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October 27, 2009 | News, Photos, Student Life | No Comments
October 27, 2009 | News, Photos, Student Life | No Comments
October 27, 2009 | News, Photos, Student Life | No Comments
by Ryne Weiss, Academy Avatar
With Gatton Academy students well-integrated into college life, it can be easy to forget that really, they are still high school students. The seniors know this all too well as they begin the arduous college applications process.
“It can be the most exciting time of your life, or the stress can make you pull your hair out,” says Dr. Pokey Bowen, the Gatton Academy’s assistant director for counseling services. As the staff member who oversees postsecondary admissions, he deals with managing academy students’ questions about the application process, and helping them cope with the seemingly endless amount of stress it brings.
Dr. Bowen is correct: this year’s application process looks to be a terribly exciting one, as the Class of 2010 has the ambition to send several of their ranks into the most prestigious colleges and universities in the world.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)–a school already home to two Academy alumni–is becoming popular place for Academy applications to land. Cody Feldhaus (’10, Boone County) has his eyes on MIT.
“MIT is one of the best, if not the best school for the STEM fields, specifically engineering,” Feldhaus noted. “Choosing it was an easy and natural choice.”
Ballard Metcalfe (’10, Henry County), is also interested: “For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an engineer, and MIT’s engineering is second to none.”
Sarah Pritchett (’10, Clark County) is also exploring options in the northeastern part of the United States.
“In Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences they have a number of different environmental majors,” Pritchett said. “They have so many that you can declare your major ‘Environmental Undecided’. I also like that they offer 60 languages. These things and many others have made Cornell my first choice.”
Anna Walter (’10, Boone County), like many students, is taking advantage of campus visits to help determine which school is the right fit. “University of Delaware has a top ranked chemical engineering department,” Walter said. “I visited and the vibe just felt right.”
Not all students are certain of her plans, though. Jordan Jones (’10, Kenton County) is still in the process of narrowing her options.
“I’m looking at Brown for their program in liberal medical education and Washington University in St. Louis,” Jones explained. “I’m not sure of what I want to do, much less where I want to go, so it’s going to take a lot more thought.”
Thomas Delomas (’10, Fayette County) also has yet to make a decision. “I’m applying to a number of schools that interest me, such as Dartmouth, Cornell, Purdue and University of Indiana,” Delomas added. “I’m going to wait to see what the offer me before I make any decisions.”
While most application deadlines aren’t until the New Year, a few students are eager enough to be applying early. Zac Forshee (’10, Simpson County) and Rohith Palli (’10, Fayette County) are applying through Yale University’s early action program, where they will find out if they have been accepted in mid-December.
What makes them so certain of their choice? “Yale is generally regarded as one of the top institutions for undergraduate education and to apply early allows me to be considered for admission twice, which seems like a win-win situation to me,” says Forshee.
For Palli, the students he met on campus were equally impressive. “I visited the campus and fell in love with it. The students I spoke with thoroughly impressed me with their wide range of knowledge and general amiability to a stranger that had just started to talk to them.”
In the past, the academy has sent students to such prestigious schools as MIT, Virginia Tech, Smith College, New York University, Vanderbilt and William and Mary College, as well as having students accepted to Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Washington University in St. Louis.
October 23, 2009 | News, Photos, Student Life | No Comments
October 23, 2009 | Alumni, News, Parents, Student Life, WKU | No Comments
The Gatton Academy wishes to invite current students, alumni and their families to our inaugural Homecoming Celebration on Saturday, November 7, 2009.
For some, it might be the first time you’ve returned since graduation. For others, come on over from your residence hall on campus amid WKU’s other Homecoming activities.
The Academy will provide a lunchtime tailgate for our guests. The tailgating menu will include barbecue with all the trimmings. Vegetarian options will also be available. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m. in the parking lot behind Schneider Hall.
If you are interested in attending the football game as WKU takes on Troy at 4 p.m., you may obtain tickets via the WKU ticket office by telephoning 1-800-5-BIG-RED.
Alumni and parents are kindly asked to RSVP online at http:///gattonhomecoming09.eventbrite.com no later than noon on Monday, November 2, 2009. Current Academy students need not RSVP.
We look forwarding to seeing you then as we celebrate the exciting things happening at the Gatton Academy.
October 19, 2009 | News, Student Success | No Comments
The numbers game at the University of Kentucky’s second annual High School Mathematics Day added up to success for Gatton Academy students.
The Academy team took top honors in both the team and 11th/12th grade male divisions. Alex Hare (’11, Rowan Co.) was the top male competitor in the upper division. Rohith Palli (’11, Fayette Co.) tied for second in the same division.
Team members included Alex Hare, Jacob Haven, Alex Naumann, Kaitlyn Oliver, Rohith Palli, and Forrest Simmons.
