HPER
2008 News
Fourteen new students were officially accepted into the
Undergraduate Athletic Training Professional Program as
Professional-level Students this fall. The Undergraduate Program is
highly competitive, accepting only a maximum of 15 students per
academic year. Congratulation students:
| Elyse Balbaugh | Travis Dittmer |
| Peter Benjamin | Steven Everett |
| Daniel Bracken | DJ Fox |
| Alyssa Chludzinski | Brian Mark Jager |
| Max Dickerson | Chantal King |
| Lindsay Mariage | Tim Newell |
| Bobby Echols | David Wilson |
Five Undergraduate Athletic Training Professional Program Students
served alongside WMU's Head Athletic Trainer, Kyle Blecha and
Graduate Assistant Brett Knight to provide medical coverage to the
Broncos during the recent Texas Bowl. The Undergraduate Athletic
Training Students pictured included:
Back row Left to Right: Andrew Bliz, Trevor Ferrari, Brett Knight-Graduate Assistant
Bottom Row: Stephanie Hollander, Susie Cook, Atsuko Takatani
Dr. Michael Miller conducted a lecture for the distinguished lecture series for Middle Tennessee State University on Sat., Nov. 22. Miller spoke on asthma in athletes and aquatics as a tool for the rehabilitation, cross-training and sport enhancement of the athlete.
Jessica Goth, Master of Arts in Athletic Training, Dr. Suzan Ayers, and Dr. Michael Miller wrote "Self-Reported Health and Fitness Habits of Certified Athletic Trainers" published in the Journal of Athletic Training.
Alumna Kathleen Donaldson received the Simon A. McNeely Honor Award.
The 45th Annual Turkey Trot 5K road race was co-sponsored by University Recreation and Phi Epsilon Kappa (honorary fraternity for physical education and exercise science majors/minors). PEK assisted with the canned food drive with a goal of 450 cans based on this being the 45th year of the race. The students collected 755 cans for Loaves and Fishes, a local food bank!
Dr. Marianne Frauenknecht, professor of School Health Education, received the ETA Sigma Gamma 2008 Distinguished Service Award. The honor is presented to a health education professional who has demonstrated exemplary leadership and commitment to advancing the mission and goals of Eta Sigma Gamma and health education through research, teaching and professional service. “Working to positively impact the health status of young children and adolescents by effectively training teachers in school health education, Dr. Frauenknecht has helped to diffuse health-enhancing knowledge and skills to improve the quality of life among young adults.” The award was presented at the annual business meeting of Eta Sigma Gamma, the National Health Education Honorary at the 82 Annual Conference of the American School Health Association, Tampa, FL.
School health education student, Patty Timmons, received the 2008-09 Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Outstanding Major of the Year award for Health Education.
Students from HPER 2350 Theory of Coaching and HPER 3710 Recreation Programming and Leadership II were instrumental in planning and implementing the 10th Annual Medallion Golf Tournament at Grand Prairie Golf Course Oct. 12. Twenty-three Special Olympic Athletes and their partners teamed up for 9 holes of golf as a capstone to the 6 week Special Olympics Unified Golf Season. Unified golf creates 2 person teams of individuals with and without intellectual disabilities using an alternating shot format. Anyone wishing to volunteer as a coach or partner in other Special Olympic events should call (269) 387-3718 or contact the director of Special Olympics MI Area 16,
.
Dr. Jiabei Zhang, professor and Treasurer of the National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities, received an external grant of $10,000 from Aetna Foundation. This grant is funded in support of Special Physical Education and Recreation Activities for individuals with disabilities from Kalamazoo Community. Deborah Lantzy-Talpos, Head of Michigan Markets for Aetna, presented the check on Oct. 8, 2008.
Dr. Jiabei Zhang received a Research Award in the 2008 Annual Summer Conference of National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities. The award was presented in recognition of his distinguished record of publications in refereed journals of national and international significance. His publications have systematically directed toward specific questions that helped advance knowledge in physical education and recreation for individuals with disabilities.
The Health Education Teacher Preparation Program was reaccredited in August and fully recognized by the American Association for Health Education and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The “School Health Education” program is one of only 34 health education programs nationally recognized by AAHE and is the only health education program approved by AAHE/NCATE in Michigan. It also is the only HETP major program in Michigan that prepares candidates for K-12 certification. It also prepares minors for 6-12 certification.
Dr. YuanLong Liu, professor, was recently cited in Discovery Channel Magazine (Issue 3). Liu, a statistician specializing in health and physical recreation has harnessed the resource of more than a century of data to track performance trends in events ranging from the 100-meters sprint to the marathon. "We found that improvement in track and field is getting to the flat point for many events," says Liu. "Improvement is getting harder and harder." Winning times in the 1,500 meters, for instance, have flattened significantly since 1980. Still, Liu's model predicts that future runners will shave more than 15 seconds off the decade-old record of 3:26 minutes.
