SDA Cook for Community
The Quaker House on the north side of Kalamazoo is a great place for people in the community to gather and enjoy one 
another’s company. Everyone is welcome; the warmth that Cordelia Greer displays to her community is so inspiring. The kids that take advantage of her warm hospitality are of all ages, ranging from elementary school to high school. By observation it seems that Cordelia knows the students and their families on a comfortable personal basis and they are all welcome to the house at any time. The Student Dietetic Association (SDA) cooks a nutritious meal for Cordelia’s community about once or twice a month, called Friends Dinners. The SDA members arrive at 5pm to begin cooking the meals and then dinner is served at about 6 or 6:30 pm. On November 17, the SDA cooked a Thanksgiving Feast for the members of the community. There were roughly 30-35 people from the community that attended the big Thanksgiving feast. The meal consisted of roasted turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash, and dinner rolls. “It feels so great to give back to the community and to be able to provide a nutritious and filling meal to others,” stated the President of the SDA, Stefany Swartz. The SDA is really showing their support for the community and helping others eat healthy.
Posted Jan 14
Dr. Ghada Soliman was the first author of the following papers which were published in high quality peer-reviewed journals:
Dr. Soliman was also awarded Certification in Adult Weight Management from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), after completing the training in June 24 -26, 2010 at Palm Beach, California, successfully passing the examination, and fulfilling the certification requirements.
Posted Jan 14
Adam Manley, assistant professor of Career and Technical Education (CTE), won best research poster/paper at the Association of Career and Technical Education Research’s (ACTER) annual research conference held in Las Vegas. His research poster and paper, entitled The Ongoing Consequences of the Carl D. Perkins Act Within-state Funding Formula on the Operational Infrastructure of CTE: A Modified Policy Delphi Study, highlighted the significant unintended consequences that were produced from the fiscal and administrative decentralization of the Perkins Act. This Federal Act funds CTE programs across the nation. The findings suggested that the decentralization of the Act negatively impacted CTE teacher education, research, and coordination.
Student Fashion Design Exhibition
January 21-28
2202 Kohrman Hall
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 21, 6-8 p.m.
Public Viewing: Jan 24 - 27, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Closing Ceremony: Friday, Jan 28, 5 - 8 p.m.
Dr. Karen Blaisure, Professor of Family Studies in the department of Family and Consumer Sciences, attended the Military Child Education Coalition’s (MCEC) Michigan Public Engagement event on November 9 and 10, 2010 in East Lansing. This event was co-chaired by Barbara Levin and Brigadier General Burton Francisco of the Michigan National Guard. US Senator Carl Levin attended the opening orientation dinner. Major General Thomas G. Cutler, the Adjutant General for the Michigan National Guard, and Gilda Jacobs, a state Senator from Huntington Downs, welcomed attendees at the opening dinner. Patty Shinseki, chair of MCEC’s Living in the New Normal initiative and spouse of US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, spoke on the resilience of military children and the responsibility of adults to support all children in their communities. The President and CEO of MCEC, Dr. Mary Keller, facilitated the day and a half event.
The public engagement event, Living in the New Normal: Helping Children Thrive Through Good and Challenging Times, brought together over 100 representatives from education, business, civic and faith-based groups, healthcare, service clubs and organizations, and service providers in Michigan. Their goal was to identify and integrate community support services for children and families and foster an environment of sustainable support. Workgroups from represented sectors designed plans for supporting military children and their families. One theme running through the workgroups was the importance of educating the general population, professional groups, and local communities on the strengths of military children, and the challenges they face. Steps to accomplish this education as well as other action steps will occur in the coming months.
MCEC is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that provides leadership and advocacy to ensure quality education for military children who experience mobility, separation, and transitions. As part of its strategic plan, MCEC leaders facilitate public engagement events and offer professional development institutes.
In past years, the Family Studies program has offered a one-credit, one-weekend course on military families. This year, Dr. Karen Blaisure has expanded the course to three credits and is offering it on six Saturdays at WMU’s Grand Rapids Center on Beltline. Enrolled students include those from the undergraduate family studies program and graduate students from the Family Life Education concentration, student affairs, and counseling psychology. A similar course is offered at the same time by Tara Saathoff-Wells, a faculty member in the department of Child Development and Family Studies and Director of the Women’s Studies Program at Central Michigan University. The WMU and CMU classes are linked through polycommunication technology, allowing students to see and speak with one another and guest speakers to present to both classes simultaneously. Students from both classes will meet one another when they visit the Air National Guard Base in Battle Creek. This field trip will provide some students their first view of a military installation. Ms. Robin Berry, the program manager for Airman and Family Readiness, will host the students and faculty while on base and describe services available for military families. Ms. Berry also serves on the WMU Family Studies Advisory Board.
