Pavlis Honors College Blog

Peru Week 1: Making a Plan

Published July 10, 2019

Throughout our first week in Peru, we met a lot of people and saw a lot of sights (and tried Picarones for the first time! A fried sweet potato delicacy). In the first few days, we got familiar with the area and met with two possible project sites: Huntapasqa and Casa de Panchita.

CASA DE PANCHITA

Casa de Panchita is an organization with a well-established structure in the district of Lince in the city of Lima. This organization does a lot of things that involve teaching children. This includes English classes and a variety of different workshops that go over important topics that aren’t necessarily taught in their schools. Things like proper diet, cleaning, and sexual education. This week we helped them transition into a new office space and organize donations into gift bags for kids. We hope to have a design thinking workshop put together for them, but first, we will help them prepare and celebrate their 3oth anniversary on Sunday, July 15th!

HUNTAPASQA

Huntapasqa is an NGO in the lower-income area of Pamplona (Pamplona Alta). This organization has built a safe area for the local children to come to after school to get help on their homework. They also try to incorporate educational activities that are fun for the kids. A lot of the children in the area don’t have ideal home lives and live with single mothers. Huntapasqa brings the children together and creates a community where they can always reach out to for help. So far, we have had several meetings with the leaders of Huntapasqa to see what their organization is about and how we can benefit them the most. The first concern they already knew they needed help with is designing a website where people can reach out to them to sign up their kids in the program, options for volunteering, and a way to accept donations online. Over this next week, we will be hosting a design thinking workshop with the Huntapasqa leaders and other adults in the community to dig deeper and learn the best ways we can help them and make this a site for Pavlis projects for years to come. In the following pictures, you can see (from left to right) Nic and I were in Eveli’s house with our site coordinator, Carlos Amador, and the three women that started Huntapasqa, Nataly, Rocio, and Eveli. The next two pictures show the outside of their site in Pamplona Alta (in San Juan of Miraflores) and the last picture is of all the kids that participate in the afterschool session.

Goats on the Go!

Published July 3, 2019

By Jessie Neece

The Ghana Goats made the final leg of our journey into Sunyani on Saturday. We will be staying on the campus of the University of Energy and Natural Resources for the rest of our time in Ghana, with small excursions into other areas of the country. As soon as we moved into the dorms, we hit the ground running with meetings with contacts and visiting key areas like the market. At first, we were all a little overwhelmed by the new area, but we managed to survive on our own in the market to get supplies for dinner- even if it was just plain rice with fried vegetables on top.

The next morning, we got up early and made the trip to Babianeha with Dr. Opuni, a key contact for the program here in Ghana, who drove us and even introduced us to some great bread on the way. Once in Babianeha, we met with the Opuni family and exchanged contact information. For a quick excursion, we hiked out to the egg farm and met with some more of the family. After that, we walked over to where the schools and community center are, the two main locations where we will be working. With Dr. Opuni as our guide, we ventured into the border town separating Ghana and Ivory Coast to meet some more people who will help us be successful during our time there. After a quick lunch back at the Opuni house, the team traveled back to Sunyani for some more exploration of useful locations.

Becky, Lucinda, and Tristan in Babianeha.

Standing at the border of Ghana and the Ivory Coast with Emmanuel and Kwajo Opuni.

The next morning, the team spent our last day with Andrew, our advisor, by meeting Nana’s mother who runs a pharmacy, meeting the headmaster of the Ridge Experimental Schools, and locating the trotro station that will eventually allow us to travel back to Babianeha at a later date. While we had prepared some ideas for activities for the schools, we didn’t want to do something with the students if it was ultimately irrelevant to their studies, so we asked the headmaster what they would like us to teach while we are there. There was some exchange on what we could feasibly teach them without going outside of our abilities and it was decided we would teach basic electronics to two classes on Wednesday (today) and math to one class on Thursday (tomorrow). Armed with only some photos of a textbook, a science kit, and a general idea of a syllabus, the team headed out.

The trotro station that will take us from Sunyani to Dormaa on our way to Babianeha.

Yesterday, the team spent the entire day researching activities for basic circuits and using the kits to build engaging projects for the students. After several hours of Google, trial and error, and a nap break, the team had a lesson plan for both levels we would be teaching. We had an early night last night to allow us enough sleep to get to the schools by 7:30AM to meet the teachers again and be introduced to the classes.

