Fourteen members of the American Pharmacy Association student chapter, led by Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Kinsley Kiningham, spent Sat., March 21 in service at Feed the Children in Nashville. They packed nearly 500 boxes (approximately 12 pallets) of hygiene products for distribution to persons in need, locally and beyond. Student participants included Laura Hays, Bounchanh Souriyavong, Courtney Sowels, Cassidy Domagalla, Jackie Deal, Donny Mai, Benson Chiong, Lee Rembert, Zac Renfro, Catherine Williams, Lindsey Archer, Lindsay Locke, Chris McKnight and Ali Foster.
Pharmacy Students Assist Feed the Children
Social Work Students, Faculty Attend National Conference
Social work majors Michelle Barnett, Elizabeth Brown, Claire Godwin, Whitney Harold and Jimmy Smith joined their professors to attend the Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference theme was “The Future is Now,” which showcased the infusion of innovation and technology in social work practice. In addition to serving as conference volunteers, students attended a variety of workshops and met with dozens of graduate program representatives.
McCullough Enchants Large Crowd with History Lesson
David McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and New York Times’ best-selling author, appeared Monday night to more than 3,000 people in the Curb Event Center arena, enchanting them all with his charm, historical knowledge, educational philosophy and, surprisingly, even his singing. The final keynote presenter in Belmont’s “Art of Being Free” lecture series celebrating the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate, McCullough spoke on “Leadership and the History You Don’t Know.” The crowd was populated by numerous special guests including Mayor Karl Dean, former Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist and McCullough’s wife, Rosalie.
McCullough, who opened his remarks by commenting on how smitten he was with Nashville, focused his attention on the need for a much stronger emphasis on history in children’s education. He noted that revitalizing history education in the U.S. is part of his life’s mission because it is through the lens of history that Americans can truly find identity. “The history of our country is the most enthralling subject imaginable, but it’s often made tedious and irrelevant… We’re raising children in every part of the country who are by and large historically illiterate.”
Quoting from Dr. Margaret McFarland, the mentor of Fred Rogers, McCullough said, “What matters most in the classroom is attitude, and attitude isn’t taught, it’s caught.” Rather than increased salaries alone, McCullough advocated that educators deserve more respect and should be required to major in a subject, becoming experts in a specific area of knowledge beyond education alone. Still, he also strongly encouraged that education must occur outside classrooms; parents and families must actively engage. “We have to show [our children] what we love.”
Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day Set for April 4
‘Read With Me’ event, book giveaway 1-4 p.m. in Edgehill’s Rose Park
Belmont University’s Ninth Annual Family Literacy Day will take place, rain or shine, on Sat., April 4 from 1-4 p.m. at Rose Park in the Edgehill community. The event, called “Read With Me,” is aimed at children from pre-K through grade 6 and their families and is designed to celebrate the joys of reading with a free afternoon of interactive story times, crafts and games. The primary focus of the event is Reading Circles, hosted by various campus groups such as the Student Government Association, fraternities and sororities, the Black Student Alliance and the Student Athlete Council. Each group picks a different theme and offers a variety of books for all ages.
Tim Stewart, Belmont’s director of service-learning, said, “Every year, more and more Belmont groups and students get involved. This year we’re especially excited to have Book ‘Em, Dollar General and General Mills as sponsors since their new partnership will provide free books on Saturday to hundreds of kid in attendance.”
In addition, there will be drawings for a variety of door prizes, as well as balloons, face-painting and plenty of fun to go around. Other sponsors and supporters of the event include Metro Parks, Better World Books and the PENCIL Foundation.
Belmont’s Family Literacy Day is but one of many components of the Belmont Volunteers for Literacy program, which includes ongoing tutoring programs at Carter-Lawrence School, Sevier Park Community Center and English tutoring with children and adults through the YMCA Hispanic Achievers program. Family Literacy Day is designed to serve as a celebration of the year’s activities, giving the children and student participants of the ongoing programs a chance to have fun and reflect on their accomplishments. It also serves as a way of encouraging additional Belmont students, faculty and staff to get involved in the literacy effort in the community. For additional information about Belmont’s Family Literacy Day, click here or contact Tim Stewart at 615-460-5431 or stewartt@mail.belmont.edu.
