April Accolades

Slam poet Taylor Mali came to Western on April 20^th and packed Kemper Recital Hall for an evening of verse that both moved and entertained the audience. Kudos to Marianne Kunkel for organizing and hosting this successful event.

The department celebrated outstanding graduates on April 21^st:  Betsy Lee, BSE English, Joey Tucker, BA English and Becca Miller, BA Spanish.  In addition, the following students earned the Scholastic Key received pins for their academic achievement: Erica Cook, Krystal Hicok, Betsy Lee, Morgan Rathmann, Nicole Bradley, Cami Pendleton, Cameron Pike, Brent Rosenauer, Garrett Skrbina, Joey Tucker and Gage Williams.

Dr. Martens with Betsy Lee

Joey Tucker with Dr. Bensyl

Becca Miller, flanked by Betsy Lee
and Dr. Castilla-Ortiz

Scholastic Key recipients Krystal Hicok,
Erica Cook, Cami Pendleton, Joey Tucker

May graduates in Spanish, Jordan Bleu and Alexa Adams, 
presented their senior thesis to Modern Languages faculty.

Jordan Bleu, Dr. Hennessy, Alexa Adams,
and Dr. Bausset-Page

Bravo to Donovan Jones and Kaitlin Christian, students in French, who wowed their audience in a special performance of La Tragédie de Carmen, en français!

So much to celebrate in April!

The EML department is proud to congratulate our students 

who completed their Master's degrees in spring 2015.

Sofia Pierson successfully defended her capstone portfolio on technical communication tools and collaboration.  She will be going on the job market 
with her new MAA in technical communication.

Lauren Johnson successfully defended her MAS thesis on scripted reading programs in the K12 Classroom.  Ms. Johnson is a third grade teacher at East Buchanan and also a past participant in MWSU's Prairie Lands Writing Project.

Siyi Zhang and Huan Huang both completed their MAA work after returning to Xidian University in Xi'an, China.  Ms. Huang's thesis was on teaching English language learners in Chinese high schools. Ms. Zhang's thesis was a linguistic analysis of scientific communication in translation.

Clipping from the museum's newsletter

Applied learning and outreach

Students in Kaye Adkin's Technical Documentation class are engaged in a project for La Plata County Historical Society and the Animas Museum in Durango, Colorado. The project managers (including Sarah Hatten who is the project lead) are the graduate students in ETC 520 Publications Management.  The museum's gratitude for the work of Dr. Adkin's students is noted in the spring newsletter, stating that they have been "rescued by Griffons" in their efforts to catalog the artifacts of the Animas Museum.

Discovering the Student, Discovering the Self:ENG 100 Reading and Reception

Vicki Brushwood, Susan Kirsch, instructor Kara Bollinger, Sarah Bertram

On Wednesday, April 8, Dawn Terrick, Director of Developmental Writing, hosted 75 people at the annual reception for the ENG 100 student publication Discovering the Student, Discovering the Self.  Dr. Vartabedian kicked off the reception. Students received certificates and awards and read their original work. They were joined by family and friends as well as MWSU faculty, staff and administration and all enjoyed an afternoon of celebration. 

This is the ninth edition of Discovering the Student, Discovering the Self.  The essays in this publication were selected by the English 100 Committee from submissions from English 100 students.  These essays reflect the struggle and the joy, the hard work and the rewards that these students have experienced both in their lives and in the classroom.  Furthermore, these essays reflect the diversity of our English 100 students and the uniqueness of this course.  Our students are entering college straight out of high school and are returning to the classroom after years of work and family, come from urban and rural areas, and represent different races and cultures.  And this work is truly their work -- the committee has not made any revisions or corrections to the essays.  We invite you to read these essays on our web site and hope that you will discover the same things that the students have discovered:  during their first semester in college, they are discovering themselves, realizing that they are part of many communities and defining themselves as individuals, students, scholars and citizens.

Modern Language Day 2015:  Languages: They Nourish the Brain!

The annual Modern Language Day took place on April 9, when we welcomed high school students from the region and asked them to show what they know in French and Spanish.  Students recited poetry, did their own poetry slams, competed in quiz bowls, lip sync and spelling bees.  Kudos to language faculty and their students for their efforts in making the day a success. 

The event even made the news: News clip featuring Modern Language Day.
You can view the winning lip sync by Maur Hill Mount Academy here.

Over 250 students in grades 9-12 from 15 different schools attended PLWP's High School Writing Day on March 5.  The event was coordinated by PLWP Co-Director Amy Miller (MWSU) and emceed by Teacher Consultant Terrance Sanders (Braymer), with help from Teacher Consultant Janet Jelavich (Maryville, retired), PLWP Director Susan Martens, and several MWSU pre-service English teachers, including Hanna Long, Adina Ogle, Wayne Griffin, Garrett Durbin, Jessica Helm, Jessie Walters, Sarah Chellew, Kayli Silket, Alayna Mazzeffe, Ashleigh Merrigan, and Brittany Assel.  Workshops were presented by several EML Department faculty, including Michael Charlton, Bill Church, Marianne Kunkel, Mary Stone, Meredith Katchen, and Brooksie Kluge, as well as Bob Bergland (Communication and Journalism), Tom Pankiewicz (MWSU, retired), and PLWP Teacher Consultants from the Saint Joseph School District Kyla Ward, Misty Burright, and Vicky Meyer. 

The PLWP also hosted its first-ever Middle School Writing Night on March 23, coordinated by MAA students who are also PLWP Teacher Consultants and Bode Middle school teachers, Josie Clark and Elisabeth Alkier, with help from PLWP Teacher Consultant and SJSD Gate Instructor Deb Ballin. Parents and friends came to hear 18 area students in grades 6-8 reading original writing composed in their after school and GATE writing clubs.  It was the culminating event for PLWP's 2014-2015 Community Literacy Initiative, funded by a U.S. Department of Education SEED (Supporting Effective Educator Development) Teacher Leadership grant sponsored by the National Writing Project. 

Dr. Kaye Adkins presented a paper, "Army Flash! Narrating a Civil Defense Procedure" at the conference of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing in Tampa, Florida. The paper is based on research that Dr. Adkins conducted while on sabbatical in fall of 2014. While in Tampa, Dr. Adkins also attended the Conference on College Composition and Communication.

Marianne Kunkel's poem "I Guess," which appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Rattle, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Also, four panels that she proposed for North American Review's Bicentennial Creative Writing and Literature Conference were approved, including two with Mary Stone and two others with MWSU undergraduate students Crystal Crawford, Lindsey Lucas, and Chris Pankiewicz.

Michael Charlton presented a paper on international program collaborations at the Conference on College Composition and Communication.

Mary Dockery had two poems published in the Issue 5 of The Atlas Review, "Long Distance" and "I Don't Know How to Live Here."  She also had a chapbook released in March: Honey and Bandages, by Folded Word Press, written with Katie Longofono.

Jeanie Crain has received another four-year appointment to the Peer Corps of the Higher Learning Commission, effective until August 31, 2018. She also received thanks from the Commission for her service since 2003.

Susan Martens has recently published two essays in the current issue of Louisiana Literature as part of a collection called "Finding Your Muse in New Orleans."

Kay Siebler presented her paper "An American Freirista in China: Critical Pedagogy in Post-Moa Communism" at the College Composition and Communication Conference in Tampa, Florida on March 21, 2015. Here is a photo of how she is spending her sabbatical.