Dr. Timothy J. Michael, associate professor of Exercise Science, was named a Fellow by the American College of Sports Medicine at their annual meeting (May 2008, Indianapolis). Fellows of the American College of Sports Medicine are recognized for distinguished professional achievement in research and service in the field of exercise science and sports medicine.
Professor of Sport Studies Jody Brylinsky, Ph.D., presented the results of the National Coaching Report, the only comprehensive report addressing both youth and interscholastic sport coaching education requirements in the United States, at the National Press Club August 6th in Washington, D.C. Published by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education in partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations, Dr. Brylinsky served as the chair of the National Coaching Report Task Force. The report stresses the importance of qualified coaches for every athlete.
A high level multi-sector delegation from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands met with researchers from Western Michigan University to discuss on-going projects directed at the childhood obesity epidemic that has captured the attention of governments around the world. A multidisciplinary team of College of Education faculty have teamed up with the CNMI public school system to offer a program to primary caregivers that has the potential to impact childhood obesity through household behavioral changes. These faculty are Mozhdeh Bruss, Joseph Morris, Linda Dannison, Tim Michael, Brooks Applegate, Andrea Smith and Judy McGowan representing dietetics, adult education, psychology, exercise science, early childhood, parent education, program development and evaluation, research methodology and teacher education. Other faculty members including Lonnie Duncan, Suzan Ayers and James Lewis from the College of Education and Amy Curtis from the College of Health and Human Services will participate in upcoming meetings discussing multifaceted and multilevel aspects of childhood obesity in the CNMI and exploring strategies for its reduction and prevention. The project is supported by the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, CNMI Public School System and Western Michigan University.
The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in partnership with Springer Publishing Company, has selected the Social Problem-Solving Inventory for Adolescents developed by Drs. Marianne Frauenknecht, professor and David R. Black from Purdue University to be included in the current multi-volume series on assessment instruments titled the “Clinical Assessment Series: Practitioner's Guide to Empirically-Based Measures of Social Skills.” Each series features a specific clinical problem area and presents a comprehensive compendium of measurement devices available to disseminate empirically validated instruments as broadly as possible to researchers, academicians and clinicians. Editors commented, “Many instruments were included in our review of adolescent social skills assessment measures and the Social Problem-Solving Inventory for Adolescents stands out as an excellent example.”
On Saturday, April 5, 2008, graduates were inducted into the Alumni Honor Academy. This program provides public recognition of the outstanding professional accomplishments, contributions, and service of distinguished graduates.
The eHealth Innovations Group, led by Dr. Robert Bensley, professor of Community Health Education in the Department of Physical Education and Recreation, has been awarded in excess of $300,000 from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario for the development, implementation and evaluation of Internet-based chronic disease management tools. Central to this project is a 12-week healthy weight management program that features a virtual interactive counselor as the guide for assisting users in increasing physical activity and healthy eating behaviors. “We wanted to create an artificial intelligence system that recreated the human experience for the client,” stated Dr. Bensley. “It has been an exciting venture and one that will possibly lead to numerous other applications of virtual behavior change approaches.”
Bensley, along with program manager Jason Rivas, MPA, are authors of the invention and are considering a number of funding avenues for continued study with this research. The effort of the eHealth Innovations Team includes the development of Health on Track,a blood pressure management and intervention portal; to be available for Canadian public use March 1. “Health on Track has been well-received by the Canadian blood pressure experts,” commented developer Stephanie Pichan. “Nothing like this currently exists on the web and it is positioned to make a great impact on the lives of Canadians.” For more information contact Dr. Robert Bensley.
Jonny R. Morehouse received the National
Association for Sport and Physical Education Major of the
Year 2008 award. Morehouse, a senior, is a physical education major and an
elementary education minor. Vice-President of Phi Epsilon Kappa,
Morehouse is a native of Muskegon. He is intern teaching
in the Comstock Public School District. Jonny will receive his award
at the National
Conference and Symposium of the American Alliance for Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and Dance to be held in Fort Worth,
Texas in April.
Lara Vertalka, school health education major and physical education minor, was awarded two prestigious awards for academic excellence. She will receive the American Association for Health Education Major of the Year Award for Western Michigan University at the national conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Lara will also represent the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation as a Presidential Scholar. Lara is completing her internship at Mattawan Middle School and will graduate in April. Congratulations, Lara!
The following are the award winners from the Alumni Academy: Deborah (Armock) Schafer, Paula Serra, Dennis Mayer, Al Widner, Richard Ames and Susan Duda-Osborne.
Four groups from the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation participated in the First Annual WMU Polar Plunge on Saturday, Feb. 23 benefiting Special Olympics Michigan Area 16. Teams represented Crazy About SOMI Area 16, SPASM, HPER Graduate Assistants and Phi Epsilon Kappa. A total of $7,000 was raised overall at Western.
The Plunge is a national fundraiser sponsored by the WMU Western Student Association and efforts from the local law enforcement.
