Category: In The News (Page 1 of 2)

Celebration of Catholic Schools Recap

April 10, 2018 / ws-nhotchkiss / 0 Comments

On March 19, students, faculty, and administrators from all 16 schools in the Spokane Catholic Diocese gathered on campus for the 14^thAnnual Celebration of Catholic Schools. This annual event brings Catholic schools together with Bishop Daly and other Diocesan staff, Gonzaga employees, and friends of Catholic education to celebration a mutual commitment to Catholic education in our area. The event featured an interactive education fair during which students from Diocesan schools demonstrate their most recent projects, activities and initiatives. The group shared lunch together and St. Mary School concluded the Celebration with a choral prayer service.

The Importance of Networking – Part III

April 4, 2018 / ws-nhotchkiss / 0 Comments

This is the final part of a three-part series. To read part one, click here. To read part two, click here.

Gonzaga students in the “Sports and Fitness in the Digital Age” class concluded their fall 2017 semester with a video project in collaboration with the Kansas City Royals. The project required students to choose from a variety of American cultural norms and create a video guide for Royals baseball players recruited from the Dominican Republic. The objective is to help players undergo a smooth transition to the United States.

Students worked in small groups, choosing one topic per group. Senior Caitlyn Glenn, along with her groupmates Sydney Scott and Ben Willis, chose to cover the topic of navigating Ubers and taxis.

“We chose to do this topic because most of the players that are placed at the different affiliates of the Royals, generally very few of them have cars,” Glenn said. “We felt it would be good for them to understand a couple different ways that they could get around if they needed to.”

To create their video, Glenn’s group combined information and graphics from a previous project in the class. Earlier in the semester, students did a project called the “How-To project,” in which they created interactive PowerPoints for the Royals players to access and read up on various topics.

“We decided that we wanted to use these PowerPoints in the video, so we voiced over them,” Glenn said. “Once we did this, we realized we needed an intro and a bit of a storyline to follow along with so we wrote the scripts for the video clips that will be paired up with each of the ‘How-To PowerPoints.’ After, we video-taped all of the different clips we would be using, we put them all together and decided the best transitions to use.”

During the actual video-making process, Glenn’s group had difficulty operating the editing software. Since her group combined the “How-To PowerPoints” with different video and audio elements, it was a tedious process to align each component.

“The most challenging part of the whole process was learning how to use the different applications and get them to all work together,” she said. “We had several issues with this so it ended up being even more difficult than we thought it would be in the first place. This meant that it was the most rewarding part when we were finished and saw it all working together, specifically the audio and visual components working together at the correct times.”

Justin Marquis, Gonzaga’s Director of Instructional Design, teaches the class and introduced the project this year. To edit the videos, he has students use Adobe Premiere, a professional video editing software. This allows students hands-on experience with a program that would be used if they were to work at a broadcast news channel.

He intends for the “Sports and Fitness in the Digital Age” course to challenge students’ social media capabilities, and help them develop skills that are constantly building on of one another. For instance, a student’s graphic design skills will translate into video skills. Then into audio, interviewing, and editing skills, all leading into the final video project. He believes that social media skills are a defining quality in a candidate entering the work force.

According to Marquis, there are many more topics to be covered and the Royals are committed to having Gonzaga students generate videos for the players until they have exhausted them all. Marquis started the project with his spring 2018 class as well.

“For me one of the biggest takeaways of this particular class is a real concrete skill and ability in understanding and using social media. The course itself is skill-based, so I want them to know how to do graphic design, how to conduct and edit an audio interview or a podcast, how to plan a video and how to edit it,” Marquis said. “And this really applies to the video project.”

That is why the Royals collaboration is so beneficial to the class. From student Caitlyn Glenn’s perspective, learning how to efficiently operate different editing tools, as well as doing a project in conjunction with such a renowned organization showed her the value in both the project and the class itself.

“We were continually learning about tools that would help us in this [final] project, and then we were able to put it all together,” Glenn said. “My biggest takeaway for both the Royals video project and the class as a whole was learning how to use all of these different programs and seeing the different ways that I will be able to use all of these differently in my future career.”

