Dibella a Finalist for Teaching Award

Denise Dibella, at left in the picture, is a 1999 graduate of MWSU with BSE degrees in French and Spanish. Denise was a finalist for the St. Joseph Public Schools 2009 Teacher of the Year award.

Denise is a foreign language teacher at Robidoux Middle School.

Congratulations, Denise!

(Photograph by August Kryger; published in The News-Press: http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/may/01/central-educator-wins-teacher-year/)

April Faculty and Student Accomplishments

Prairie Lands Writing Project (PLWP) site has received a matching grant of $46,000 in federal funds from the National Writing Project (NWP) to support its Invitational Institute and core program for teachers, for the year beginning June 1, 2009. Prairie Lands will also receive additional NWP $5,000 Technology grant and an $8,000 National Evaluation Study grant.

Eighteen teacher leaders from throughout Northwest Missouri have accepted invitations to participate in the 2009 Prairie Lands Writing Project Invitational Institute. The 2009 institute participants include: Carol Bunse, Savannah High School English teacher; Gina Calvin, St. Joseph Middle School instructional coach; Tyler Carlson, Savannah High School English teacher; Jacqueline Conn, Maryville High School English teacher; Chandler Cooper, St. Joseph Spring Garden Middle School language arts teacher; Diana Deatherage, St. Joseph Neely Elementary School grade four teacher; Brandon Haskey, St. Joseph Central High School English teacher; Elizabeth Hendrix, Missouri Western education professor; Valerie Hutton, Cameron Middle School reading and language arts teacher; Lynn Laipple, Benton High School communication arts teacher; Rachael Monroe, St. Joseph Humboldt Elementary School grade three teacher; Kati Reid, Pattonsburg High School English teacher; Yvonne Sexton, North Kansas City Winnetonka High School English teacher; Stacia Slagle, Cameron Middle School language arts teacher; K’Lea Snyder, Benton High School English teacher; Kira Thaler, Savannah Middle School social studies and English teacher; Libery Usera, Platte County High School English teacher; and Renee Wilson, Smithville Elementary School grade six teacher. Tom Pankiewicz, MWSU English instructor, will lead the Invitational. Co-leaders are Jane Frick, MWSU English professor, and Christie Hofmeister, St. Joseph Skaith Elementary School grade two teacher. Mary Lee Meyer, PLWP technology liaison, and Amy Miller, PLWP technology cadre member and Benton High School talented and gifted teacher, will provide educational technology support for the Invitational.

Dr. Kaye Adkins, Associate Professor of English, presented at the7th Regional Society for Technical Communication Student Conference, "Poster Sessions for Technical Communicators," Missouri State University, Springfield, MO.

Dr. Jane Frick, Professor of English, co-facilitated and presented at the Shoot and Write Marathon/Fun with Flickr Workshop, Prairie Lands Writing Project, Missouri Western state University. (April 25, 2009).

Dr. Cynthia Jeney, Assistant Professor of English, presented "Teaching/Practicing Rhetoric-Centered Web Writing" at the Workshop for Teachers of Technical Writing, Society for Technical Communication, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO. (April 17, 2009).

Dr. Cynthia Jeney, Assistant Professor of English, presented "Study Away, England 2009: In Search of King Arthur" as part of the EFLJ seminar series. (April 2, MWSU)

Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin, Professor of English, and graduating technical communications major Kathryn Strasser have edited a publication for the National Collegiate Honors Council. This collection includes essays written by participants at the Experiential Teaching/Learning Faculty Institute called PRAIRIE ATTITUDES AND URBAN REALITIES that took place in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sawin and Strasser also selected, arranged and designed three collages of photos taken by Sawin and other institute participants.

Dr. Susan Hennessy, Professor of French, was Guest Speaker at Career Day at Spring Garden Middle School, St. Joseph, MO. (April 9, 2009). Dr. Hennessy spoke to five middle school classes about careers with foreign languages.

Foreign Language faculty met with high school teachers from Northwest Missouri to collaborate on Missouri Western's Foreign Language Day. In attendance were teachers from Central High School, Benton High School, Cameron High School, and Oak Park High School in Kansas City.

Dr. Karina Vazquez, Assistant Professor of Spanish, presented the paper "Desplazamientos y cambios de signo: La reescritura de El juguete rabioso (1926), de Roberto Arlt, en Si yo muero primero (1991), de Susana Silvestre y La nueva rabia (2008), de Marcelo Eckhardt.” At the
62nd. Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference" on April 16/17.

The "New Lit Out Loud" reading series, organized by English Instructors Dana Andrews, Bill Church, and Meg Thompson" met at Foster's in downtown St. Joseph on April 15. Nearly twenty MWSU students joined community members and alumni to read their original poetry and prose.

Creative writing student staff members of Canvas the MWSU Literary and Arts Magazine, held a public reception and reading on April 25 in Hearnes 102 to celebrate the 2009 edition of the journal, an applied learning project.

EFLJ Instructor Defends Dissertation

Cynthia Bartels, now with a shiny new "Dr." before her name, defended her dissertation ("The Home as Public Space and Creative Initiative") at the University of Missouri-Columbia on April 28.

