As the 2009-10 has begun, Tusculum College students have wasted no time in distinguishing themselves on campus and in the community. Some of the students making the news were:
Danielle Armstrong of Bristol, Tenn., has been honored as the first “Student of the Block” for the 2009-10 academic year at Tusculum College. The college’s Office of Student Affairs presented the “Student of the Block” Award to Armstrong, a junior majoring in creative writing, during a brief ceremony on Oct. 8. Armstrong was presented a plaque detailing her accomplishments that will be displayed on the “Wall of Honor” in the Niswonger Commons and then rotate to other academic buildings. The award was instituted to honor students for academic excellence and leadership on campus. Faculty and staff members submit nominations for the award.
In presenting the honor, Dean of Students Dr. David McMahan noted that Armstrong was the epitome of an engaged student at Sullivan Central High School and has continued that tradition of engagement in her college career. She is an English and science subject tutor, a Student Support Services mentor, a contributing writer to the student newspaper and a writer for the “Tusculum Review,” the college’s literary magazine. Armstrong is serving for the second year as a resident assistant in the college’s Residence Life program, is a resident assistant for the Upward Bound summer camp and is a freshman orientation leader.
McMahan noted that Armstrong is one of those individuals whose leadership is not marked with words, but with attitudes and action. “While Tusculum will lose a valuable member of the student body when Danielle departs in the spring of 2011, the world will gain a dedicated and wonderful member of the creative writing community,” he said. “Her quiet leadership has truly been marked in her actions and return to the campus which she believes has given her so much.”
A Tusculum College student’s service trip to Belize this summer has inspired the creation of a scholarship fund to give youth in the Central American country the opportunity to go school.
Boazin Katina, a senior education major, taught at the Faith Nazarene School in San Ignacio this summer, which serves grades one through six. As part of his service project, he was provided $250 to give to the school in some way. Although the school’s principal suggested using the money for a sign, Katina wanted to use it in some way to help the students and decided to create a scholarship fund instead.
“I wanted to do something that would help the kids,” he related during a presentation Thursday about his project, explaining that many students’ families had to pay tuition for their children to attend the school. While there are some government-operated schools in Belize, most are church-sponsored, private schools.
While at the school, Katina said he asked students about their aspirations and replies ranged from lawyer to homemaker to even American football player. “They have dreams,” he said. “The way for them to realize their dreams is to have an education.”
He explained that once students in Belize reach the sixth grade they take an exam to determine if they can go what is referred to in that country as “college,” but is comparable to an American high school. The government provides scholarships for students who make a high enough score to continue their education but don’t have the resources to do so.
Katina is seeking additional support for the scholarship fund and has set up an account here to accept donations. It takes $200 in American currency to sponsor a child in school for a year in Belize, he said.
In addition to an avenue for Tusculum College students and those in the community to get involved in the project, the scholarship also provides a way for service to the school to continue and not be confined to just a summer service project, he said. Perhaps in the future, the scholarship can grow to give students assistance throughout their educational careers, Katina continued, and perhaps bring them to Tusculum to attend college.
Katina’s trip to Belize was coordinated with the ProBelize organization, which includes education as part of its mission to help improve the lives of those in the country. The education component was one reason he chose the organization, which provided the $250 to Katina for use during his service project. He chose Belize as a destination partly because of the fact that it is a Third World country and he is from a Third World country in Africa. “Being from a Third World country, I felt I would be familiar with the challenges the school would be facing.”
Another of Katina’s goals as a follow-up to the trip is to establish a pen-pal program between members of the Greeneville-Greene County Boys and Girls Club and students at the Saint Nazarene School. The program would be a good way for the students in both countries to learn about each other and their cultural differences, he explained. Katina had a pen pal from England when he was a student and enjoyed their exchanges and what he learned of a different culture.
Katina’s service project was funded by an annual award provided by the college’s Warren W. Hobbie Center and Center for Civic Advancement. Those who would like to give towards the scholarship are asked to make a check out to “Tusculum College” with “Belize Scholarship” in the memo line and send it to the Center for Civic Advancement, P. O. Box 5041, Greeneville, TN 37743.
One of Tusculum College’s own participated in a wreath laying ceremony honoring the birthday of Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, the great-granddaughter of 17th President Andrew Johnson on Monday.
Elizabeth Chamberlain, an education major from Greeneville, sang, “America the Beautiful” as part of a wreath laying ceremony honoring the birthday of Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett, the great-granddaughter of the 17th President Andrew Johnson.
The event was sponsored by the Nolachuckey Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution organization and was held at Bartlett’s grave site on Monument Hill.
Bartlett, a Tusculum College alumni from the Class of 1924, was a long-time supporter of the College, donating the collection of Johnson’s private and family papers and family artifacts to the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library, as well as playing a key role in the establishing of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site here in Greeneville.
Beth Anne Collins was the first place winner in the Tusculum College Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Logo Design contest. Collins, a freshman from Afton, received a $50 cash prize and will see her logo used in promotional materials for the College’s QEP, which is focused on Problem Solving with Reflective Judgment.
Collins received her prize and recognition at the Spirit Week Ice Cream Social held on Friday and was presented her award by Dr. Bill Garris, assistant professor of psychology and the QEP Director for the College.
Congratulations also goes to the three finalists who were recognized as well, Nathan Carver, sophomore arts and design major from Clarksville; Tylan Adams, junior arts and design major from Greeneville, and Brooke Wedding, senior arts and design major from Chuckey. Garris told the gathered crowd that the judges had a very difficult decision among the four very talented finalists.
The QEP is intended to be an ongoing plan to improve an aspect of higher education as part of the re-affirmation of accreditation process for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC). After much brainstorming and research, culminating in an institution-wide vote, Problem Solving with Reflective Judgment was selected as Tusculum College’s QEP topic and is consistent with the College’s mission and purpose statements.