Alumni Spotlight: Steve Ames, Sport & Physical Education, ’15

November 16, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

Tell us about yourself: My name is Steve Ames. I earned a B.Ed. in Sport Management. I transferred to Gonzaga in the fall of 2008 from Columbia Basin College. I finally graduated in 2015 after slowly working toward my degree while playing professional baseball for both the LA Dodgers (2009-2013) and Miami Marlins (2013-2015).
What are you doing now?: Currently I work for the Tampa Bay Rays as an area scout. I primarily scout amateur players at the high school and college levels. I currently live in Nashville, TN. My area consists of the entire state of Tennessee, Alabama down to Montgomery, and a small portion of western Kentucky.
Why did you choose a program in the School of Education at Gonzaga? Sports have always played a huge role in my life and I had always planned on working in the sport industry in some form after my playing days were over. A degree in sport management seemed like an obvious choice and the program at Gonzaga is highly respected.
What influenced you the most during your time at Gonzaga? Well first let me say, I met my eventual wife Allyson Powell at Gonzaga, a former volleyball player. There have been many teammates and coaches, who have had an obvious influence on my life as well. The School of Education department truly has a family atmosphere. Dr. Karen Rickel has had the greatest influence in my educational experience at Gonzaga. She was my advisor for the majority of my time at GU, and was always available to answer any questions. I can honestly say without her, I don’t know if I would have followed through and finished my degree after getting drafted. Dr. Heidi Nordstrom, Dr. Tunnell, and Dr. Park all worked with my unique schedule and were vital to my success as I slowly worked toward my degree.
What was your greatest lesson learned at Gonzaga? Just because the COG always has dessert, doesn’t mean you need to take one every meal.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in your field? Most challenging? The most rewarding aspect of scouting is watching guys you draft work their way through the minor leagues and get that call up to the Major Leagues. That’s what this job is all about, signing big league players. The most challenging aspect is just that, trying to get the sign the right guys. There is no perfect science to scouting, and that’s why it is so rewarding when you find big leaguers. Especially when they are later round drafts that you have a gut feel about.
What critical issues do you see that need to be addressed in your field? I wouldn’t call the use of analytics a critical issue, but it continues to grow. Its use affects how the game is played, and how players are evaluated. Scouts must continue to adapt to the use on technology like Pitch FX and Trackman in ballparks across the country. The use of analytics is a great tool to help evaluate and make decisions, but there is a human element to our game. It will be interesting to see how the use of analytics evolves over the next 10 years and beyond.
What advice do you have for future education professionals? Persistence pays off, which can be said for any profession. If you want something bad enough, go get it, keep chipping away until you reach your goal. I took 1 class per semester for 5 years and then was able to come back and finish. A college degree meant a lot to me. I was the first person in my family to earn one, and while they aren’t everything, I knew it would help me get a career once I was finished playing.

Alumni in Action: Making a Difference

October 19, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

This is the third and final part in a series featuring the value of a cohort-based approach to graduate education.

Dr. Elaine Radmer spent the last two years advising a group in Fernie, British Columbia. The Fernie cohort perfectly highlights the value of Gonzaga’s site-based approach. “All but one of the educators were from a single school district, but that district spans a number of communities,” Dr. Radmer wrote. “Geographically, they are spread along a single highway, but it takes almost two hours to travel between the outermost cities.” Candidates from the cohort have a story to tell about the way the program transformed their educational practices and philosophy.