Congratulations, Dr. Bartels!

Spanish Class Performs for ESOL Students at Humboldt

On April 21st, students from Dr. Karina Vazquez's SPA 312 class adapted "Los degolladores de estatuas" (The Statues Killers) by Argentina writer, poet, and feminist Alfonsina Storni and presented the play in Ann Miller's ESOL program at Humboldt School. There were 29 children in the audience.

This plays is about two girls' toys that are tired of nobody consider their feelings. They declare a rebellion to catch the attention of their little owners.

Students of SPA312 (Spanish Advanced Conversation I) worked in adapting the play to contemporary times, preparing the set design, costumes, and performance programs. Students also prepared the play presentation and the role play at the end, which was very successful with children's participation.

This experience helped students to improve their Spanish fluency throughout constant practice and group commitment, and also it presented an opportunity to communicate in Spanish within the community. For the ESOL students it was a demonstration of how valuable the Spanish language is and how interested members of the community are in talking with them about their topics (that in this case were toys, games, playing with their parents, going to the square, riding bikes, learning English, etc.).

SNCTE Elects New Officers

SNCTE is Proud to Announce its 2009-10 Officers:
Co-Presidents: Josie Clark and Holly Richardson
Treasurer: Denise Price
Secretary: Amanda Rawlings
Public Relations: Jocelyn Clubine

The Student Affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English is open to all students at Missouri Western State University, especially those who plan to be elementary and secondary teachers. The group organizes several events on campus each semester and holds regular meetings throughout the school year. We would like to invite all students to join us in supporting the teaching of English. Please explore our web site and see what we have to offer: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/sncte/

A Student's Semester Experience in Mexico

Omer Libich, who will graduate this December with a BA in Spanish, has been in Mexico since January. Here is his report:

Upon arriving in Mexico, I didn't have any expectations other than that of learning the language. However when getting off the plane, I realized just how much I lacked in spite of having studied the language for years. They took me to the house in which I would be staying for the semester, and I met the host family with whom I would be living. I never could have hoped that they would be so nice; I immediately felt welcome. The first couple of days I got to know the area and the host family as well as the other students living here.

Later on, I went to Universidad Regiomontana in order to meet the other exchange students that came to study. The staff is extremely nice and always willing to help with any problem that you have.


They took us on a tour of the city. It's so beautiful, and I fell in love with the mountains that surround it. Little by little I learned spanish better and got to know more people. Some of the friends that I've made, I now feel as if they were part of my family. Within two weeks I had already been invited to an anniversary of a friend's grandparents: "Bodas de Oro," or rather celebrating 50 years of being married. It was absolutely amazing. The culture is so rich and full of life, and it gave me the chance to meet even more people.

Studying is harder as the classes are all in a foreign language, but this helps to learn the language faster and is definitely worth it. I still have plenty of time to spend with my friends and we go out on the weekends to the bar district downtown. The night-life here is amazing as well, it will start around midnight and can go until 8:00 am (a side note for those interested, the drinking age in Mexico is 18). My host family took me to their vacation home outside of the city, which is gorgeous. There aren't as many people and you can see the stars really clearly at night. While I was there, they let me plant a tree so that they could remember the time I had spent there with them.

The best memory I have, as of yet, is going to "Cola de Caballo" or "the horse's tail" which is a waterfall here nearby and a tourist attraction. I went with friends of mine that are from here and they signed me up for bungee jumping. I was really scared at first but they cheered me on, and I'm so glad I did it. They even recorded the whole thing for me. It was awesome; words can't even describe the feeling of having fear of something then overcoming it and having a video to prove it and share the experience.

When the time comes to leave I will miss all of my friends here. I have even made some life-long friends that I'll never lose touch with. I'll miss my host family that has been so kind to me, and I'll definitely miss Mexico and Monterrey. I love the weather here, too, by the way. Most of all, I'll miss the feeling that I got from the people here; feeling like a true Mexican is the best. Mexican pride is noticeable in other people and when I went to visit my parents during spring break even they noticed it in me. I'll never forget my experiences here in Monterrey. I'd like nothing more than to remain in these moments forever.

A note to all those considering studying abroad: Please keep an open mind about living with a host family. It helps your language acquisition exponentially. You'll pick up the language faster than you ever thought possible. Just do it. There's no sense in waiting. It's the experience of a lifetime, and I can promise you that you won't regret it. There are life-long friendships waiting for you here and a rich cultural heritage that has a lot of history together with our own culture. There's nothing to lose and the price is the same as if you were to remain at MWSU.

Here is the link to the youtube bungee jump video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWVdtzMEVUE

Griffon Yearbook Recognized in State

Griffon Yearbook won a number awards at Missouri College Media Association meeting this weekend. Please congratulate the following students on their awards:

Matthew Fowler, 2nd Place Feature Photography
Matthew Fowler, 3rd Place Feature Photography
Raphi Drew, 3rd Place Student Life Design
Jennifer Kohler, 3rd Place, Feature Writing
Jeremy Weikel, Honorable Mention, Feature Photography