This event featured a half-day of activities for high school students with an interest in mathematics. The day began with an individual problem solving competition. The problems required students to think creatively and use these algebraic tools in new and creative ways.
“The test was more computational than anything,” added Forrest Simmons (’11, Boone Co.) “Some of the problems were interesting.”
The rest of the morning featured presentations and hands on activities with UK faculty and students that introduced students to some new mathematics and applications of mathematics.
“I enjoyed the challenging problems,” Palli noted. “The seminars were very interesting, especially the one about fractal geometry and origami.”
For more information, contact Corey Alderdice at (270) 745-2971.
Dr. Julia Link Roberts and Tracy Ford Inman of The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU have received a 2009 Legacy Book™ Award from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT).
Dr. Roberts and Inman were honored with the Legacy Book™Award for the Most Outstanding Book for Educators for Strategies for Differentiating Instruction: Best Practices for the Classroom (published by Prufrock Press).
The Legacy Book™Awards are recognized nationally and honor outstanding literature related to gifted children and their education. TAGT distributes nominated books to a nationwide panel of reviewers who evaluate the books according to their long-term potential for improving the lives of gifted youth.
“We are honored to have our book recognized on a national level,” Dr. Roberts said. “Our goal was to write the book to be useful to preservice teachers and teachers new to differentiation as they implement strategies to ensure that each student makes continuous progress.”
Dr. Roberts is the Mahurin Professor of Gifted Studies and executive director of The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU and the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky. Inman is associate director of The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU.
Other winners include Carol Fertig’s Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook (also from Prufrock) as the Most Outstanding Book for Parents; Social-Emotional Curriculum with Gifted and Talented Students, edited by Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Dr. Tracy L. Cross and Dr. F. Richard Olenchak (Prufrock Press), as the Most Outstanding Book for Scholars.
Prufrock, the nation’s leading resource for gifted and advanced learners, also published Roberts’ and Inman’s book Assessing Differentiated Student Products: A Protocol for Development and Evaluation.
TAGT will recognize the Legacy Book™ Award honorees Dec. 3 during the First General Session of the annual TAGT Professional Development Conference: Growing their Gifts at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. In addition, TAGT has invited the authors to present sessions during the conference.
Contact: Gifted Studies, (270) 745-6323; or TAGT, (512) 499-8248.
October 16, 2009 | Academics, News, Student Success | No Comments
Ballard Metcalfe of Eminence, Ky., didn’t seem nervous as he stood before a panel of legislators, policy advocates and business leaders in a meeting room of the Library of Congress.
Metcalfe, a senior at the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU, along with representatives from six other specialized high schools shared research on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on Oct. 14 to The Keystone Center’s National Energy Board in a session held in Washington, D.C.
Metcalfe wasn’t worried that his audience would dismiss the group’s message because of their age. Instead, it made him all the more confident.
“Students are able to create solutions that are ultimately bipartisan and pragmatic solutions, without many of the anxieties our current leaders face, such as protecting their own power,” Metcalfe said. “We are objective and our only goal is for the future.”
The Energy Board is a unique group of 50 national leaders on energy policy issues. Metcalfe and his colleagues from other National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Math, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST) schools were granted a tremendous opportunity to take action and affect energy policy in the country today, and as they consider their college and career choices in the future.
The proposal’s genesis came during the 8th Keystone National Youth Policy Summit (YPS). In June 2009, 30 students from seven math and science schools from across the country came together in Keystone, Colo., to develop consensus-based recommendations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the United States.
Additional Gatton Academy students participating in the conference included Elaine Flynn of Demossville, Ky., Alexander Hare of Morehead, Ky., Holly Mitchell of Salvisa, Ky., Kaitlin Oliver of Central City, Ky., and Hunter Smith of Elizabethtown, Ky.
The summit and subsequent white paper allowed participants to take stock of the larger technical, legal, environmental, social, economic, and political problems associated with current and future reductions in emissions across 10 sectors of the economy. Students shared their own research, sharpened the definition of the issues and options, and sought consensus on recommendations.
Derick Strode, the academy’s coordinator for research, internships, and scholarships, explained the summit and presentation were an extraordinary opportunity to combine advanced research with real implications.
“This was a chance for Ballard to apply his research, learning, and ideas to an important, real-world application,” Strode said. “As one member of the energy board pointed out, the presentation was especially influential because the students’ were not coming with any special interests to represent.”
Given the global emphasis on reducing greenhouse emissions, the topic serves as both a timely and relevant for emerging young leaders in science and mathematics. With guidance from the experts in science and public policy, these high school students produced viable approaches to dealing with a problem that is confounding national policy makers as well as those in state legislatures across the U.S.