Penny did her capstone on improving the experience for athletes through recognition dinners and social media. This rejuvenated her passion for the role she plays as athletic director. On paper, it seems like a small part of her job, but in reality, it is a huge commitment. Her capstone work led to many more plans for improvement – coaching clinics, sports camps, etc… Additionally, in an effort to involve the community in sports programs, she created the first alumni basketball game, which has become a highly successful fundraiser.
Jill continued her work as leader in school literacy goals, working on a collaborative literacy grant with colleagues. They implemented two school-wide initiatives. The first, “Storm Reads Challenge,” set a school wide goal of reading 500 books (which they exceeded) and featured grade level competitions (Grade 7 read more books than any other grade). The second, “Storm Reads Week,” saw every human in the school spend 15 minutes reading during an assigned time.
Leanna implemented the “MindUp” program in Kindergarten/Grade 1 class. It is a social-emotional learning program to teach mindfulness and improve self-regulation. Their class made a Gratefulness tree bulletin board and invited anyone at the school to add a leaf so it would grow over time.
Kathy has started to work with Grade 4 through Grade 6 students at her school to apply math in designing a garden housed at the school.
Andrew started making movies to highlight student achievement. He started with his own classes, but now has a leadership role across the school — gathering videos and pictures and posting “highlight reels” on school websites.
Renee is a Kindergarten teacher who is passionate about student activity levels. She developed and delivered materials to help kids at all grade levels understand options for being active at recess and expectations for their behavior (e.g., problem solving rather than fighting, etc.). Due to her efforts, kids became more active at recess and teachers reported fewer behavioral problems. She also implemented several other school-wide initiatives. She changed the volleyball approach to Triple Ball, which gives younger kids more chances to play and gain skills. To do this, she gained approvals from senior management, and then collaborated with a local college to provide training. Ultimately, she organized a district tournament that was a hit in the community. She also implemented a Golden Shoe challenge to inspire everyone to ride, bike, scooter, or walk to school.
Ian created a collaborative, school-based team that launched an initiative to explore inter-curricular inquiry-driven projects. They changed the bell schedule to create “Inquiry Fridays” for project-based learning. On Fridays, three teachers from different subjects worked together on grade-wide inquiry teams. Ian’s background and expertise as an outdoor education instructor was helpful to support this initiative. In addition, Ian stepped into leadership by organizing activities: staff events, school-wide track-and-field event, and a field trip to Calgary for cultural experience for students in Social Studies and English.
After deciding to commission an art piece as a focal point at the school’s entryway, Jane collaborated with the staff and allowed the plan to evolve until the artwork represented the recent combination of two schools into one. She raised over $3,000 for this project. The unveiling will be in the fall. She also wrote a grant for a collaborative project to build a greenhouse at their school. As an inquiry project, students filled out the permit application, drew up plans, and decided how to heat the greenhouse.

Check out our first post in this series: Alumni in Action: The Elk Valley Arch

Check out our second post in this series: Alumni in Action: The Rainbow Crosswalk Project

Alumni in Action: The Rainbow Crosswalk project

October 5, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

This is the second part in a series featuring the value of a cohort-based approach to graduate education.

The Rainbow Crosswalk in Fernie. Shared from e-know.ca

Inspired to undertake additional project with students to improve their communities, Tara and Janet spearheaded the Rainbow Crosswalk project in Fernie, BC. In her role supervising the Student Council, Tara was able to mobilize the students. The project unfolded over months, as community experts came to school, students taught lessons to peers, and they presented to school and city boards. The project culminated with the painting of a crosswalk by the high school and four additional crosswalks in the downtown area to promote inclusion. Local media covered the project:

http://www.summit107.com/news/east-kootenay-news/six-rainbow-crosswalks-to-be-painted-by-fernie-high-school-students/

https://www.e-know.ca/regions/elk-valley/fernie/first-rainbow-crosswalk-opened/

Check out our first post in the series: Alumni in Action: The Elk Valley Arch

Alumni in Action: The Elk Valley Arch

September 21, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

This is the first part in a series featuring the value of a cohort-based approach to graduate education.

The Department of Leadership & Administration is celebrating the 40-year anniversary of our Master’s programs in Canada. For four decades, the department has formed cohorts of working educators in their locales, and applied course content and assignments in their professional settings. Graduates of our Master’s programs have consistently reported that the program changed their life.

