Metro Nashville and University to address teacher shortages in high-need schools while Fellows complete full licensure, graduate degree
Nashville Teaching Fellows, an initiative of Metro Nashville Public Schools and The New Teacher Project, announced today a new partnership with Belmont University to train top-notch, effective educators who will teach high-need subjects in difficult-to-staff Metro schools.
Nashville Teaching Fellows is recruiting approximately 75-100 outstanding career professionals and recent college graduates to teach subjects with traditional teacher shortages—such as math, science, Spanish and special education—in high-need schools. After a highly competitive selection process, chosen Fellows will participate in rigorous summer training to prepare them to enter the classroom as teachers in the fall.
“We recruited The New Teacher Project to Nashville because it stands alone as a national leader in innovative approaches to teacher recruitment,” said Mayor Karl Dean. “When we lose 500 to 600 teachers a year to attrition, it is incumbent upon us to look beyond our local borders and reach out to those who are breaking new ground in this area. Belmont University did not hesitate when approached to be a university partner for The New Teacher Project. For me, this immediate willingness is reflective of not only Belmont University’s commitment to the advancement of education, but also its commitment to the larger Nashville community.”
Fellows will teach full-time in high-need Metro Nashville Public Schools while, at the same time, earning teacher certification and a Master of Arts in teaching degree through Belmont’s two-year program. This program will complement Belmont’s teacher education programs in Montessori education, undergraduate teacher education and traditional Master of Arts in teaching.
Belmont Provost Dr. Dan McAlexander said, “Belmont University seeks to be a premier teaching university, and this partnership is a perfect example of that vision, combining our academic excellence with service to our local community. Together with Nashville Teaching Fellows, we expect to educate tomorrow’s top teachers as well as to prepare the next generation of college student success stories.”
Nashville Teaching Fellows Partners with Belmont
Belmont Students Participate in History Conference
Belmont history majors Ash Johnson, Liza Downey and Molly Myers gave papers recently at the regional conference of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society, held at Austin Peay State University. Johnson’s paper was titled “Generations Lost: The Creation of the African-American Male Psyche” while Downey’s covered “Privilege Yields Responsibility: Women of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the African-American Population.” Myers presented a paper on “Upton Sinclair and the Jungle.” In addition to student presentations at the conference, Dr. Brenda Jackson-Abernathy, chair of the History Department, commented on student papers at a session on Gender in the South. The other History Department faculty attending the conference were Dr. Cynthia Bisson, faculty advisor to the Xi-Alpha Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, and Dr. Peter Kuryla.
Coach Byrd Interviewed on ESPN Radio
Belmont men’s basketball Head Coach Rick Byrd was a guest Friday morning on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” Aside from discussing the Final Four and the accomplishments of the Belmont Basketball program, Byrd offered a good-natured response to comments from Cowherd during his Wed., Apr. 1 program. In discussing the ability of University of Connecticut women’s basketball All-American Maya Moore, Cowherd suggested Moore had the talent to compete for an NCAA Division-I men’s basketball program – paraphrasing – perhaps not at Duke but maybe at Belmont. The popular radio program is broadcast in 750 stations nationwide, including the top 100 markets. Click here to listen to the interview.
Belmont Students Win First Place in Fast Pitch Nashville Competition
Belmont Entrepreneurship majors John Price and Sam Dryden won First Place and $5,000 Tuesday evening for their idea “Lifetime Reel” in Fast Pitch Nashville, a new style of competition designed to showcase great entrepreneurial ideas. A group of finalists pitched their ideas in 60 seconds to a live audience and a panel of judges from the academic, investor and entrepreneurial community in Nashville. There were approximately 200 people in attendance who were able to vote for the winning pitch, and more than 600 unique visitors watched the event live via UStream. The competition’s Grand Prize winner was Dan Simpson with Vintage Graphs who will have the opportunity to present his concept to Angel Investors for possible funding.
Students, Faculty Participate in Community Health Fair
Belmont nursing students and faculty participated this week in the “Maggie McGlother Memorial Community Health Fair & Bingo Game.” Sponsored by Nurse Educators Partnering for Community Health Improvement (NEPCHI), which includes Organized Neighbors of Edgehill, Belmont, Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, Metro Health Department and TSU, the event included blood pressure checks, blood glucose screenings and STD tests in addition to lunch and bingo for the residents of I.W.Gernert Homes in Edgehill. Healthspring and Enhancecare Inc. were also represented as Medicare HMO and health management agencies at the health fair, which the organizing parties hope will be a monthly event.
