Association of School Retirees awards yearly grant
The Lycoming County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees awards a yearly grant to teachers who apply from county schools. The grant money is then used to supplement educational projects through the year.
This year, nineteen applications were received. The winners were Michael Beiber and Brandy McFadden who teach at the Ashkar Elementary School in the East Lycoming School District.
The grant will be used for after school reading and math clubs. Students who meet after school will receive both individual and small group assistance.
LHU faculty awarded $10,000 in Student Success grants
LOCK HAVEN The Lock Haven University Foundation recently awarded $10,000 in "Student Success Grants," special projects in spring 2013 that enhance student learning within the University.
"These grants have a direct impact on student achievement and give us the opportunity to support projects that are directly aligned with our No. 1 strategic goal - student success," said Donna Wilson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "We are grateful for these contributions from the Lock Haven University Foundation."
Brett Everhart, professor of health and physical education, is among the awardees. His grant will be used to give health and physical education students access to research-based curricular and instructional materials, called SPARK-PE, to choose as resources when they plan lessons. The materials will serve as instructional guides for teachers to engage students in optimum amounts of physical activity while sequencing creative learning activities appropriately.
Ted Nuttall, professor of biology, also is among the grant recipients. The Ruggedized Advanced Pathogen Identification Device (RAPID) is a portable instrument designed for the military that very rapidly identifies specific harmful bacteria and viruses through their unique DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RAPID was donated to LHU in 2012 by Todd Ritter, an alumnus of LHU who helped develop it. The Digital Disruptor Genie funded by this grant will be used to extract DNA from any source (bacteria, spores, etc.) for use in the device. The RAPID system will be integrated into the Advanced DNA Methods (BIOL345) course taught in the spring of 2015.
Additional faculty awardees were Amy Kutay and Barrie Overton, biology professors who submitted a joint proposal to purchase equipment for first-year biology and health science students to conduct hands-on molecular-based laboratory experiments. Associate Dean Marianne Hazel, the final grant awardee, was given funding to support the University's annual Celebration of Scholarship event in April.
Successful proposals demonstrated enhancement of student learning, clear and measurable outcomes and potential to affect the outcomes, as well as a feasible budget.
"The Foundation is pleased to have been able to collaborate with the University on providing these funds to the LHU faculty," said Jim Gregory, president of the LHU Foundation Board of Directors. "Student success and faculty support are key components of the Foundation's mission at LHU."
Lock Haven University is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 500,000 system alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
Wheeler to give annual Drew Darrow Memorial Poetry Reading
LEWISBURG - Poet Betsy Wheeler will give the 11th annual Drew Darrow Memorial Poetry Reading 7 p.m. Tuesday in Bucknell Hall at Bucknell University.
The reading, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Writing Center and the Stadler Center for Poetry, with support from Drew Darrow's family and friends. A reception and book signing will follow the reading.
Wheeler is managing director for the Juniper Summer Writing Institute at UMass, Amherst and is editor and publisher of Pilot Books, a poetry micro-press.
Her poems have appeared in Bat City Review, The Journal, Pebble Lake Review, Forklift Ohio, Octopus, and others. Her chapbook, "Start Here", is available from Small Anchor Press. Her book, "Loud Dreaming in a Quiet Room", was published in 2012 by the National Poetry Review Press.
Originally from the Upper Mississippi River Valley, Wheeler studied poetry and the art of the book at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse where she was a Maple House Fellow for Sutton Hoo Press.
After a brief stint working in the publishing industry in Minnesota's Twin Cities, she went on to receive a master's degree in poetry from Ohio State University. From 2006 to 2008 she held the Stadler Fellowship at Bucknell University.
This Memorial Reading Series honors the memory of Drew Darrow, a 1986 Bucknell graduate. A student employee of Bucknell's Writing Center, Darrow later worked as an actor in New York City. He died in 1997.
For more information about this event, visit www.bucknell.edu/x78315.xml or call the Writing Center at 577-3141.