In many ways, the Fernie cohort is very typical for our programs. Their coursework structured for application in our students’ professional work, so at the end of their program, they have a list of accomplishments advanced by their involvement in the program. Graduates often tell us that the program modeled experiential education for them. Faculty think of it as Ignatian pedagogy.

Our latest Fernie cohort’s graduation year coincided with another celebration: Canada 150 (a provincial change to the curriculum structure. Their district responded to B.C.’s new curriculum by encouraging project-based learning. Inspired by the cohort’s collaboration, their instructors, and the program content, some of our candidates decided to facilitate students in a project that would memorialize Canada 150 and represent unity among different schools who typically only compete in sports. Thus, the Elk Valley Arch project came to realization.

The Elk Valley Arch. Shared from elkvalleyarch.com

One of the candidates in the cohort, Steve, envisioned and spearheaded this major inter-provincial project, involving four schools to design, build, and erect 14’ x 16’ cedar archway at the top of mountain pass on Alberta/B.C. border. The story and images of the 3,000 kg arch are on a student-launched website, which was part of the learning embedded in the project: https://elkvalleyarch.com/.

Preparation spanned 10 months. Steve wrote 10 grants, raising $23,000 for the project. He involved colleagues, administration, School Board, government officials and private business people. They were able to obtain permissions to build the structure on crown land leased by a hydro company.

Students in a number of classes at the different schools were involved in designing, creating and transporting the memorial. In Sparwood, Social Studies and Grade 5 students helped identify symbols of the valley. The metal shop built a cart to haul the massive logs up mountain. The Woods class worked on the scaffold. Foods classes prepared granola for students to eat while camping, etc…

Students also played leadership roles in Elkford. Students presented the concept to the Town Council, informed the media and newspaper, and sought out businesses and volunteers willing to support the project.

Seven staff from 3 different schools, 5 volunteers, and 20 students moved the wood up the mountain by hand, and then constructed the arch. Local media covered the Arch. Additionally, a group of students participated in a 3-day outdoor education program, camping on the mountain.

New Programs Bring New Opportunities

September 15, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

Over the last few years, our departments have worked to create dynamic, new offerings that meet the demands of the ever-changing world. This required comprehensive reviews of our current curriculum, identification and development of new material, and the willingness to evolve to stay ahead of the curve. The dedication and effort of our faculty is apparent as we are launching two new programs in the coming year: our Doctor of Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) and Master of Education in Educational Leadership (online).The new programs increase our program offerings to 3 Undergraduate majors and 16 Graduate or Doctoral options across five academic departments.

Our Ed.D., housed in the Department of Educational Leadership & Administration, will enroll the first cohort in Summer 2018. This 51-credit hybrid program prepares candidates for administrative, academic, professional, and research positions in education, civil organizations, private organizations, and public institutions. In American universities, the Ed.D. is recognized as qualification for appointment as a professor.
Our Master of Education in Educational Leadership (online), also housed in the Department of Educational Leadership & Administration, will enroll the first cohort in Summer 2018. This degree is designed for working educators, with a focus on linking theory and research to practical issues in teaching and leadership using their local districts as the context for their study. Students are welcomed into an online cohort of educators and experience the benefits of a collaborative learning community delivered in a dynamic, fostering environment.

The application for admission to each program is open and we are already reviewing potential candidates’ applications. Spread the word: Apply Today!

DELA Celebrates 40 Years in Canada

September 14, 2017 / cairney / 0 Comments

For 40 years, the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration (DELA) has provided high quality masters programs across British Columbia (BC) and Alberta (AB), graduating knowledgeable, skilled, and committed leaders who operate from a strong value base. This year marked the 40^th anniversary of program offerings in Canada, and three celebrations were held across the provinces over the summer. Faculty, alumni, and friends of the program united in Victoria, BC; Kelowna, BC; and Calgary, AB, for food, fellowship, and festivity. “The impact of our graduates reaches nearly everywhere across BC and AB,” Dean Alfonso remarked. “We are proud to celebrate our alumni and our department on this impressive milestone.”