Becky and Tristan designing circuits to be used with Ridge Experimental School students

The first class we taught had a little bit of a rough start, but, with some good communication, we settled into a rhythm. Soon, the students were building little circuits of their own and engaging with us on the activity. The second form was a little bit older and had a bit more knowledge about the circuits we were building, though they had not worked with the science kits from the school before. Our activity got off to a rough start, but we made our way around the room to help the students and everyone, including us, seemed to have learned a bit from it. Our final activity revolved around the difference between parallel and series connections in circuits- figuring out how to get a buzzer and an LED to work at the same time in the small circuit. It took the students a second to figure out how to connect elements in parallel, but soon the room was filled with the high pitched buzz from the speakers signaling success. Tonight, we will finish developing our lesson plan for the math lesson tomorrow and then we will head to the school in the morning.

Catch you next time!

–Lucinda, Becky, and Tristan

Wiki Moja – The Tanzania Tree Huggers Get to Moshi

Published July 3, 2019

By Jessie Neece

Hujambo from Tanzania! This week, the Tanzania Tree Huggers got to Tanzania and spent the week in Moshi. After getting off of our plane at about 9:30 PM Wednesday night, Ewald Tesha from Asante Africa picked us up and brought us to stay at Snowview Hotel in Boma N’gombe for one night before we continued onward to Moshi. We got up the next morning and after having a delicious first meal in Tanzania, we headed to tour the two schools we would be working with later on in the trip – Orkolili and Nkwamakuu. First up, we stopped at Orkolili where Mama M’cha gave us a tour of their facilities. They are a secondary school that offers vocational programs such as welding and masonry to help prepare their students for the workforce. We then headed over to Nkwamakuu where we had chai (morning tea and snacks such as fresh fruit) with the headmaster before getting a tour of their school. Both schools were not in session so we did not get a chance to meet more than just a few students at each school.

After finishing up at the school, we drove over to Moshi to get situated at the hostel we would be staying at for the next week, Old Moshi Hostel. We got to meet Eva, our wonderful host who would be helping us organize projects, excursions, and showing us the city. She is the best! After settling in to our room a bit, we went to visit Msamaria Children’s Home. Having not heard anything from Amani’s Children’s Home (one of the sites past teams had worked with), we were exploring new options for future teams. Msamaria Children’s Home was home to about 80 children who come from the streets, are orphans, or are from destructive homes who haven’t been able to be re-united with their extended families. The kids were mostly around 7-12 years old and were excited to dance with us or use Madi’s hand sanitizer. We identified a possible future project for teams to do as preparing some lessons on things such as sanitation to teach the students, a need that was expressed by the man who runs Msamaria.

The next day, Eva organized for us to head over to the Kiviwama Conservation Center to work on their tree planting project. It was a beautiful slice of the rainforest just seconds from the city center of Moshi that had a lovely river cutting through it. This project involved us being given a huge pile of native seeds and planting them in soil to start growing. Another future project for teams would be to take part in their weekly tree transport and planting at schools around Moshi as an attempt to create natural shade using local plants. It was a really cool project that we wished that we could work on more, but we lacked the necessary funds and time. After planting all of our seeds and getting an overview of the different trees and plants that they raise there, we headed back to Msamaria’s to take part in a birthday party being thrown there for one of our fellow hostel-mates. We all danced with the kids to fun renditions of “Happy Birthday” that we had never heard before, had a lunch of chicken and potatoes, and a celebratory chocolate cake. It was so fun seeing all of the kids having a such a great time!

We were off the next two days since it was the weekend and we got to enjoy a few excursions! All three of us went with the hostel to the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro and hiked the 8 km up to Mandara Hut and then headed back. It was incredible getting to experience such a iconic part of Tanzania. The next day, Emily joined the hostel in a trip to hot springs where she got to see lots of monkeys and fish that nibble on your toes.

On Monday, we met up with our professor Mary Raber to discuss our time here so far and our upcoming plans for the next few weeks. After hanging out for a bit, we went to lunch with Tesha and Eva at a local restaurant where we all tried some different Tanzanian dishes such as chips mayai (omelette with french fries) and maandazi (fried donuts).

