Throughout College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) Thursday, April 18, students around the College community came together for the ninth-annual Connections Project. The event celebrates and showcases the hard work and accomplishments of CWI’s students.
Winners of this year’s Connections Excellence Awards were presented at the Connections Project reception and at CWI’s Student Leadership Banquet. Finalists were determined by a panel of judges, and each received $100 and $150 prizes.
Connections Excellence Award Winners
Posters
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Category
- First Place – Erica Kreczkowski, Jessica Tisch, How Cognitive Distortions can Influence Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Attachment Styles, and Emotional Well-Being of College Students
- Second Place – Kiana Woodruff, Access to Mental Health Services
- Third Place – Jose Mendoza, Ali German, Angel Carrera, Whitney chase, Yasmeen Ramirez, Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)s on Early Adulthood
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Category
- First Place – Elliot Johnson, Comparing Biodiversity Between Canyon County Irrigation Canal and Boise River
- Second Place – Kate Helmer, Gateway Arch for College Algebra and Trigonometry Signature Assignment
- Third Place – Cheylee Corle, Macroinvertebrate Population Variety in Urban Creeks Compared to Rural Creeks In the Treasure Valley
Recorded Mini-Talk
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Category
- First Place – Clinton Florian, Psychology Capstone Project
- Second Place – Jessica Tisch, Confronting Imposter Syndrome
- Third Place – Cassie Peery, Hannah Lange, Charlotte Gullickson, and Claire Westergard, The Ripple Effects of Childhood Trauma: Implications for Adult Relationships
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Category
- First Place – Jacob Leuzinger, Organic Compound Signature Assignment
Live Mini-Talk
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Category
- First Place – Lorraine Draper, Trauma-Informed Yoga Workshop
- Second Place – Tia Maliqi, Minds in Focus: The Essential Role Psychiatry Plays
- Third Place – Jakob Stevens & Jared Kartel, How Belonging and Loneliness are Impacted by Academic Factors
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Category
- First Place – Scarlett Waski, Mathematically Modeling the Human Heart
- Second Place – Emmie Bevan, The Math and Science Behind the Beer-Lambert Law
Other Cool Stuff
- First Place – Tarah Townsell, What About the Kids That Fall Through the Cracks of Homelessness (a policy brief)
- Second Place – Maia Abiador, Rock & Roll by EDEN (without Music) (a music video scrubbed and re-sounded)
- Third Place – Ryan Everett Heffelfinger, The Peacockatrice’s Trail Magazine (27 page magazine)
Clubs
- Biology Club – Boise River ReWild: Working with Golden Eagle Audubon Society, removing invasive species from the Boise River banks and replanting with native plants
Enrichment Groups
- Speech and Debate – Interpreter’s Theatre of “Puffs” by Matt Cox.
As part of this year’s Phi Rho Pi National Tournament, held in early April in Reno, Nevada, the team competed in the Interpreter’s Theatre event. For this event schools may enter a team of 3-14 students who will present a 25-minute piece that interprets literature for an audience through dramatic performance. This year, CWI Speech & Debate students presented an Interpeter’s Theatre piece entitled “Puffs” by author Matt Cox, which they will share live with Connections Day attendees.
Connections Logo Contest
- Winner – Quinn Forman
Juried Art Exhibition
- Winner – Christina Borrowman, "Eye of the Beholder"
President’s Writing Awards
Creative Nonfiction
- First Place – Rebecca Young for “Graveyard Shelf” written for Carl Della Badia’s English 191 class
- Second Place – Aspen Rice for “Looking Out” written for Maura Brantley’s dual credit English 101 class
- Third Place – Alexandra Murphy for “Ketchup” written for Carl Della Badia’s English 191 class
Critical Analysis
- First Place – Peyton MacDonald for “Tet Offensive During the Vietnam War: Change in American Sentiment” written for Reggie Jayne’s History 190 class
- Second Place – Breanna Perkins for “Salem Village: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire” written for Reggie Jayne’s History 190 class
- Third Place – Rye Johnson for “Prison Structures and Subservience” written for Lynne Tucker’s English 190 class
Fiction
- First Place – Rebecca Young for “Redemption” written for Carl Della Badia’s English 191 class
- Second Place – Alexandra Murphy for “Salvation Knoll” written for Carl Della Badia’s English 191 class
- Third Place – Mak Gilley for “Late Night” written for Dave Nicholas’ English 242 class
First-Year Writing
- First Place – David Barnard for “Harvesting the Fields of My Voice” written for Dzevad Vrabac English 101 class
- Second Place – Natalia Patkowski for “Don't Dream It's Over” written for Dave Nicholas’ English 101 class
- Third Place – Shannon Javanbakht for “From Punishment to Progress: Why Recovery Homes Matter” written for Liza Long’s English 102 class
Literature Based Research
- First Place – Jessica Tisch, Sunny Smart, Amanda Pieroni, Kerry Draper, and Garrett French for “Social Media Use and Narcissism: Examining how Self-Perception, Socialization, Culture, and Socio-Emotional Connections Relate to Vulnerable, Grandiose, and Communal Narcissism and Social Media Use” written for Heather Schoenherr’s Psychology 190 class
- Second Place – Sarah Garrett for “Addressing the Need of Mental Health Education: Effect on Children's Academic and Personal Development” written for Emily Bergstrom’s Psychology 201 class
- Third Place – Taylor Hubbard for “Labor in the American Civil War: Causes of the New York Strikes of Late 1863” written for Reginald Jayne’s History 190 class
Original Research
- First Place – Jessica Tisch for “Cognitive Distortions: A Survey About Thinking Strategies and Their Relationship to Social Anxiety, Perfectionism, and Attachment” written for Jana McCurdy and Heather Schoenherr’s Psychology 250 and 251 classes
- Second Place – Jakob Stevens for “Cognitive Distortions: A Survey Analyzing Thinking Strategies and Their Relationship to Emotional Reasoning, Perfectionism, and Academic Success” written for Jana McCurdy and Heather Schoenherr’s Psychology 250 and 251 classes
- Third Place – Sarah Garrett for “Nature Connectedness and Well-Being: Self-Reported Effect of Time Spent Outdoors on an Individual's Overall Health” written for Jana McCurdy and Heather Schoenherr’s Psychology 250 and 251 classes
Poetry
- First Place – Kassandra Kolbet for “Weight of the World” written for Joshua Rippy’s Theater 101 class
- Second Place – Sam Hazard for “Dead Men Smoking” written for Abby Wolford’s English 241 class
- Third Place – Adilene Ambriz for “Mangos” written for Collin Hughes’ English 215 class
Workplace Writing
- First Place – Ashlynn Banning for “Communication is a Human Right” written for Shelly Conley-Durkin’s Sociology 290 class
- Second Place – Mietta Sibert for “Emergency Response and Preparedness” written for Stephanie Barham’s Administrative Specialist 231 class
- Third Place – Sarah Garrett for “The Impact of Independence” written for Heather Schoenherr’s Sociology 290 class
Thank you to the judges, instructors, and participants of this year’s Connection Project, and congratulations, again, to the winners!
