with The University of Akron and the National Inventors Hall of Fame School®…Center for STEM Learning continues to have far reaching benefits, this time around the globe. Denise Stuart, associate professor (CIS), visited the school to share her work teaching English and literacy in Agua Caliente, El Salvador. STEM students compared their lives and schooling to that of the students in El Salvador, finding both similarities and differences. Two middle school advisory groups developed service learning projects to support the education of the young students at the San Jose School, located in a region challenged by poverty and limited resources. This was the first year of the NIHF STEM school, grades 5-6, and the first year of the San Jose school, grades 1-3. Coach Amanda Boyd (UA alumna) led the “The Bling Boyds” advisory group of fifth graders in raising funds for the San Jose school. They spent many hours handcrafting journals, bookmarks and “stem” pens. They also planned, organized and implemented a not-for-profit business model and earned $285 to benefit the students at San Jose. Another advisory group of sixth graders, “The Brainstormers,” led by Coach Donna Wojcik decorated flip-flop sandals with inspirational messages as their service learning project. These communications are in English so the students at San Jose will have an opportunity to not only practice their emergent reading but to learn English which is a curricular goal of the San Jose school. The community will benefit broadly with the inspirational work of this service learning project titled “Soothing Soles: Messages of Hope.” Stuart will return to Agua Caliente, El Salvador, in January 2011 to implement a student-centered curriculum that focuses on principles of democracy and learning about the current elected President Mauricio Funes, a popular leader, who has expressed a commitment to building educational opportunities for the citizens of El Salvador. -3-
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COLLEGE OF EDUCATION<br />
College<br />
<strong>COMMUNIQUE</strong><br />
`<br />
November 2010<br />
Departmental Highlights<br />
NIHF STEM Learners Reach Out to El Salvadorian Students<br />
FACULTY<br />
<strong>The</strong> partnership with <strong>The</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Akron</strong> and the National<br />
Inventors Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame School®…Center for STEM Learning<br />
continues to have far reaching benefits, this time around the globe.<br />
Denise Stuart, associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor (CIS), visited the school to share<br />
her work teaching English and literacy in Agua Caliente, El Salvador.<br />
STEM students compared their lives and schooling to that <strong>of</strong> the<br />
students in El Salvador, finding both similarities and differences. Two<br />
middle school advisory groups developed service learning projects<br />
to support the education <strong>of</strong> the young students at the San Jose<br />
School, located in a region challenged by poverty and limited resources. This was the<br />
first year <strong>of</strong> the NIHF STEM school, grades 5-6, and the first year <strong>of</strong> the San Jose<br />
school, grades 1-3.<br />
Coach Amanda Boyd (UA alumna) led the “<strong>The</strong> Bling Boyds” advisory group <strong>of</strong> fifth<br />
graders in raising funds for the San Jose school. <strong>The</strong>y spent many hours handcrafting<br />
journals, bookmarks and “stem” pens. <strong>The</strong>y also planned, organized and implemented<br />
a not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it business model and earned $285 to benefit the students at San Jose.<br />
Another advisory group <strong>of</strong> sixth graders, “<strong>The</strong> Brainstormers,” led by Coach Donna<br />
Wojcik decorated flip-flop sandals with inspirational messages as their service learning<br />
project. <strong>The</strong>se communications are in English<br />
so the students at San Jose will have an<br />
opportunity to not only practice their<br />
emergent reading but to learn English which<br />
is a curricular goal <strong>of</strong> the San Jose school. <strong>The</strong><br />
community will benefit broadly with the inspirational<br />
work <strong>of</strong> this service learning project<br />
titled “Soothing Soles: Messages <strong>of</strong> Hope.”<br />
Stuart will return to Agua Caliente, El<br />
Salvador, in January 2011 to implement a<br />
student-centered curriculum that focuses on principles <strong>of</strong> democracy and learning<br />
about the current elected President Mauricio Funes, a popular leader, who has<br />
expressed a commitment to building educational opportunities for the<br />
citizens <strong>of</strong> El Salvador.<br />
-3-
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