We dropped Mary at her hotel and then headed over to check out our final site here in Moshi, the Children of Destiny Foundation children’s home. It was conveniently located just two streets away from Old Moshi Hostel and it consisted of an orphanage that took care of about 20 kids that went to Kenya for boarding school much of the year and also a daycare for local children. The orphanage had been running for about 12 years with the same group of kids growing up there as a family. The children attended boarding school in Kenya through sponsorships by people around the world because they were able to get better educations that would prepare them to go to college or enter the workforce for about half the price ($720 USD) of what it would cost to get the same type of education in Tanzania. The first of the kids to go off to college was Gideon who we had gotten to know at our hostel. The day we had arrived had been a tumultuous one, there had been a complaint about their sewage leaking so they had received fines and due to a lack of communication from some of their sponsors, the kids had missed the first week of school because they lacked the funds to attend. Spirits were overall down but Margaret, the woman who had lead the operation since the beginning, was optimistic that things would turn around as she explained some of their plans to work towards being less reliant on donations by opening a store and selling crops such as coriander, lettuce, and kale from their garden. The daycare had been created in order to help generate more money to fund the orphanage and it currently has about 15-20 kids in it, many being away during our visit because school was still out for the season so some of the parents that are teachers at the nearby school were around.

We discussed the ways in which we could work with them and it was established that we could be the most helpful by helping update their website so that it had current information in order to make it easier for potential sponsors to get involved. It was agreed between us and Margaret that the site was the most beneficial help we could give during our short time with them. In our extra time, we would help out around the preschool doing things like teaching lessons or helping with feeding them.

When we went back to Margaret’s the next day, we heard the exciting news. The students were going back to school! The Spaniards that had been staying at our hostel had given enough money to get them back into school in Kenya and all of the kids looked overjoyed. With most of the focus being needed on getting the kids ready to head out, we helped out in the daycare until lunch. For lunch, we tried out IndoItaliano, a great restaurant in downtown Moshi that lots of tourists visit for their great Indian and Italian food. Emily and Madi tried tawa chicken and butter naan while Sam and Eva had margherita pizza. We then headed to check out some of the stores and pick up some souvenirs.

The other project that we have been working on was updating Old Moshi Hostel’s website. When Madi mentioned that she was going to be working on Margaret’s site, Eva asked if we could help her on her website too as it was out of date and in need of new pictures. Wednesday morning while Sam and Emily headed back to Margaret’s, Madi worked with Eva to figure out what should be changed on the website. Overall, it gave off a better impression of what the values and goals of the hostel were and the different projects that could be done by visitors. In the future, teams could check back up with Eva and see if there is anything else she needs changed on the website.

Overall, it was a great start to our time in Tanzania! We are looking forward to everything that wiki mbili brings!

Goats Can Fly!

Published July 1, 2019

By Jessie Neece

Agoo!

Did you know goats can fly? The Ghana Goats did just that! We flew out on June 26th and landed midday on the 27th.After spending the past few weeks finishing up our travel prep and our language/culture classes, dealing with missing passports, and getting some last-minute planning done, we finally left!

The most stressful thing we encountered before we left was trying to get our passports back from the Embassy of Ghana. We got a call about 3 weeks ago saying that they can’t be released to us because the return postage sent was incorrect. After several calls and emails and a ton of worrying, we got them back on Tuesday, June 18th. That’s a little too close to departure for comfort, but at least we have visas and passports!

Waiting at DTW to board for JFK! Couldn’t have done it without our passports. Shout out to Paige in the PHC for getting our visas sorted out for us!

We’ve also been busy doing some fundraising, and thank you to those who helped us out by donating to our projects on Superior ideas! We couldn’t do our work without you, so thank you again! Our project page can be found here (https://www.superiorideas.org/projects/ghana-2019)

A picture of us looking *professional* for our Superior Ideas page

Packing has also been a bit of an adventure! We have 2 suitcases dedicated for project work, and we’ve been prepping the materials for our projects, especially the Women’s Health project. Lucinda and her mom prepared enough fabric to make 147 sanitary pads in our Women’s Health workshops. It was entertaining to try to get all of those bags around the airport or to the hotel once we landed, and we at one point filled an entire elevator with our bags, but it was worth it to finally be in Ghana and ready to go!