“Reducing greenhouse gases will be of utmost importance for the preservation of the environment for my generation, and many generations to come,” Metcalfe said. “It is important that we work towards achieving the goal of reducing greenhouse gases before it is too late, and one way to work toward that goal is by means of our recommendations.”
The findings were reported to energy and government leaders within their communities. Greenhouse Gas Reductions in the U.S. (PDF Link) represents the results of the students’ deliberations in the form of a written set of consensus recommendations.
Participants noted, if implemented fully and completely, the suggestions in this proposal would, over a four-decade time horizon, slow, stop and then reverse the trend of increasing carbonemissions in the United States. The primary driving force for these reductions in emissions is a market-oriented cap-and-trade system. Although the consensus statement was developed separate from, and independently of, other national initiatives, the economics bears striking similarities to H.R. 2454, or the Waxman-Markey Bill, which passed the House on June 26, 2009 — two weeks after the end of the student summit.
Student participants acknowledged the proposal is a compromise, and that it is not a perfect or a complete solution to the climate problem facing the United States. Instead, the policy suggestions were offered as possible catalysts for a shift in the nation’s perception of pollution, environmentally-friendly lifestyles, and policy making.
Metcalfe shared the advice given to him by a member of the board after Wednesday’s session.
“There are many people on either end of the spectrum, those in academia on one side, and the policymakers and politicians on the other,” he said. “Many times, these groups are not proficient at communicating ideas or understanding one another. Mediating between the two sides is an important task in our age, one that requires people who possess skills in both areas. Hard work on the part of people like myself and the other students who attended the YPS will be needed in order to mediate between the two ends of the spectrum, in order to form the policy that will make the world a better place for all.”
For information, contact Derick Strode at (270) 745-3167.
October 16, 2009 | Academics, International, News, Student Success, WKU | No Comments
Story Courtesy of WKU News
This week’s View From the Hill television segment also focuses on Chinese Language Flagship.
Ashley Norman of Union, Ky., planned to attend another university until she learned about a new program at Western Kentucky University—The Chinese Flagship Institute Pilot Program.
The Flagship is an intensive, four-year Chinese language program funded through a Diffusion of Innovation Flagship Partner Planning Grant from The Language Flagship of the National Education Security Program at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Norman, who studied Chinese at Larry A. Ryle High School, said she changed her mind “almost instantly” upon learning of the Flagship program and other opportunities offered through WKU’s Honors College.
“The Honors College opportunity and the Flagship program are the primary reasons I decided to attend WKU,” she said. “The Chinese experience I had in high school motivated me to continue with Chinese language education, and I feel as though I caught on to the language rather quickly. For this reason, I felt that an intensive program would keep me enthralled to the highest degree.”
Amy Eckhardt, Director of WKU’s Office of Scholar Development, said WKU and the University of Kentucky are the only universities in Kentucky to offer four years of intensive Chinese language instruction.
“We are part of one of the most exciting innovative advances in foreign language education in this country,” Eckhardt said. “This will provide needed opportunities for Kentucky high school graduates to continue Chinese language studies.”
WKU is one of nine funded programs in the United States, along with Indiana University, Ohio State University, Brigham Young University, Arizona State University, University of Rhode Island, University of Oregon, University of Mississippi and San Francisco State University.
Ed McDermott, program manager for The Language Flagship, said the organization was proud to add WKU by creating the pilot program because of the commitment the University demonstrated in its proposal.
“Western Kentucky demonstrated that it intends to integrate this program across disciplines and meet the students’ needs,” he said. “That’s the direction we want to go.”
WKU has recruited Liping Chen as Academic Director of the Flagship and an assistant professor of Chinese language and linguistics. Dr. Chen, who has a doctorate in linguistics from Rutgers University, came from the University of Pittsburgh where she was the Chinese language coordinator.
“The moment I saw the job posting, I told myself I wanted this job because it fits both my passion and my expertise and experience with Chinese language and linguistics,” Dr. Chen said. “I see WKU as an exciting opportunity to use my expertise in Chinese linguistics and language pedagogy to help shape and develop its Chinese Flagship program.”
The Flagship curriculum incorporates a series of overseas experiences and internships, she said. It is also outcome based and student proficiency level will be measured by a series of assessment tools.
“Clearly, it is an ambitious project that calls for the commitment and dedication from both the administration and the students,” Dr. Chen said. “And I am convinced that WKU has both.”
“Students who participate in the Chinese Flagship program are committing to studying Chinese during their entire course of study at WKU,” Eckhardt said. “Along with access to excellent and personalized teaching and advising, students will receive scholarships to support summer language study and at least two funded overseas experiences in China as part of the pathway to proficiency.”
With China’s importance in the global economy, the Chinese Flagship program will play an important role in Kentucky’s economic development, Eckhardt said. Not only will learning Chinese help students become global professionals, having the program in Kentucky will have a positive impact on the state’s trade relationship with China, she said.
