FALL, 2008 SEMESTER - IN THE NEWS

 

Sophomore and Residence Hall Council president Chrystal Coltharp spoke at the opening of the Copley Quad on August 20. She was also featured in the article “Copley Quad opens” in the August 29 edition of the student newspaper The Park University Stylus.

 

Sophomores Danielle Green and Charif Hamidi were interviewed for the article “Park steps up effort to ‘go green’” in the October 10 edition of the student newspaper The Park University Stylus.

 

SEPTEMBER, 2008

 

Student receives Grant to travel to Prestigious Conference

 

Cheryl Gerhards, a junior majoring in early childhood development, received a grant to attend the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference in Houston, Texas.

 

The grant covers airfare, hotel, and conference fees.  In order to qualify to apply for the grant to this prestigious conference, a Park student had to be accepted into the School of Education, in the degree program for Early Childhood, and currently or applying to the Honors Program. Due to her participation in the Honors Program, Cheryl is Park’s only fully qualified applicant.

 

Student receives Scholarship from International Trade Council

Amiran Gelashvili, a junior majoring in business administration/international business, was selected by the International Trade Council of Greater Kansas City to receive its 2008 Seven Pillars Consulting Scholarship. Gelashvili will be recognized during the ITCGKC meeting on Sept. 17.

The $1,200 scholarship is open to students involved in the general field of international studies or international business, who are junior, senior or graduate students of a college or university within a 150-mile radius of Kansas City. The ITCGKC is a professional organization dedicated to furthering international trade. Its members represent leading manufacturing, financial and service organizations involved in international commerce.

 

 

OCTOBER 2008

 

Student’s Work Accepted to International English Honors Program Conference

 

Sheila Madonia, a senior majoring in English will present four original creative writing works and an essay at the Sigma Tau Delta Midwestern Region Conference at Stephens College in Columbia Missouri, November 7 and 8. Sigma Tau Delta is an International English Honors Society. Her poems are titled, “Dry Drowning”; “Pinwheel”; “Scene through Makay Hall Window”; “Cyclical”; and “Answers-Questions-Observations.” Her essay is titled “ From ‘The Wasteland’, To The Lighthouse and Through ‘The Plague’: A Journey of Hope”.

 

Students Selected as Harvest Festival Royalty

 

Congratulations to sophomores Ross McKenzie and Danielle Green and to junior Amy Crumbliss, all of whom served as royalty during Harvest Festival. McKenzie and Green were crowned Duke and Duchess, while Crumbliss reigned as Queen of the annual Harvest Festival Celebration, September 29 – October 4. Harvest Fest celebrates Park University’s agricultural heritage with activities including service day, all-American athlete recognition and the Harvest Fest Dance. Royalty received their crowns during halftime of the women’s soccer game on October 4.

 

Student Presents Poster at Science Conference

 

Junior student Andrea Sampson collaborated with chemistry professor Donna Howell to present a poster the 43rd Annual Midwest Regional American Chemical Society meeting in Kearney, Nebraska, October 8-11.  The title of the poster was “Molecular Modeling Studies on a Potential HDS Catalyst for Heavy Crude Oil”. HDS stands for hydrodesulfurization. 

 

Student Design for Campus Memory Garden Approved

 

As part of their service learning efforts, freshmen Ellen Jacobson and Syerra Burnor have designed a memory garden that will hold transplanted Iris and Jonquil bulbs from the site of a Park University dormitory, Woodward Hall, now located on the grounds of the Parkville Nature Sanctuary. The Hall remains historically significant, originally constructed with materials from a Parkville hotel that housed survivors of the Arabia Steamboat accident. The dormitory was destroyed by fire in the 1960s, but the flowers and various artifacts to be incorporated into the garden survive. President Byers-Pevitts has approved the plan to locate the garden just north of the Alumni House. The garden will develop over the next three semesters, and plans include the addition of a memorial plaque. The students worked to conceive and design the garden in collaboration with Park grounds keeper Patti Urdang; Parkville Sanctuary Director Jim Reed; and Park University Director of Alumni Relations Julie McCollum. Freshman Carolyn Tragasz will assist in the physical transfer of the bulbs.

