Joyce Cohen to Deliver Commencement Address
Joyce Cohen, a 1967 graduate of Keuka College and a leading figure in the field of career development and life planning for more than 25 years, will deliver the commencement address at her alma mater Sunday, May 27.
Keuka’s 104th commencement will begin at 12:30 p.m. on the Norton Chapel lawn.
Founder and president of Unconventional Wisdom LLC, a life planning consulting agency, Cohen is an experienced consultant, workshop facilitator, life coach, outplacement counselor, and creator of updated credentials. She has worked with more than 350 companies, universities, and government agencies in this country and abroad. (more…)
Top Student Worker, Boss Honored
Keuka's Student Employee of the Year, Ron Burd (third from right), with supervisors (from left) Eva Moberg-Sarver, Terry Fingar and Kathy Waye. Also shown are Director of Student Employment Sally Daggett and President Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera. (photos by Case Hamilton '12)
A “dependable and wonderful multitasking student” and a “detail-oriented staff member who takes time to listen to students and lends her support and guidance” were the respective recipients of the 2012 Student Employee and Work-Study Supervisor of the Year awards, respectively, at the Student Employment Awards Luncheon April 16.
Senior political science/history major Ron Burd and Administrative Assistant for the Division of Occupational Therapy (OT) Sandy Teague were selected by two separate panels of judges.
Burd was nominated for the award by Executive Director of Alumni and Family Relations Kathy Waye, Office Manager for Alumni and Family Relations Terry Finger, and Admissions Events Coordinator Eva Moberg-Sarver. (more…)
The Consummate Mail Clerk and More
Editor’s Note: This is the first of six profiles of nominees for the 2012 Student Employee of the Year award that will be presented at the Annual Student Employment Awards Luncheon April 16.
According to Teri Spoor, IKON site supervisor, Tyler Moran, a senior adolescent English/special education major from Sandy Creek, deserves the Student Employee of the Year award for several reasons.
Moran has worked in the mail room as a mail clerk for two years, and while his job description says he is responsible for the distribution of all mail on the Keuka campus, and assisting with copy jobs as needed, Spoor says Moran does much more than that.
A Head Start on Easter
Freshman Katelyn Armstrong checks out the goodies inside an Easter basket during delivery at Heather LaBarr's Head Start class.
Students in Heather LaBarr’s Head Start (Penn Yan) class got a head start on Easter April 5.
Students, faculty, and staff at Keuka College donated toys, bubbles, stuffed animals, and other Easter basket goodies for LaBarr’s class and the Head Start program in Dundee.
The Community Service Resource Center in the Center for Experiential Learning and the Class of 2015 coordinated the Easter Basket Project, a College tradition since the mid-1990s. The baskets were then given to the Dundee and Penn Yan classes.
On hand to help distribute the baskets were Rebecca Allen, a freshman unified childhood/special education major from Oxford; Samantha Chesnut, a freshman sociology and political science major from Mexico, who serves as president of the Class of 2015; Nikita Wilkins, a freshman biology major and a community service advocate in the Center from Bloomfield; Katelyn Armstrong, a freshman psychology major from Jamestown; Junelle King, a senior organizational communication major and community service advocate in the Center from Ithaca; Savannah Fuller, a freshman occupational science major and community service advocate in the Center from Philadelphia, N.Y.; Jamie Allen, a freshman psychology major from Canandaigua; Ella Smallwood-St. Denis, a freshman social work major from Canandaigua; Vince Glanville, a freshman psychology major from Capetown, South Africa; and Willie Jones, a freshman occupational science major from Rochester.
Check out more photos from the Easter basket delivery.
First Field Period a “Natural” for Lucia Castellani
Like many Keuka College students, freshman Lucia Castellani chose to complete her first Field Period close to home.
It was a good choice.
Freshman Lucia Castellani sits at the front desk at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville.
Castellani, an exploratory major from Liverpool, spent January as a naturalist intern at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville.
“I interviewed the naturalists who worked at the center, and one of the questions I asked was ‘how would you rate your job from one to 10?’” said Castellani. “The answers I got ranged from 9.9 to 13. That made me feel good about where I chose to work. I would love to complete another Field Period here if I could.”
Castellani “grew up going to the nature center, and one of my favorite things to attend each year was the Harvest Festival.”
The Harvest Festival is just one of Beaver Lake Nature Center’s 400 annual programs. The center also offers nine miles of trails and a rich mix of habitats, which create the possibility of seeing more than 200 species of birds and 800 varieties of plants.
During her Field Period, Castellani saw several of the flora and fauna the Center has to offer.
“I was able to go on nature walks, observe wildlife, and report back what I had seen, where I had seen it, and how long ago it was that I saw it,” Castellani explained. “That way, people coming to the center could go on the same trails and hopefully see the same things I did. The more common things I saw were eagles, geese, and woodpeckers.”
Castellani said the nature center is also home to “a lot” of owls, including Saw-whet owls, something she had never seen. Another owl species she had never seen, until this Field Period, were snowy owls. She and another nature center intern heard a report about a snowy owl sighting near the Syracuse-Hancock International Airport, about 20 miles from the nature center, and “I saw three of them. They were exciting to see.”
Castellani also learned how to identify birds based on their call.
“I can now identify blue jays, dark-eyed juncos, mourning doves, chickadees, cardinals, and white-breasted nuthatches,” she said. “I also saw a lot of crows on my walks, and learned that birds such as blue jays, cardinals, and mourning doves mate for life and travel in pairs. So if you see one, you are likely to see its mate.”
Castellani garnered a good overview of the center by performing a variety of duties, from working the front desk to leading snowshoe hikes.