A stack of fabric that can be used to make 147 reusable Sani-Pads

Once we got to the airport, we had quite an adventure navigating the check-in process, but we all made it through with time to spare for our first flight. We ended up landing in JFK a bit late, but, luckily, we had landed at the correct terminal. Getting on the plane itself was also entertaining, and a bit frustrating, when they ran out of carry-on bag space and started trying to send people back out of the plane to check their bags instead. This ultimately led to a back-up and a thirty minute delay to the start of our flight. Once we were up in the air, it was smooth sailing and we even got to see some beautiful views from the windows.

Our view as we were landing at JFK on Wed., June 26th

Landing in Ghana was fairly uneventful. We met Andrew, our advisor, outside the airport and took a shuttle over to our hotel. Andrew showed us around the nearby mall and the team picked up some fun snacks to hold us through until we could go out for dinner as well as exchanged some money. Our further plans for the few hours we are spending in Accra include some exploring and getting up early to catch a bus to Kumasi. We all feel that it is truly unbelievable that we are finally here and can’t wait to really start on projects in the communities. It’s hard to believe that all of our hard work and planning has paid off.

Thanks for everyone’s support, and stay tuned for our next update!

-Lucinda, Tristan, and Becky

Meet the Peru Team!

Published June 7, 2019

By Jessie Neece

A note from Lexi:

It’s crazy to think that we are leaving for Peru in a little more than 2 weeks! We will be arriving in Lima, Peru late on Monday, June 24th. I’m so excited to get the feel of the city and make some new friends abroad. I am also ready to be motivated and motivate others on making a change in my and their community. Many people have this stereotype that other countries need our help (and yes maybe some do), but we kind of force our help on others and we think that we know best, especially when we just give other people things without educating them on how they can do it themselves. The thing I hope to accomplish is to encourage and motivate at least one Peruvian to make a change in their community. Keep reading to learn about me and Nic before we go on this grand adventure!

Lexi is a 4th year studying Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech. She studied abroad in Valencia, Spain in the Fall of 2018. As a new University Innovation Fellow, she is focused on creating a zero-waste culture on Michigan Tech’s campus. She is also involved in Pavlis Honors College where she is in the Global Leadership Pathway, and she is a Pavlis Ambassador. Lexi is beyond excited to be on the Pavlis Pilot Team for the Lima, Peru Site during Summer 2019. Stepping out of her comfort zone and gardening are among some of Lexi’s interests.

Nic is a fourth-year Biological Sciences Pre-Health major going for a minor in Psychology at Michigan Technological University. Nic moved around a lot throughout elementary school but ended up finding a home in Lake Linden, Michigan about twenty minutes away from Michigan Technological University. He is apart of Pavlis Honors College along with Health Occupations Students of America and Mont Ripley Ski Patrol. In his spare time, Nic likes to spend to be outside doing things like run, snowboard, skateboard, swim, and bike.

Team Tanzania 2019

Published June 5, 2019

By Jessie Neece

Meet the Tanzania 2019 Team

Samantha Dertinger – scdertin@mtu.edu

Samantha is a third year Biomedical Engineering Student at Michigan Technological University. She is from Harrison Township Michigan, which is approximately 30 minutes north of Detroit, with her parents and 6 younger siblings. She participates in the Pavlis Honors College, Mind Trekkers, and the Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology Research group. In her free time, Samantha enjoys playing piano, video games, and spending time with her friends.

Emily Rutledge – ecrutled@mtu.edu

Emily is a third year Environmental Engineering major at Michigan Technological University. Emily grew up in Holland, Michigan with her mom, dad, and two dogs. At Michigan Tech Emily is involved with the Ski and Snowboard club as a member of the executive board, is in the Pavlis Honors College, is a member of the Green Campus Enterprise, and volunteers with the YWLP mentoring program. Emily enjoys volunteering and is passionate about sustainability. In her free time Emily enjoys downhill skiing, running, hiking, camping, backpacking and spending time with friends and family.

