This past Saturday was National Public Lands Day, so several of us volunteers (including some Rockhurst students) met at Hidden Valley Natural Area for a day of "sweat, beauty and a really great workout in this stunning forest!" (quote from the KCWildlands website). We had lots of volunteers so we thought it best to divide and conquer. One group built log stairs along part of the public trail, another built stream debris dams and moved a boardwalk so that visitors can now access the forest without injuring it, and our group worked to get rid of invasive shrub honeysuckle plants. These exotic plants were originally brought in as ornamentals but have since taken over the wild areas in much of the midwest. Kansas City Wildlands works to rid wild areas of this invasive and destructive species in order to let our natural biodiversity flourish. It was a fun and productive day.

Teach for America event

On Tuesday night, two guest speakers from Teach for America addressed a group of (67!)

Rockhurst Honors students in the basement of Corcoran Hall. They described their experiences with the program, which truly hit home since the main speaker (pictured) grew up in Lee's Summit, MO, and did his Teach for America teaching at East High School in the KCMO Public School District. This organization works to eliminate the educational inequities (the "achievement gap") in the US by finding strong and passionate leaders to serve for two years in a school with underprivileged and disadvantaged students. The relationship between Rockhurst (with its mission of learning, leadership and service) and Teach for America seems like a natural one, though this is the first year the organization has recruited at Rockhurst. I already know of two students who have interviews with the program; and after Tuesday night, I hope to see more.

Honors Events

Last week marked the first installment of our Honors activities for this year. On Wednesday night, two of our outstanding Honors students (Grant Fischer and Katie Birkenfeld, pictured) presented the research they have conducted, which developed from Honors Option projects they have done over the past two years. An Honors Option is a contract established with a professor in an upper-level course in which an Honors student performs research or generates a creative project about something in the course that interests them. Honors Options may involve research papers, reflections, presentations, blogs, visits to other facilities or institutions, etc., and allow students to receive Honors credit for courses that are not listed in the catalog as "Honors." Then last Friday, several Honors students conducted a joint service project with HSOM (Helzberg School of Management) at Harvesters, our local food pantry. And finally, Sunday afternoon, Robyn Everist (our Honors Student Association Vice President of Organizational Development) offered Honors students the opportunity to take creative ownership of the Honors Room; and they spent the afternoon painting individual canvases that were mounted on the north wall. They look fantastic! Pictures are forthcoming.

Pictured above are the other upcoming Honors events. They are open to everyone, so please feel free to attend!

Labor Day weekend

Last weekend, I fluctuated between work and fun. Work: my tenure application was due this week, so I had to finalize it. Whew. Fun: Festivals! Dr. Wills (Biology Dept.), Dr. Oliver (Psychology Dept.) and I went to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday where we practiced our archery (Dr. Wills is pictured here with outstretched bow in hand), explored the shops, and were each decorated with some beautiful henna. Then on Monday, a friend and I wandered the streets of Independence at Santa-Cali-Gon Days. This is a celebration of the historic divergence of the three trails (the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails) from Independence. I don't know how the pioneers would feel about attendees' toasting them with fried Snickers bars and paying tribute by riding the "Kick-n-Flip," but it's a fun time nonetheless. Irish Fest was also last weekend, so there was no shortage of things to do in KC.
The coming weekend marks the beginning of Chiefs season! So fair warning - I may not be answering emails between 12 and 3 on Sunday...

Honors Welcome Weekend

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Last weekend, the Honors freshmen students, their dedicated sophomore Honors mentors and I held our annual Honors Orientation (recently renamed "Honors Welcome Weekend"). Not only was this a social gathering over a pasta dinner that the mentors and I cooked, but we also experienced some Kansas City culture - some of us attended the Greenlease Gallery exhibit opening on campus while others of us explored the Asian art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum - on Friday evening. Of course, this was followed by an obligatory trip to the self-serve frozen yogurt bar. On Saturday, we were all bused out to the Heartland Center where we participated in leadership and team-building exercises, including a low-ropes course and a GPS scavenger hunt. Pictured here are a groups participating in each. We were exhausted after it was all said and done, but we had a great time getting to know one another and working on our learning and leadership.