Belmont Supports ‘Earth Hour’ With Darkened Campus
A picture’s worth a thousand words… and when it comes to “Belmont Unplugged,” the university’s celebration of the worldwide Earth Hour on March 28, the before-and-after pictures tell the whole story. Click on the “more” link below to see photos from Saturday night’s campus event.
Belmont and student organization Service Corps celebrated Earth Hour by hosting a special event featuring live acoustic performances from student acts Chadasha and Robert Kelly. The March 28 Earth Hour was a global movement in which millions of people around the world turned out their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time to make a statement of concern about the planet and climate change. The Belmont celebration took place on the sixth floor of the Curb Event Center garage, providing a perfect view of the downtown Nashville skyline.
CEMB to Present New Advising Center Model at Conference
The success of Curb College Advising Center, a new model of academic advising, will be the topic of a presentation given by Tina Dishman (Advising Center Director), Carolyn Burress (Advising Center Administrative Coordinator) and Dean Wesley Bulla at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 3 conference in Charleston, W.Va. on May 18-20. Before the new model was instituted, CEMB’s 16 faculty advisors could not schedule the college’s 1,400 students in the traditional academic advising model of a week and a half. In the Advising Center, faculty spend two hours every week advising students in addition to scheduled appointments during regular academic advising. This new year-round advising model has resulted in a student satisfaction rate of nearly 100 percent.
Student Leadership Council Holds CEMB Awards
On Wed. March 25, Student Leadership Council held the annual Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business Awards ceremony where Mark Volman was honored as Best Full Time Professor and Tony Cottrill as Best Adjunct Professor. Other award recipients included: Sony/BMG (Best Internship Company), Country/Erik Parker producer (Best Showcase), The John Shaw Group (Best Student Album), Future (Best Curb Café Show), Brett McLaughlin (Best Solo Artist) and The Westbound Rangers (Best Group). Best Student Awards went to David Macklom (Audio Engineering Technology), Andrew Petroff (Entertainment Industry Studies), Molly Shehan (Music Business) and Stephen Duncan (Songwriting).
LaLonde Receives Most Votes in Special Election
Dr. Kristine LaLonde, assistant professor and coordinator of honors leadership studies, received the most votes of the four candidates in yesterday’s special election for the District 18 Metro Council seat. She will face Stephenie Dodson in an April 30 runoff. District 18 includes the Belmont/Hillsboro and Hillsboro West End neighborhoods, along with portions of 12South, Hillsboro Village and Vanderbilt and Belmont universities.
McCullough Grants Exclusive Interview to Belmont Vision
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough granted an exclusive interview this week to Belmont Vision Editor Melanie Bengtson. The interview with the student paper is the only interview McCullough will do prior to his campus appearance next week.
The author will speak in Belmont’s Curb Event Center on Mon., March 30 at 7 p.m. as the official conclusion of the year-long campus celebration of the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate. As the final keynote presenter in Belmont’s 2008-09 “Art of Being Free” lecture series, McCullough will speak on “Leadership and the History You Don’t Know.” To date, more than 4,000 free tickets have been given to the campus and local community for the event.
Click here to read Bengtson’s complete interview with McCullough.
Wolfgram Wins Final ASCAP Writers’ Night
On Tues., March 24, the Curb College held its final ASCAP Writers’ Night of the academic year. Student writers Lindley Wolfgram, Tyler Hubbard, and Elizabeth Olmstead (pictured left to right) performed alongside guest writer and event host Michael Farren. Farren, lead singer in the Dove Award-nominated band Pocket Full Of Rocks, has been a songwriter for more than 15 years and has been an artist/writer with Word Records for the last four years. His songs have been performed by Michael W. Smith, Wynonna Judd, Phillips Craig & Dean and Big Daddy Weave, among others. Wolfgram, the evening’s winner, rounds out the student performance line up for the 2009 Best of the Best Showcase, which will take place on April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Curb Event Center.