Madi Vachon – mtparis@mtu.edu

Madi is a fourth year English major at Michigan Technological University. She is from Brighton, MI and grew up with her five siblings, her dog (Wookie), and hedgehog (Humphrey). She is involved in Pavlis Honors College as a peer mentor and ambassador. In her free time, she works as a food blogger and an entrepreneur at mildlymeandering.com and snacksandsips.com, spending most weekends developing recipes. Additionally, she loves to travel around the globe and try different foods.

About the Trip

Departure Date:

Three weeks from today (6/4/2019), Team Tanzania 2019 departs for Mount Kilimanjaro.

Projects:

Each member leads their own projects including updating a handwashing station at Nkwamakuu Primary School, STEM activities at the primary school and Orkalili High School, and English education activities at the same schools. Proper sanitation is necessary in all schools in order for the schools to make long lasting impacts on the children it serves. As sanitation continues to improve in schools, it allows to children to be more present in school, missing less from preventable illnesses and other health reasons that may otherwise force them to stay home. This with sustainable growth in the STEM field of education will help the students prepare themselves for upcoming exams and higher levels of education. In turn, with high levels of education in the community, the standards of living will improve and the students will be able to give back to their own communities, using their education. English education will help the students prepare for the English-based high schools that many will attend and to help them prepare to use English in the work force through hands-on, interactive activities that will help them learn the language.

About the Global Leadership Pathway:

The Global Leadership Pathway in the Pavlis Honor College, at Michigan Tech, inspires and prepares students to become leaders who challenge themselves, work effectively on diverse teams, and achieve their goals through life-changing courses, projects, mentorships, and international experiences. The highlight of the Global Leadership Pathway is a 5-week international experience from June 25th through July 31st, and this year we will be heading to Tanzania. While there we must use the skills we have developed to successfully complete meaningful projects that will have a positive effect on the Tanzania community. For our trip, we have three projects, which are outlined below. We will be working on these at an elementary and high school in Boma N’Gombe and with Amani’s Children’s Home in Moshi.

On the Go with the Ghana Goats!

Published June 5, 2019

By Jessie Neece

Agoo! (Hello!) We are landing in Ghana on June 27th and will be spending 2 weeks in Sunyani, 1 week in Babianeha, and spending the rest of our time split between Kumasi, Accra, and other locations as well as project planning as a group. Here are some short introductions for our team members! And if you’re wondering why we’re the Ghana goats, there are a lot of goats in Ghana.

Meet the Team

Lucinda Hall – lucindah@mtu.edu

Hi, my name is Lucinda, and I am a senior biochemistry and molecular biology student. Living in a small town in Michigan has caused me to expand my horizons in every way that I can find, and growing up in Girl Scouts helped me travel the world, appreciate volunteering, and empowered me to pursue a STEM career. It seemed like the Global Leadership pathway of Michigan Tech’s Pavlis Honors College was a perfect fit for me. I currently work in a developmental biology research lab using fruit flies to study cancer pathways, and upon graduation, I will go for my Ph.D. studying treatments for cancer using our body’s own immune system. I also work as a Resident Assistant providing guidance and support to students living in Michigan Tech’s residence halls. In my free time, I enjoy skiing and playing in the Huskies Pep Band at Michigan Tech.

Becky Daniels – rsdaniel@mtu.edu

Hello, my name is Becky! I am a senior biomedical engineering student with minors in Leadership and Spanish and I am from Mukwonago, WI. Ever since joining robotics in High School, I developed a passion for engineering and can’t wait to apply all that I have learned during my time at Tech to real-life situations in Ghana and wherever else life may lead me. One of my biggest values and goals is to help people all across the world. I joined the Pavlis Honors College- Global Leadership to explore what it truly means to help people and learn how to be a better engineer, leader, and person in the process (while getting to travel along the way). After graduation, I would love to get into the medical device industry and start making an impact in an industry that touches so many lives and combines my passion for engineering and helping others. When I am not working as a Physics Learning Center Coach, Archives Assistant, or Learning Facilitator, you can find me playing some music on my ukulele or reading a good book.