 

 

NOVEMBER 2008

 

Student featured in news story

 

Freshman Kristy Biermann is featured in a photo accompanying a news story regarding service to the Parkville community. To see Kristie at work and read about the projects, read “A Day of Service.”

 

 

SPRING, 2009 SEMESTER - IN THE NEWS

 

 

JANUARY 2009

 

Junior studies abroad; receives scholarship

 

Junior Valerie Eckart is studying abroad in Greece and received a scholarship from the University of Thessaloniki in partial support.

 

Work by senior to be presented at conference

 

Senior Sheila Madonia received word that her essay, “From The Wasteland, To the Lighthouse and Through the Plague: A Journey of Hope”, was accepted for presentation at the national Sigma Tau Delta convention.

 

Sophomore earns internship

 

Sophomore Danielle Green earned a grant-writing internship with the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

FEBRUARY 2009

 

Sophomore earns internship

 

Sophomore Aiden Galarza has been awarded a summer internship in the Biomedical Research Apprenticeship Program of Washington University.

 

Junior President of People to People International Volunteers for Operation Iraqi Children

 

Junior Amiran Gelashvili, PTPI chapter president, helped assemble1,368 packages, each containing school kits, to be shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and distributed to children. He was also named “Student Leader of the Month”.

 

MARCH 2009

 

Sophomore earns internship

 

Sophomore Chrystal Coltharp has been awarded a summer internship with the Kansas City Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.

 

Senior Presents Research at National English Honors Conference

 

Senior Sheila Madonia presented her essay, “From The Wasteland, To the Lighthouse and Through the Plague: A Journey of Hope”, and a work of original poetry “Dry Drowning,” at the International Sigma Tau Delta Convention in Minneapolis on March 27.

 

Junior Named Student Leader of the Month

 

Junior Kate Davies was named student leader of the month. She is active in Spanish Club, Residence Hall Council, Global Future and Model Organization of American States.

 

APRIL 2009

 

Students Present Research Projects at Great Plains Honors Council Conference

 

Seniors Esther Francis and Sheila Madonia presented the oral portion of their Honors Program Research Projects at the Great Plains Honors Council Conference. Francis’ paper was titled “Discussion Group to Improve Communication between Head Start Family Advocates,” describing an 8-week test pilot discussion group for Kansas City Mid-America Head Start.. Madonia presented “Etched Memories,” a compilation of mixed media and non-fiction memoir.

 

Program Students Shine at 14th Annual Dr. Doris A. Howell Leadership Awards Banquet

 

Two Program students received Student Leadership Awards, based upon their outstanding individual contribution to student life at Park University. They are

Kate Davies, junior Spanish major and Vusal Mammadov, junior, legal studies.

 

Senior Earns Internship

Senior Loren Ray Laughlin, biology major, has been awarded a summer internship to work as an environmental protection aide for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7 office in Kansas City, Kansas.  She will assist in water monitoring and biological sampling at reference streams in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, and will also contact landowners for permission to monitor their land and prepare written reports on background information for each monitoring site.

 

Sophomore Earns Internship

Sophomore Aiden Galarza, biology major, will intern with the Biomedical Research Apprenticeship Program at Washington University in St. Louis. She has been assigned to work with the program's director of research related to Parkinson's disease and similar disorders in both animal models and humans, and will likely be working with monkeys during the internship.

 

Park University Honors Convocation Award Winners

 

Elvin Hatamzade - Outstanding Parkite Award

 

Adenike Orekoya - Study Abroad Outstanding Graduates

 

Tami Russo - John R. Sanders Memorial Scholarship and Mary Barlow Writing Award

 

Amiran Gelashvili - Toni Griggs Award

 

Sheila Madonia - Nicholas Manchion Endowed English Scholarship Award

 

Chrystal Coltharp - Theater Scholarship Award

 

Katelyln Davies - Department Honors, Modern Language

 

Aiden Galarza - Burton W. Scheib Pre-Medical Prize

 

Loren Ray Laughlin - Department Honors, Biology

 

Elvin Hatamzade - Department Honors, Legal Studies