“I also cleaned turtle cages, rearranged exhibits, refilled bird feeders, and organized bookshelves,” she explained. “I also fed the hawk, which only had one wing.”
The people with whom Castellani worked “had the same views about the environment that I do, and the nature center wants people to understand that the environment is fragile, and needs to be protected.”
Though Castellani is an exploratory major, she plans to pursue a career in which the environment is a focus.
“I would like to take an environmental class next semester because if things keep going the way they are, more environmental work will be needed,” she said. “I hope my career will allow me to make a difference and change the world.”
Experiential Learner of the Month Sean Mullen Exceeds Expectations
Sean Mullen
Sean Mullen, a resident of Rochester and senior at School Without Walls (SWW), received Keuka College’s Experiential Learner of the Month Award for December.
Keuka, the national leader in experiential, hands-on learning, established the program to honor high school students whose commitment to experiential, hands-on learning has made a difference in their communities.
Mullen will receive a partial academic fellowship to Keuka and qualify for the Experiential Learner of the Year Award, which carries a full academic fellowship to the College.
Teaching Sign Language in Senegal
Nicole Caparulo makes the sign for "Africa," an arc of the hand from left to right.
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of features on recipients of the Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award.
Keuka junior Nicole Caparulo of Corning is combining her interests in special education and sign language this month by conducting a Field Period internship at a residential school for deaf children in Senegal, West Africa.
Caparulo is a unified childhood/special education major with a concentration in American Sign Language (ASL), and discovered the West African school through Martha French, associate professor of education. A friend of French’s, Dr. Angela Bednarczyk, worked 20 years at Galludet University’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, and now works as assistant to the educational director at the Renaissance School for the Deaf (L’Ecole Renaissance des Sourds) in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.
According to Bednarczyk, the Renaissance School for the Deaf was founded in 2007 and follows the Senegalese national curriculum with instruction based on the use of the Francophone West African sign language. The school serves 35 students and has five classrooms, five teachers, and a deaf teacher in training. Each year, students attend whose ages range from 4 to 16.
Caparulo said she expects some elements of ASL will carry over to the sign language used in Senegal, but compared it more to a dialect.
“I am very interested in deaf education, special education, diversity and being open and accepting differences and ways to do things. That plays a major part in education, because you need to be able to do things and experience them,” said Caparulo.
“Special education teaching just stands out for me, along with sign language,” she added. “It’s such a beautiful language, how could I not be drawn to it? It’s always been a passion and now I have an opportunity to learn about it. I’m taking advantage of that. (more…)
Marcus Whitman Senior Honored
Mary Leet, a resident of Stanley and senior at Marcus Whitman Central School, received Keuka College’s Experiential Learner of the Month Award for November.
Keuka, the national leader in experiential, hands-on learning, established the program to honor high school students whose commitment to experiential, hands-on learning has made a difference in their communities.
Leet will receive a partial academic fellowship to Keuka and qualify for the Experiential Learner of the Year Award, which carries a full academic fellowship to the College.
She was nominated for the award by Michael J. Sullivan, a school counselor at Marcus Whitman.
“I am extremely proud of the tremendous growth Mary has exhibited during high school,” said Sullivan. “She is a confident young woman who knows herself and is concerned about making the world around her better.”
Leet has made her mark at Marcus Whitman in myriad areas, including the performing arts. She was selected to the All-County Chorus this year and is a member of Marcus Whitman’s Women’s Ensemble, Drama Club, Art Club, Cartooning Club, and Creative Writers Club.
(more…)
College “Angels” Make Holiday Season Brighter
Left to right: Senior Stephanie Lange, senior Sam Gavin, freshman Desiree Ford, and senior MaKenna Moon were among those who helped deliver gifts as part of the Angel Tree Project.
For many members of the Keuka College community, performing community service comes naturally.
So, when the opportunity arises to help those in need, these folks respond in a big way, especially at holiday time. This year, the Keuka community spent much of November collecting clothes and toys for area children and their families for the Angel Tree Project.
A community service staple and College favorite, the Angel Tree Project is conducted annually, with students, staff, and faculty selecting a paper angel from a Christmas tree. The angel contains a child’s age, whether they are male or female, and if they need clothes, a new toy, or both. There were four angels per child.
“The Angel Tree Project is an opportunity to give to less fortunate local children during the holidays,” said Valerie Webster, community service advocate adviser and co-curricular transcript coordinator. “We always have wonderful participation from the entire campus.”
Those who chose an angel purchase a Christmas gift for that child. Ages of the angels ranged from 11 weeks to 12-years-old. After making a purchase, angels are returned to the Center for Experiential Learning where the gifts are wrapped. The gifts are delivered to children and their parents at the Child and Family Resource Center in Penn Yan.
According to Webster, the Angel Tree project helps the Child and Family Resource Center by “reducing the burden of having to get some of the donations needed to help the families in the county.”
Webster said four College clubs– Rotaract, Drama, PRIDE, and Chi Beta Pi Honor Society–bought gifts for an entire family.
“Rotaract, and Chi Beta Pi combined to give gifts to a family of 11 and Drama Club took on a family of six,” she said. “PRIDE helped with the overall project.”
Said Webster: “It is a good event because who doesn’t love Christmas and children?”
Top Student, Community Activist Honored
Danielle Hobb, a resident of Chittenango and senior at East Syracuse Minoa High School (ESM), received Keuka College’s Experiential Learner of the Month Award for October.
Keuka, the national leader in experiential, hands-on learning, established the program to honor high school students whose commitment to experiential, hands-on learning has made a difference in their communities.
Hobb will receive a partial academic fellowship to Keuka and qualify for the Experiential Learner of the Year Award, which carries a full academic fellowship to the College. (more…)
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