That importance was cited by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear in a letter to WKU President Gary Ransdell. Beshear, who recently attended an economic development conference in China, said the Flagship program would be a positive correlation for Chinese investors and for economic development with China in Kentucky.
Dr. Ransdell added: “If there is a language that is going to help define this small global village, we’ll put our stake with the Chinese language.”
Eckhardt added that Chinese is also considered a critical language to the U.S. military.
Rachel Reetzke, a senior from Franklin, enrolled in the Flagship program after traveling to China this summer through the Honors College. For one month she volunteered and observed at the Chengdu Autism Training Center as an independent research project.
“It was through my volunteering and observations that I developed a passion for further learning the Chinese language in order to continue to help the children that I had the opportunity to work with,” the communication disorders major said. “After completing this Flagship program at WKU, I hope to utilize my new language skills to continue helping the individuals with autism in China.”
The Flagship is already attracting the “kind of students every teacher wants,” Dr. Chen said. “They are extremely smart, polite, motivated and dedicated,” she said. Of the 16 currently enrolled in the Elementary Chinese class, eight are members of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a residential program at WKU for select gifted high school juniors and seniors. Others are studying in areas such as photojournalism, the arts and psychology.
“Students came to my office hour the first day of class to practice their pronunciation and they could tell each other’s Chinese names in the second meeting of class,” Dr. Chen said. “I can’t wait to see them communication in Chinese when we are in China in January.”
Participants in the inaugural Chinese Flagship Institute Elementary Chinese class
WKU Students
Chris Groves, Bowling Green, Ky.
Jesse Hazel, Bowling Green, Ky.
Charles Meredith, Bowling Green, Ky.
Sara Moody, Bowling Green, Ky.
Ashley Norman, Union, Ky.
Angel Piper, Sebree, Ky.
Rachel Reetzke, Franklin, Ky.
Darra Jackson, Atlanta, Ga.
Students in the Gatton Academy for Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU
Amy Cordero, Pikeville, Ky.
Samuel Firkins, Taylorsville, Ky.
Jason Ludden, Columbia, Ky.
Ballard Metcalfe, Eminence, Ky.
Jared Mink, East Bernstadt, Ky.
Joshua Robinson, Elizabethtown, Ky.
Sarah Schrader, Bowling Green, Ky.
Benjamin Venable, LaGrange, Ky.
More about the Chinese Flagship program at WKU
The WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program is an intensive undergraduate four-year course of study that leads to an Honors degree in a home major and to certified proficiency in Chinese. It is the only fully articulated four-year Chinese language program in the state and will offer students from Kentucky and throughout the U.S. an affordable, high-quality undergraduate education that combines the study of Mandarin Chinese with rigorous academics in an engaged Honors community setting.
The WKU Chinese Flagship Pilot Program will be an independent Honors-level certificate program housed in University College, with formal affiliations with the Honors College, Potter College of Arts & Letters and the International Office.
No prior Chinese language experience is required, but students must commit to the intensive study of Chinese for the duration of their degree program at WKU. Students must also commit to a year of study and professional internship in Nanjing, China, and all students must be admitted to, or be in good standing in, the Honors College.
There is a Pre-Flagship Summer Intensive Language Training for students with no Chinese or with beginning (Novice level) Chinese. Students (entering freshman, transfer, or currently matriculated students) who are accepted into the program will receive full scholarships for an intensive Mandarin language course in the summer term before their first fall term in the Flagship program.
In years 1-4, students will enroll each year in a minimum of 12 Chinese credits (eight credits in fall and spring and four credits during winter term). These classes will count toward Honors College credit requirements.
Additionally, each year between the fall and spring semester, students will participate in an intensive four-week Winter Language Practicum in China during WKU’s winter term. This immersion overseas language program will allow students to engage authentically with the culture and language from the outset. Financial support for this program is available to all Flagship students through the generous support of the Honors College and the Office of Internationalization.
All students graduating in this program will complete a capstone year of study at Nanjing University and an internship experience in China. The timing of the Capstone year is determined by each student’s language proficiency and academic major. Staff and faculty from the Honors College, the WKU Chinese Flagship, the Office of Scholar Development, and the Study Abroad office are available to provide guidance and personalized advising to students. While at Nanjing, they complete courses in their major and work individually with native-speaking tutors. Immediately following the semester in Nanjing, scholars complete professional internships at various locations in China.
For more information on WKU’s Chinese Flagship Pilot Program, visit http://www.wku.edu/chineseflagship/ or call (270) 745-2081.
More WKU news is available at http://www.wku.edu/news/index.html and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/.
For more information, contact Amy Eckhardt, (270) 745-2081.