Tristan Hunt – tahunt@mtu.edu

Hey, my name is Tristan Hunt and I am a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student majoring in Global Leadership here at Michigan Technical University. I moved here from Kalamazoo, Michigan where I lived for high school and one year of middle school. Before then I had attended schools overseas when my father was in the military. I decided to join the Pavlis Honors Colleges Global Leadership Program after my freshman college year because I wanted to get more emphasis on leadership- something that has always been important to me. I hope to work with my cohort to introduce STEM education to some of the local schools and I am also planning to add some grade school level literature to the community center in Babianeha. I’m excited to get to gain this experience of going abroad as well as spending time with my cohort.

Team Goals and Projects

On this trip, our goal is to not only continue a legacy of projects started almost 10 years ago, but also continue to expand our partnerships in communities across Ghana. The three main projects we are pursuing as a team this summer focus on STEM education, Women’s Health, and collaborating with the Community Center in Babianeha. While the entire team will be involved in the planning and execution of these projects, one team member will take the role of project lead for one project. Outside of these three main projects, the team also hopes to reach out to organizations at the University of Energy and Natural Resources so establish partnerships and programs with an even broader scope and impact across Ghana.

STEM Education – Becky’s Project

The goal of the STEM Education project in both Sunyani and Babianeha is to collaborate with the teachers at the school to develop and implement innovative methods of teaching STEM to students. The team contacts the schools prior to travel in order to understand the curriculum the cohort will be assisting with and work with the teachers to develop a teaching plan between the travelers in the cohort. By not only teaching STEM to students but also establishing a partnership with the teachers, the students receive lesson plans that are engaging and include multiple viewpoints across cultures.

Women’s Health – Lucinda’s Project

The goal of the women’s health project is to educate young women about menstruation and host workshops to teach them how to make reusable sanitary pads. Young women in rural areas in Ghana often have to forgo attending school while they are on their period, and missing one week of school per month can be detrimental to their education. These workshops give these young women the resources to obtain an uninterrupted education and empower them with knowledge about their bodies. These workshops will take place in Babianeha and Sunyani.

Community Center – Tristan’s Project

This project will be located in the town of Babianeha at its community center where there have already been several other projects led by Pavlis cohorts. This year, Emmanuel has asked the team to supply an assortment of books for the students in the area to utilize. Currently, there are books for an elementary age group as well as a high school and college level age group but nothing for middle school students to read. Our plan is to acquire plenty of literature regarding STEM as well as potentially expanding the collection to include leisure books.

Travel Locations and Dates

Take a look at our schedule and the map to get an idea of what we’ll be doing where and when!

Project Schedule

Map of Ghana – the pin shows Babianeha

We’ll be posting accounts of each week in-country, so stay tuned to catch our adventures!

-Lucinda, Becky, and Tristan

Darnishia Slade Recognized at Dean’s Teaching Showcase Luncheon

Published April 24, 2019

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Awards
News

By Michael R. Meyer

Darnishia Slade (left) was recognized at the Dean’s Teaching Showcase luncheon event by Lorelle Meadows (right).

Lorelle Meadows, dean of the Pavlis Honors College (PHC), selected Darnishia (Dar) Slade, manager of Global Engagement Programs, as a showcase member earlier this month.

Meadows selected Slade because she “embodies the values of the Pavlis Honors College in her teaching. She exemplifies the honors abilities, and is a great role model for students who are working to develop these important skillsets and mindsets.”

Slade teaches the first Honors Seminar (HON 2150), as well as the Capstone Courses for students in the Global Leadership Pathway, pursuing their Leadership Minor. In this role, Meadows praises Slade’s “remarkable ability to adapt as class time evolves, targeting opportunities for visiting important points that pop up at unexpected times” as well as her “use of a variety of interactive techniques to assess student understanding of a concept.”

Meadows said Slade is also, importantly, able to “assess the climate of the classroom as students encounter challenging topics.” These exceptional facilitation skills have also been noticed by her PHC colleagues. In their words, “Her ability to facilitate learning in a way that embodies the mindsets we are encouraging in our students serves as a model for the rest of us, who are also trying to facilitate student learning and development.”

In the short time Slade has been a part of the Honors College, she has continuously explored ways to improve the classroom experience for students, evolving course materials and methods of delivery to increase student engagement and learning outcomes. As an example, she has observed the flow of the semester through the energy level that students bring to class. At a low energy period, she stopped class and simply went around the room asking every student to say one word that exemplified how they were feeling. It was a quick activity to gauge how students were experiencing their semester, and it was revealing.