SIFE Students Reign for Fourth Consecutive Year as USA Regional Champions
Team now prepares for national exposition, competition in May
The Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team returned to Nashville as SIFE USA Regional Champions for the fourth consecutive year after participating in competition in Atlanta on March 30. The event was one of the 17 SIFE USA Regional Competitions being held across the United States during March and April. SIFE is an international organization that mobilizes students around the world to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. The Belmont team will now advance to the SIFE USA National Exposition to be held May 10-12 in Philadelphia.
Dr. John Gonas, assistant professor of finance and the 2008 Tennessee Professor of the Year, serves as a Sam Walton Fellow responsible for advising Belmont’s SIFE students. “I am so blessed to be affiliated with these SIFE students,” Gonas said. “To me they embody the Belmont spirit – taking what they’re learning in the classroom and unconditionally serving those around us. Every day I’m amazed at how passionately they engage and strive to build meaningful and sustainable relationships with our community partners. I think this opportunity is a wonderful added dimension to the college experience and can’t wait to see what these students do after graduation.”
Biles Published in Math, Computer Journals
Dr. Daniel Biles, associate professor in the Math & Computer Science Department, recently had two papers accepted for publication. “Nystrom methods and singular second-order differential equations,” which was co-authored with David Benko, Mark P. Robinson and John S. Spraker, was recently published in Computers and Mathematics with Applications. The same group also was recently published in Mathematical and Computer Modelling for the article titled “Numerical approximation for singular second-order differential equations.”
Entrepreneurship Student Presents at Nascent 500 Business Plan Challenge
Entrepreneurship student Julie Zaloba recently presented a business plan for “Julie’s Café” at the Nascent 500 Business Plan Challenge hosted by Ball State University’s Entrepreneurship Center. Zaloba’s plan was selected as one of 12 top collegiate entrepreneurial ventures invited to the annual competition held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500.
The Nascent 500 is an opportunity for undergraduate students from around the world to hone their entrepreneurial skills and compete for cash prizes by presenting their original business plans to a panel of nationally recognized judges. The twelve students/student teams selected to compete received $500 per team member to defray the cost of travel. They then had just 500 seconds (one lap) in the back of a limousine slowly circling the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to pitch their business idea to three judges followed by an additional 500 seconds in “the pits” to answer questions from these same judges.
Upon completing her pitch and taking in the overall experience Zaloba noted, “This was a first rate experience allowing me to interact at a level of professionalism that I could only have dreamed of. I learned a lot from the feedback I received from the investor judges, which is ultimately going to make my business plan even stronger as I continue to move forward in this entrepreneurial process.”
Dr. Mark Schenkel, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, added, “The opportunity for Julie to present her venture at this year’s Nascent 500 competition was an amazing accomplishment in its own right given the level of competition the event draws annually. It is also reflection of Julie’s talent, personal drive and prospects for her venture, Julie’s Cafe.”
Belmont Junior Wins Professional Video Award
Junior Jessica Walker recently won a 2009 Bronze Telly Award, one of the most prestigious professional awards in video and film production. Walker, a journalism major with a concentration in broadcast, won in the news/news feature category for her BelmontVISION.com news reporting compilation.
“Jessica puts maximum effort into everything she does,” said New Century Journalism instructor Stephan Foust. “This well-deserved international award reflects that effort and illustrates how anything is possible when you pursue a dream with determination and intelligence.”
The 30th Annual Telly Awards received more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 30 countries around the world. Entrants included professional production companies, in-house creative departments, ad agencies and television stations. Click on the play button below to see a sample of Walker’s work with her recent coverage of Fitness Day.
Lind, Students Present Research at Math Conference
Dr. Joan Lind, assistant professor in the Math & Computer Science department, along with students Sarah Claiborne and Cat Simpson, attended the 2009 Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM) Spring conference in Provo, Utah March 20-21. CURM is the agency which awards mini-grants to professors and teams of undergraduate students to conduct year-long undergraduate research projects in mathematics. One of the goals of the conference is to showcase the mathematical research supported by CURM. Since Dr. Lind and her students were awarded a 2008/2009 CURM grant, they presented a talk about their research titled “Discovering the Curve-Creating Black Box.”