Dr. Adam Manley, Assistant Professor of CTE, has been appointed to the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Perkins Reauthorization Committee. This committee of individuals from around the country, will decide what ACTE recommendations will be for the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. ACTE is the largest association in the field of CTE with membership from CTE educators, administrators, researchers, guidance counselors and others involved in planning and conducting CTE programs at the secondary, post-secondary and adult levels. The Perkins Act is the Department of Education’s largest single investment in America’s high schools. Reauthorized every 6 years, this Act helps support national, state, and local CTE programs by providing roughly $2 billion annually in federal funds. Dr. Manley was appointed to this committee because of his doctoral research on the Perkins Act. The committee plans to meet at ACTE’s annual conference in Las Vegas, NV this November and at ACTE’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C. next March.
In early August, five dietetics students in conjunction with the Lewis Walker Institute on campus organized a booth with the theme, "Eat Well, Kalamazoo". The event, organized by the Mothers of Hope, was part of the "Ultimate Family Reunion" in Kalamazoo. The free event combined food and fun, with services to improve public health.
Congratulations to Mary Roobol, alumna, who earned her National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Her certificate is in the area of Early Adolescence Science. Roobol, who serves as Science Department chair and Environmental Club co-sponsor at North Middle, is now one of only four faculty members in the Portage Public School District with NBCT certification. At WMU she earned a B.S in elementary education (1991) and a M.A. in career and technical education (2003). Roobol has been on the NMS faculty since 1993 teaching math, language arts, and science.
Heather Mcleod has won first place at "Runway on Monroe". West Michigan fashion designers could enter the contest by submitting photos of several of their designs, and a jury selected the top 20 designers to go forward in the competition.
Six of the top 20 are WMU students (4 undergrads, one graduate, and one alum): Courtney Engle, Heather Mcleod, Jolene Parrichiani, Ashley Pepper, Dora Theodoropoulos, and Zoe Valette.
Students in the interior design program participated in the annual American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Michigan Chapter Student Design Competition. Students were asked to program and design an assigned project over the course of one eight-hour session. This year, in combination with a resort community’s business association and the state of Michigan, students were asked to design a tourist welcome center located in one of the following areas: Southwest Michigan, Northern Lower Peninsula, Upper Peninsula, or Southeast Michigan/Thumb Region. Competition entrants were judged on the creativity of the design and ideas presented, the graphic quality of the presentation boards, the functional quality of the design concept, the quality of lighting design, and the sustainable nature of the selected materials, fixtures, furnishings, and equipment. Awards were presented April 9 during Student Career Days, held at the Michigan Design Center in Troy. Claire VanBemmelen and Kirsten Strauss won first and second places respectively in the senior division. Elizabeth Riggan won first place in the junior division.
Congratulations to all those that received awards at the FCS scholarship/award ceremony. The 2010 FCS Alumni Academy Inductees are: Molly Marsh, Pamela Graskewicz, Barb Grinwis, Terry Wall (accepted by her daughter Amber Wall), and Joyce Ross.
Dr. Lyuba Mikhaltsova from the Novokuznetsk Academy of Education presented “Modernization of Russian Education” on June 11 in Kohrman Hall.
Senior Interior Design Exhibition-Was an exhibition of five up-and-coming interior design students who want to make a positive impact on the design community: Ana Flachier, Jennie Jansen, Kimberly Madonia, Pip Rawlings, and Kirsten Strauss.
MODA will host a spring fashion show, Urban Fusion, to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and breast cancer awareness on March 26 and 27. The show features designs from WMU textile and apparel students, as well as local high school students. The fashion show will be held at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center and Fairground in the Hazel Gray Room at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $10; VIP tickets are $25.
The Interior Design Senior Show, which closed on Feb. 26 2010, displayed the work of five emerging young designers who showed, through out their work, a better understanding of how interior design impacts your life.
The Textile and Apparel Design department hosted Student Fashion Design Exhibition in
Kohrman Hall. A closing ceremony was held on Feb. 12.