It was around Week 5 or 6, and students were feeling the pressure of looming exams and a long stretch until a break from coursework over Thanksgiving. Synthesizing this, she created and introduced a handout at the next session that focused on campus resources for self-care, aligning this with a session on the physiology of mindfulness. Several students reflected on the timeliness and value of this simple act.

Slade’s excellent sense of the student experience likely stems from her previous work in both academic and student affairs departments of the University. Meadows, describing this unique perspective, says “Her compassion for the students, not just their learning, but for their personal well-being, is inspiring. Her teaching doesn’t stop at the classroom or office door. She takes time to talk individually with students and solicit their experience, then she synthesizes all that, and brings that knowledge to our discussions of college matters.”

One PHC faculty member noted that, “When Dar joined our team, I felt that every meeting she brought up an excellently formulated point that surprised me — mainly drawn from her approach to students.”

The students themselves have also indicated an appreciation for Slade’s openness and personal interest. Recent student comments include “I have known Dar to take time out of her day to get to know students and to be there for them and to get to know what is going on and what’s wrong,” and “Dar is someone who I can go to for any reason without any fear of judgment.”

Meadows summarizes Slade’s contribution this way: “Darnishia Slade brings creativity and compassion into her teaching. She has influenced students both inside and outside the classroom, and uses these experiences and insights to affect change in our programs.”

All of the Dean’s Teaching Showcase members pictured at Recognition Luncheon.

Slade was recognized at the end-of-term luncheon with other showcase members, and is now eligible for one of three new teaching awards to be given by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning this summer recognizing introductory or large class teaching, innovative or outside the classroom teaching methods, or work in curriculum and assessment.

Pavlis Students Shine at 25th Annual Student Leadership Awards

Published April 22, 2019

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Awards

The 25th Annual Student Leadership Awards were held Friday, April 19 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The Student Leadership Awards celebrate and reward the individual and group efforts of students involved in organizations across campus. There are awards for student employees, student organizations, programs and more. Among the awards that were presented and announced at this year’s ceremony, five of the winners and ten of the nominees were Pavlis Honors College students.

Tessa Steenwinkel won the Provost’s Award for Scholarship.

Tessa Steenwinkel, nominated by the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded the Provost’s Award for Scholarship. The Provost’s Award for Scholarship is given to a student who best represents student scholarship at Michigan Tech. This outstanding student is considered excellent not only by academic standards, but also for participation in research scholarship activity, levels of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and communication skills. Steenwinkel was also nominated by the Pavlis Honors College for the Rising Star of the Year.

Tessa Steenwinkel recognized for her research.

Logan Alger, nominated by the Pavlis Honors College, was awarded Rising Star of the Year. Rising Star of the Year is awarded to a student that shows great potential for leadership and who attempts to develop themselves personally in everything they do. Logan is currently working on his honors project in which he is developing a mentorship program for Pavlis Honors Pathway students.

Logan Alger, pictured with his nominator and Honors advisor Darnishia Slade, received the Rising Star of the Year award.

Elise Cheney-Makens was awarded the Dean of Students Award for Service and also Exceptional Community Service Project. Elise volunteered at the Ronald McDonald Home in Rochester, MN to support critically ill children and their families during the summer 2018 while she was a research intern at Mayo Clinic. Giving back in her own community of Houghton, she developed the Science Fair Mentoring Program to help 4th and 5th graders at Houghton Elementary plan, develop, and execute their science fair projects. Elise, in addition to creating this program, was responsible for recruiting 20 undergraduate volunteers. Elise has also volunteered as a Young Women Leaders Program mentor (a Center for Diversity and Inclusion program) for a year, working with middle school girls to develop leadership skills.

Elise Cheney-Makens was awarded both the Exceptional Community Service Project and the Dean of Students Award for Service.

Magann Dykema was awarded the Outstanding Future Alumni Award. This award recognizes the contribution of a student volunteer who supports the Alumni Association’s mission of “Celebrating Traditions. Creating Connections.” Dykema demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the success of Tech traditions during her time on campus. She was also nominated for the Exceptional Enthusiasm as a Student Leader award. Magann is graduating this semester with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. She is then headed to the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse to start a master’s program in Student Affairs Administration.