Community health education professor Robert Bensley was recently appointed as a Research Associate with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Since spending six months in South Africa supported by the Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, he has been actively involved in internationalizing experiences for the community health education curriculum and exploring avenues for collaborative research between WMU and NMMU. Research associate appointments are open-ended positions and individuals are considered to be permanent academic staff members of the NMMU for the purposes of research administrative support and research funding. Bensley, with his NMMU colleagues, is currently pursuing a number of community and research-related opportunities in South Africa.
On April 8 Dr. Deb Berkey will be inducted as a 2008 Fellow into the North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance Professionals. This organization recognized outstanding professionals from within the allied professions of health education, physical education, recreation, sport and dance in North America. Dr. John Dunn is also a member of this society.
The 16th Annual Girls and Women in Sport Day was held on Saturday, February 9 at the Fetzer Center. Over 100 people attended the recognition ceremony that honored 37 area junior and senior female athletes. Dr. Jody Brylinsky, professor, delivered the keynote address. The theme of the event this year was "All In”. The year 2008 marks the 16th anniversary of the local Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration and the 19th anniversary of the national program.
Students: John Pfisterer, Stacy Williams, Becky Roberts, Misty Morey, Jessica Sparks, Beth Leeb, Jill Byrd, Brandi Lark
The Women's Sports Foundation organized the first National Girls
and Women in Sports Day in remembrance of Olympic volleyball
star Flo Hyman, a gifted athlete who worked for equality in women's
sports both on and off the court throughout her short lifetime.
Though a talented individual was lost in January 1986 to a
congenital heart condition, her spirit and commitment to excellence
has been carried forward through the positive progress of the
women's sports movement. In 1987, Congress approved a commemorative
bill declaring February 4 National Girls and Women in Sport Day.
Since that time thousands of events have been staged across the
United States. GWSD is celebrated in all 50 states with
community-based events, award ceremonies and activities honoring
the achievements and encouraging participation of girls and women in
sports.
This year, the Epsilon Alpha Chapter of Phi Epsilon Kappa, based in
the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at
Western Michigan University and area athletic directors
collaborated to honor high school senior females whose athletic
achievements, academic accomplishments and community involvement
showcase their outstanding leadership skills and potential to
succeed in future endeavors. Recipients were nominated by their
coaches, teachers and administrators to receive the Western
Michigan University Girls and Women in Sports Day Recognition Award. Dr. Deb Berkey, professor, serves as the faculty adviser for PEK.
| Name | School | Athletic Director |
|---|---|---|
| Carrie Grubius | Gull Lake | Marc Throop |
| Jamie Smith | Gull Lake | Marc Throop |
| Ashley Megan Turnage | Lawton | Ben Banfield |
| Anna Fester | Lawton | Ben Banfield |
| Molly A. Waterhouse | Vicksburg | Michael Roy |
| Kati Elizabeth Hughey | Vicksburg | Michael Roy |
| Amanda Engbers | Kalamazoo Christian | Jerry Weesies |
| Kate Dwyer | Kalamazoo Christian | Jerry Weesies |
| Laura Eberhard | Mattawan | Ken Mohney |
| Hannah Robb | Mattawan | Ken Mohney |
| Jackie Bowe | Galesburg-Augusta | Mike Woodward |
| Liisa Mosher | Galesburg-Augusta | Mike Woodward |
| Tara Bell | Galesburg-Augusta | Mike Woodward |
| Samantha Lynn Wengert | Portage Central | Larry Edlund |
| Lauren Hamilton | Portage Central | Larry Edlund |
| Julia Howlind | Portage Central | Larry Edlund |
| Katie Martin | Portage Central | Larry Edlund |
| Heather Russon | Portage Central | Larry Edlund |
| Elizabeth Anglin | Hackett | Richard Nissen |
| Samantha Justice | Parchment | Tom Beals |
| Leila Bouabdellaoui | Parchment | Tom Beals |
| Katie Ford | Schoolcraft | Ted Manning |
| Andrea Garrett | Schoolcraft | Ted Manning |
| Betsey Hudson | Schoolcraft | Ted Manning |
| Alison Manning | Schoolcraft | Ted Manning |
| Magan Mari Purk | Climax-Scotts | Kevin Langs |
| Gina Kellogg | Hartford | Dave Janicki |
| Katie Stickels | Bangor | Mary Spade |
| Kinna Katrell Parker | Bangor | Mary Spade |
| Ciera Quinn | Bangor | Mary Spade |
| Yarizel Rodriguez | Bangor | Mary Spade |
| Sydney A. Zwart | Kalamazoo Central | Van Dickerson |
| Deanna Blauer | Special Olympics | Jennifer Wisti |
| Erica Burkheimer | Otsego | Mike Garvey |
| Jessica Schreuder | Otsego | Mike Garvey |
| Emilee Simcox | Decatur | Jeff Kawaski |
| Talisha Bridges | Loy Norrix | Andrew Laboe |