Magann Dykema awarded Outstanding Future Alumni.

In addition to our winners, Pavlis would also like to acknowledge the following nominees:

Cameron Philo was awarded Departmental Scholar by the Pavlis Honors College and therefore nominated for the Provost’s Award for Scholarship
Clara Peterson was awarded Departmental Scholar for Chemical Engineering and therefore nominated for the Provost’s Award for Scholarship
Joshua Jay was nominated for Student Employee of the Year
Marcello Guadagno and Corrina Kostrzewa were nominated for the President’s Award for Leadership

The Undergraduate Research Symposium winners were also recognized at Friday’s Award ceremony. Ceily Fessel Doan (environmental engineering) took first place for her research, Comparison of Nannochloropsis and Chlorelle Vulgaris Algae to Energy Efficiency in the Rio Grande Watershed. Jacob LeBarre (chemical engineering) placed second for his research entitled, Improvement of Virus Purification Method using Cation Exchange Chromatography. Third place was awarded to Pavlis Honors College student Kaylee Meyers (biomedical engineering) for Nitric Oxide Releasing Composite Hydrogels for Tendon Repair Via Matrix Metalloproteinase Controlled Pathways.

Kaylee Meyers at the 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The Pavlis Honors College would also like to acknowledge our 2019 Dean’s Scholarship Award recipient, Madi Vachon. Madi is a very active member of the Pavlis Honors Ambassadors group. She volunteers her time to design, plan, and implement recruitment efforts to grow the Pavlis community. Madi goes above and beyond to engage with students on a meaningful level which has significantly added to our enrollment and retention. Thank you for your continued support Madi! The Pavlis Honors College Dean’s Scholarship is awarded annually in the amount of $1,000 to recognize an Honors student’s outstanding commitment to our programs and pathways.

Congratulations to all of the award nominees and winners.

Cameron Philo Wins Best Technology and $10,000 at CMU New Venture Competition

Published April 15, 2019

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Apurva Baruah pitching at CMU New Venture for Yooper Ag.

Five student teams from Michigan Technological University traveled to Central Michigan University (CMU) in Mount Pleasant, MI to compete in the ninth annual New Venture Competition held Friday, April 12. Student teams from Michigan Tech and CMU presented business plans and pitches to panels of experienced entrepreneurs. The Michigan Tech students that competed in the 2019 CMU New Venture Competition were:

Mayank Bagaria for Vakya
Apurva Baruah for Yooper Ag
Ahammad Basha Dudekula for AGTO Autonomous
Cameron Philo for Life Pro Jackets
Karuna Rana and Sid Premchandani for Reality Check

Cameron Philo pitching at CMU New Venture for Life Pro Jackets.

Michigan Tech students Cameron Philo and Mayank Bagaria advanced to the semifinals last Friday. Cameron Philo won Best Technology and was awarded $10,000. Philo participated in Michigan Tech’s I-Corps Site Program last Fall. I-Corps is a team-based program structure that was developed through a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. The workshop provides an introduction to the Lean Start-up business development methodology, which focuses on getting out of the lab and using the tools of customer discovery and the business model canvas to evaluate the commercial potential of innovative technologies.

Mayank Bagaria pitching at CMU New Venture for Vakya.

This is the ninth year of the New Venture competition and the eighth year of Michigan Tech’s partnership with CMU. Last year, four out of Michigan Tech’s six participants took home cash and in-kind awards.

Cameron Philo wins Best Technology and $10,000.

Michigan Tech’s Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship (ICE), a collaboration between the Pavlis Honors College and the School of Business and Economics, continues to be an excellent resource for students looking to start their own business or bring new ideas and concepts to the next stage of development. Husky Innovate was introduced this academic year by ICE as a succession of workshops and events that build on each other leading up to the CMU New Venture Competition. The intention is to guide students through key phases of innovation or business development while emphasizing evidence based strategies for success. Many of the students that competed in this year’s New Venture Competition also participated in various Husky Innovate events and workshops throughout the academic year. Students interested in innovating, developing, and implementing their ideas and inventions are encouraged to visit the Pavlis Honors College (M&M 722) to learn more about ICE and the resources available to them.